King Kong (1933): Best Region 0 DVD?

I know there are rumors that Warner will be releasing a terrific,
totally-restored version of the 1933 _King Kong_ -- packed with extras
which may even include the missing "Giant Spiders of Skull Island"
scene -- by the end of this decade. However, my Pioneer LD700 LaserDisc
player is barely working and my October 2004 viewing of Criterion's
_King Kong_ was full of skips, jumps and picture disruptions. This title
is the ONLY reason that I have held on to my failing LaserDisc player
for the last 2 years.

It appears that the only authentic, studio-approved DVD of _King Kong_
is the Region 2 PAL version _King Kong und die weisse Frau_, which was
released November 5, 1999. I have even seen this PAL version in a local
store, with a selling price of $25. But since I don't have a
multi-region player and because I had the Criterion CAV LaserDiscs, I
didn't buy this DVD.

After reading a couple of very positive reviews of the Korean Region 0
DVD, I ordered one from a seller on eBay for a delivered price of $19.
Three weeks later, the DVD arrived, complete with a cardboard slipcover,
and Amaray box and a factory-pressed DVD -- not the burned disc that I
was expecting and the DVD plays perfectly.

The Korean DVD appears to be a copy of the German DVD, complete with all
of the extras: A 23-minute featurette entitled "Making Film" (the audio
of the featurette comes out the left channel only), a theatrical
trailer, a photo gallery and three text-based extras; Synopsis, Cast &
Crew and Special Effects -- all of which are written in Korean
hieroglyphics. The disc also has both English and German soundtrack,
plus Korean subtitles which can be turned off in the menu.

The picture and sound of the Korean DVD are a lot better than the
Criterion LaserDisc: Much cleaner, sharper picture with better contrast
and better black levels. The audio is clear and free of noticeable
background noise. All of the deleted scenes -- Kong undressing Fay Wray,
Kong eating the natives, Kong eating the New Yorkers, Kong dropping the
woman etc. are there. The only difference in the Korean/German version
is that the prelude text featuring the "Old Arabian Proverb" has been
changed to German, but the original text can be found in the "Making
Film" documentary.

My ONLY complaint about the Korean Region 0 DVD is that is a sped-up PAL
version. I must admit that I didn't notice this until I had watched the
DVD about 5 times and even then I only noticed it by comparing the
running time with what was stated on the box. I even have the CD of Max
Steiner's complete King Kong Symphony, which was recorded by the Moscow
Symphony Orchestra in 1996 and I didn't notice the change in tempo of
the movie soundtrack.

The Korean box -- as well as every other movie reference -- says that
_King Kong_ runs 100 minutes. The actual running time of the Korean DVD
is 95 minutes 32 seconds, which accounts for the 4% speed increase of
the PAL version.

Some other Region 0 versions of _King Kong_ include:
Manga Films (Spain) Region 0 - PAL
Continental Home Video - Region 0 - NTSC
Editora D+T (bootleg) - Region 0 - NTSC

So, here's my question: Is there a Region 0 DVD version of _King Kong_
that is superior to the one that I now have? Is there a superior region
0 DVD that runs the full 100 minutes?

I see that a Taiwanese "Buda Video Company" DVD (MPEG2, DVD-10, shipped
from Singapore) has turned up on eBay in the last week.

http://search.ebay.com/king-kong-19...20Q2bQ201933Q20Q2bQ20dvdQQsokeywordredirectZ1

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/kingkong.htm

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/dvd

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/combined

 

I don't know of any Region 0 dvds but this is the R1 Warner contracted out
http://store.cheezyflicks.com/kingkong.html

 

Thanks for this post. Do you have a source for the information
regarding the outsourcing of this Warner title to Cheezy Flicks?

Amazon carries 6 of their titles:

Death at Love House (1976)

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966)

Inn of the Damned DVD

Convoy

Dracula Vs Frankenstein (1973)

Blackbeard the Pirate (1952)

However, Amazon does not show _King Kong_ as being a pre-order item,
even though this title is supposed to be available in November.

I pre-ordered this DVD directly from Cheezy Flix in mid October 2004,
but I am not so sure that Cheezy Flix is a reputable seller. They did
send me a receipt, but they have not responded to any of the e-mail
that I have sent to them in regard to this title in care of their
"Contact Us" address.

They also have lousy feedback squeezed in between shill posts:

"Placed my order two weeks ago.....never received.......never processed
my charge for the order.....could not even respond to my email asking
about the order......a total waste of my time.......I would certainly
never order from this merchant again and would not recommend anyone to
ever order from them either."

"i have not gotten any of the normal emails from this seller like order
processing, order sent to warehouse, order has been shipped, tracking
info on your order i am begining to wonder if it was even mailed yet
nothing no word except for the reciept they sent."

"I ordered a movie over a month ago and after waiting 3 plus weeks to
recieve it, I recieved the wrong movie. I have sent to emails to them
explaining this and have not recieved a response. I sent the emails the
week of 9/20. I supplied all my info so they could reach me. I believe
this is poor customer service."

"I ordered convoy, they got their money, sent me an email with a
tracking number that is bogus. Its been about 8 weeks since I ordered
and I cannot find a phone number to talk to a live person. NOT
impressed."

http://shopping.yahoo.com/merchrating/user_rv.html?storeid=yhst-19021110902018

 

I'm sure the lawyers for Warners will be very interested in that site...

Bill Coleman

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