"Director: Merian C. Cooper"

• King Kong | DVD | (01/10/2012) from £13.05   |  Saving you £-3.06 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A daring expedition happens across a giant ape in this classic 1933 creature feature.

• King Kong - The Eighth Wonder Of The World | DVD | (15/01/2001) from £13.09   |  Saving you £-3.10 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Now you see it. You're amazed. You can't believe it. Your eyes open wider. It's horrible, but you can't look away. There's no chance for you. No escape. You're helpless, helpless. There's just one chance, if you can scream. Throw your arms across your eyes and scream, scream for your life!" And scream Fay Wray does most famously in this monster classic, one of the greatest adventure films of all time, which even in an era of computer-generated wizardry remains a marvel of stop-motion animation. Robert Armstrong stars as famed adventurer Carl Denham, who is leading a "crazy voyage" to a mysterious, uncharted island to photograph "something monstrous ... neither beast nor man". Also aboard is waif Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and Bruce Cabot as big lug John Driscoll, the ship's first mate. King Kong's first half-hour is steady going, with engagingly corny dialogue ("Some big, hard-boiled egg gets a look at a pretty face and bang, he cracks up and goes sappy") and ominous portent that sets the stage for the horror to come. Once our heroes reach Skull Island, the movie comes to roaring, chest-thumping, T-rex-slamming, snake-throttling, pterodactyl-tearing, native-stomping life. King Kong was ranked by the American Film Institute as among the 50 best films of the century. Kong making his last stand atop the Empire State Building is one of the film's most indelible and iconic images. --Donald Liebenson, Amazon.comOn the DVD: Although a little light on extras, this is happily the Director's Cut, restoring scenes that were censored after the film's original 1933 run, including Kong peeling off Fay Wray's clothes like a banana, and our hirsute hero using unfortunate natives as dental floss. The ratio of 4:3 is correct for a film of this age; the picture and (mono) sound are perfectly acceptable without being revelatory. The 25-minute "making of" documentary from 1992 is a 60th anniversary tribute to the film, which details all of Kong's many ground-breaking contributions to cinema, from Willis O'Brien's use of stop-motion and rear projection effects to Max Steiner's music score. There are contributions from film historians, modern admirers of the film including composer Jerry Goldsmith--who admits that Steiner created a template that Hollywood composers are still following--and a few surviving participants such as sound effects man Murray Spivak. Apparently, director Merian C. Cooper's original idea was to capture live gorillas, transport them to the island of Komodo and film them fighting the giant lizards! Thanks to Willis O'Brien's pioneering effects work good sense prevailed and a cinema classic was born. --Mark Walker

• King Kong | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £8.45   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  "Now you see it. You're amazed. You can't believe it. Your eyes open wider. It's horrible, but you can't look away. There's no chance for you. No escape. You're helpless, helpless. There's just one chance, if you can scream. Throw your arms across your eyes and scream, scream for your life!" And scream Fay Wray does most famously in this monster classic, one of the greatest adventure films of all time, which even in an era of computer-generated wizardry remains a marvel of stop-motion animation. Robert Armstrong stars as famed adventurer Carl Denham, who is leading a "crazy voyage" to a mysterious, uncharted island to photograph "something monstrous ... neither beast nor man." Also aboard is waif Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and Bruce Cabot as big lug John Driscoll, the ship's first mate. King Kong's first half-hour is steady going, with engagingly corny dialogue ("Some big, hard-boiled egg gets a look at a pretty face and bang, he cracks up and goes sappy") and ominous portent that sets the stage for the horror to come. Once our heroes reach Skull Island, the movie comes to roaring, chest-thumping, T. rex-slamming, snake-throttling, pterodactyl-tearing, native-stomping life. King Kong was ranked by the American Film Institute as among the 50 best films of the 20th century. Kong making his last stand atop the Empire State Building is one of the movies' most indelible and iconic images. --Donald Liebenson

• King Kong | DVD | (19/12/2005) from £24.28   |  Saving you £5.71 (23.52%)   |  RRP £29.99

  This fantastic box set lets you re-discover the classic 1933 original King Kong and share in a piece of film history that has entertained and terrified audiences for years. The box set also includes the colourised version of the 1933 original the documentary 'It Was Beauty That Killed The Best' 'King Kong Vs Godzilla' and 'King Kong Escapes'. Terrific stuff! King Kong (Dir. Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack 1933): When a film crew pays a visit to a remote tropical is

• Classic King Kong - King King | DVD | (09/04/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  King Kong (1933): When a film crew pays a visit to a remote tropical island they discover that its inhabitants are worshippers of a colossal ape called 'Kong'. The fearsome beast takes a shine to blonde bombshell Fay Wray which leads to his downfall. Captured and brought to New York as a Broadway attraction Kong escapes from his captors and goes on a rampage in Manhattan searching for the woman he loves. The unforgettable climax set on the Empire State building guarantees that this 1933 classic will live forever in the legends of cinema. King Kong Escapes (1967): In another King Kong installment by Ishiro Honda the giant ape monster's skills are required for a science project by Doctor Who and his helpers. When a mechanically devised robot version of the creature cannot do the job the team of scientists must go and retrieve the real King Kong himself. But no sooner do they get their hands on the enormous beast than they realize they are no match for a creature of his size. Calling on his robotic imposter for help the scientists unknowingly bring terror upon themselves and a battle to the death between the two threatens to level all of Japan! This is King Kong vs. MechaKong in a battle to the death! King Kong vs Godzilla: When a Japanese businessman named Mr. Tako hears that a native tribe on the island of Farou possesses abnormally large berries he sends his employees Sakuri and Furue to retrieve the fruit. Better yet he tells them to also capture King Kong a gorilla monster who has become gigantic as a result of eating the berries. On their way back to Japan the team wrestles to gain control over the enormous and powerful creature who breaks free just as another notorious monster Godzilla is released from the block of ice where he's been hidden for the last seven years... A titanic battle to the death ensues between the two beasts; the most fearsome movie monsters ever created!