Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pulp => Topic started by: Manchu on March 11, 2017, 06:39:28 AM
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Looked but didn't find a thread on this MASSIVELY FUN movie. I would've thought this picture would be right up your alley, Pulp! (whoops pun) Because you remember how Legendry's Godzilla back in 2014 was kinda bland and pretentious and had way too little of Big G? Well, I can't believe I am typing it, but Hollywood actually learned the correct lessons from those mistakes. And so Kong: Skull Island is a crazy pulp rollercoaster. I can't wait to see what kind of miniatures gaming projects it inspires ... like a river boat converted from a P-51 and a Zero. I heartily recommend this one guys!
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It's not really "miniature gaming" if it's abouta 40-metre tall ape, right? lol
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Hey, he's approx 22 inches in 1/56.
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Hey, he's approx 22 inches in 1/56.
We're gonna need a bigger ape.
Here in Germany, the film only launched this Thursday, but I'm planning to see it this weekend. The trailer looked promising, the press critics are panning the damn dirty ape to hell, and if they got the hairstyles and pacing right, I think I 'm going to like it.
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Only came out on Thursday here in the US, as well. It's not a masterpiece or anything.
The characters are largely forgettable, including the leads. John C. Reily's Lt. Marlowe is probably the only worthwhile character (he's also the only established cast member giving 100%). But this movie is not about characters. Consider the plot: go to Skull Island then immediately try to survive escaping Skull Island. It simply doesn't require much characterization. (I don't think a single one of them even had an arc.) Even the main plot complication hinges on a clearcut revenge motive.
As you might gather, there isn't much of a story either. I guess if you squint, so to speak, there is a quasi-Lovecraftian/environmentalist message about human insignificance. This planet belongs to the kaiju, not us. But ... as it turns out King Kong actually kind of likes people, or at least some people, which kind of muddies the thematic waters. So it's not really a story-driven movie, either.
I'd say this picture is setting-driven. It's about an exotic, dangerous place. The film is basically a vicarious expedition. And Skull Island is an absolute wonder to vicariously explore! It's not just pretty - it absolutely teems with the fantastical. I could have enjoyed the movie almost as much if it was shot as a nature program hosted by Lt Marlowe.
But of course exploring Skull Island is not even the main feature. I showed up to see King Kong, er, go ape. Unlike Legendary's Godzilla, which only spared a very few moments to show Big G kicking ass, Kong: Skull Island serves up loads of massive-scale ape fury. The theory of Gareth Edwards's Godzilla seemed to be, if there is a lot of it then we won't sufficiently appreciate it. WRONG! (And condescending to boot!) There can be tons of monster fighting as long as the fights are good. And boy are they good!
To sum up: See this movie for the fascinating "ecological" world-building and the thrilling monster mayhem. Unlike other fantasy movies (e.g., Rogue One), Kong: Skull Island has no pretensions of grandeur beyond sheer spectacle and classic kaiju fun.
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I saw the previews and it looked decent. We'll probably see it eventually. Our Pulp Alley: Perilous Island campaign was partly inspired by Skull Island. ;)
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Just read a devastating criticism in a famous political journal (Der Spiegel), which got me interested and wanting to write them they should stick to politics and not venture into the realms of giant monster movies! Then discovered pretty decent reviews in many other places and now am hoping to see it tomorrow or next weekend!
And: does anyone know if a gashapon series compatible to the 2014 Godzilla-Set is released?
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Stay to the end of the credits for what the sequel is going to be about....
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...(I don't think a single one of them even had an arc.) Even the main plot complication hinges on a clearcut revenge motive...
Wait, what about 'Dear Billy'? :D
Okay, I basically got dragged there yesterday, had little expectations, and there was so much WRONG with it.
However, completely smashed, forget suspended, my disbelief. I had a fine adrenaline-pumped high by the end. What he said about the 'fun'.
Doug
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Just read a devastating criticism in a famous political journal (Der Spiegel), which got me interested and wanting to write them they should stick to politics and not venture into the realms of giant monster movies! Then discovered pretty decent reviews in many other places and now am hoping to see it tomorrow or next weekend!
I read that one, too. Not wanting to go too much into politics territory too much (I think the columnist had a bit of an agenda), unfortunately, some of it is true.
I just came back from watching it and found it to be watchable, but mediocre with a pinch of meh. Best thing that endeared it to me from the start, no Jack Black, but, and I never thought I'd say that, Samuel L. Jackson is working real hard to be as obnoxious and annoying.
Great visuals, if a bit strainful in 3D. Kong is very convincing, in as far as a 100ft gorilla can be.
IMHO, it falls flat in making the most of its visual cues and is not really convincing as a period piece, but I also found the two X-Men movies set in the 60s and 70s to be nice, but not convincing, either.
On a cinematic level, it seems to be a piece by a creative team and director who pieced together many established bits and tropes, but failed to give them an individual spin. Its many little vignettes are a bit roughly-jointed and in part very predictable, but it could have been much more than it worked out to be. Pacing is okay, with some lengths in the middle part. Also, not enough proper dinosaurs for my liking.
Interestingly enough, I can only remember the name of one character who was eaten off-screen halfway through the movie.
That said, decent enough entertainment, but nothing extraordinary. If you like monster movies, I think you'll like this one, and I don't think it is a case of "wasted money". I am inspired to expand my 2000AD project with a Flesh! sideline, though, but I wasn't "hobby giddy" upon leaving it. I will consider seeing a sequel (as hinted by the post-credits scene) based on the visuals.
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The NPR reviewer wrote something like, Kong's pop culture account is all withdrawals and no deposits - a tough but fair criticism IMO.
I think people will be able to look back on the picture and say - "yep, that one had generous helpings of really great monster fights." That's more than I can say for either Jackson's King Kong or Edwards's Godzilla.
Interestingly enough, I can only remember the name of one character who was eaten off-screen halfway through the movie.
I think I can guess who you mean. Keep in mind the script takes great, great pains from the moment this character is introduced to get you to remember the name because there is a plot point that turns on the character's absence.
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Well, I actually REALLY enjoyed it! The trailers, for me, didn't impress me and I wasn't looking forward to seeing it, but went last night anyway(unlimited cinema cards make you watch more things than you normally would!)
It's a good Saturday night popcorn flick! It doesn't take itself too seriously! To me, it knows it's about a 50foot gorilla and doesn't try to go for the oscar for best ape!
Special effects are great and the 3D for me, was the best since Avatar! It actually worked properly for a change!
My only gripe(and I'm hoping someone will correct me), is right at the start, they take a tanker to the island with 3 military helicopters on it and it also has 2 big helipads for 2 big support helicopters.....where do the other 20 helicopters suddenly appear from? :?
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I haven't seen this yet but I am a bit confused....where does the Jackson Kong fit into it? Is it like that never happened? Because Kong like, died in that one.
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It doesn't at all! Just forget that happened when you go and see this! No Empire State Buildings were damaged in that universe!
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Oh, something else I meant to ask you all.......the advert here in the U.K. For the film has John Goodman saying "the nuclear tests on the island weren't tests.....they were trying to kill something!" That bit IS NOT in the film! :?
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Oh, something else I meant to ask you all.......the advert here in the U.K. For the film has John Goodman saying "the nuclear tests on the island weren't tests.....they were trying to kill something!" That bit IS NOT in the film! :?
IIRC, he is not directly referring to the island, but to the Castle Bravo test of 1954. But that reference was in.
As for continuity, I think it could be considered an alternate take on the original story in that the 1933 expedition didn't make it off the island (hence, the wreck of the "Wanderer").
The heli thing bothered me as well. I mean, two large pads for the CH-47 and HH-53, and the four UH-1s on the main deck, that looked plausible, if a bit cavalier with regards to proper load-securing protocols. :D But that large sweep was, IMHO, unnecessarily over-the-top to bluntly evoke the Apocalypse Now imagery.
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Oh, something else I meant to ask you all.......the advert here in the U.K. For the film has John Goodman saying "the nuclear tests on the island weren't tests.....they were trying to kill something!" That bit IS NOT in the film! :?
I remember hearing this. Maybe when he was talking to the senator at the beginning?
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I just watched a review on TV with lots of clips and the reviewer practically gave away the whole plot.....the ape looks too big to me to be honest in the clip I saw....I don't think the film will be as visually imaginative as the Jackson film was. All the weird plants and big insects and dinosaurs were great..does Kong fight a dinosaur in this one?
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I just watched a review on TV with lots of clips and the reviewer practically gave away the whole plot.....the ape looks too big to me to be honest in the clip I saw....I don't think the film will be as visually imaginative as the Jackson film was. All the weird plants and big insects and dinosaurs were great..does Kong fight a dinosaur in this one?
Something that looks vaguely saurian. I would have preferred a proper Tyrannosaurus, possibly mutated by H-bomb radiation for good riddance, but nooo...
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The reviewer practically gave away the whole plot.....
There's not a lot of plot TBF.I don't think the film will be as visually imaginative as the Jackson film was.
Disagree. I found Jackson's film insufferable. After seeing K:SI, I rewatched some scenes from PJ's KK and ... ugh, a whole lot of missed opportunity.
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IIRC, he is not directly referring to the island, but to the Castle Bravo test of 1954. But that reference was in.
As for continuity, I think it could be considered an alternate take on the original story in that the 1933 expedition didn't make it off the island (hence, the wreck of the "Wanderer").
The heli thing bothered me as well. I mean, two large pads for the CH-47 and HH-53, and the four UH-1s on the main deck, that looked plausible, if a bit cavalier with regards to proper load-securing protocols. :D But that large sweep was, IMHO, unnecessarily over-the-top to bluntly evoke the Apocalypse Now imagery.
It's the same nuclear tests referred to in the Godzilla 2014 movie, and is shown in the comic prequel to that movie (Godzilla: Awakening) where it's revealed that the atomic bombs at hiroshima and nagasaki woke something else up and the later nukes were to try to kill it and Godzilla who were duking it out in the south pacific.
Godzilla is MUTO 02, the thing from Japan was MUTO 01, Kong is 03...the ones in the Godzilla movies were 04 & 05 (There is another that popped up in one of the Godzilla trailers that is also a MUTO and is provisionally 06 and is a gigantic centipede thing)...
The skull crawler might be fit into the numbers as well, but might be a bit to small for that.
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Disagree. I found Jackson's film insufferable. After seeing K:SI, I rewatched some scenes from PJ's KK and ... ugh, a whole lot of missed opportunity.
I sort of see the Jackson KK as a re-imagining of the classic black and white movie. I am interested, what didn't you like exactly? It was perhaps a tad slow paced and overlong, I grant, but you must agree that the setting was much more pulp, being in the 20's with the tramp steamer and all....the new one looks (to me, just based on the trailers) like a mash up of Jurassic Park 2, Predator and Platoon. I just can't get excited about it.
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Okay, already admitted SO much wrong, and I can actually agree with both sides of several of these arguments, but I did have fun.
I've obviously missed SOME of the intervening Kong and Gojira flicks, because I had NO idea some of this actually fits. :o
Now, quick question: The beasts unnamed. Did anyone have a sudden deja vu for Sammael?
Doug
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The first time I sat down to watch PJ's film, I couldn't even make it through. This was the same guy who did the LotR trilogy? But then I remembered watching the "special editions" of those films ... a very good way to fall asleep! Suffice it to say, I was not surprised by the overindulgence of Unexpected Journey, &etc., years later.
I will also freely admit to having no special devotion to the RKO picture. It's a very fine film but doesn't amount to - as far as I'm concerned - some kind of sacred text that can only be reverently ... er, aped. I think pulp is less a specific period and more of an attitude. The well-named Pulp Fiction is not set during the 20s or 30s, after all. In that sense. I think the 2017 Kong film easily out-pulps the 2005 one.
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Saw it this evening and quite liked it. King Kong smashing stuff and punching other giant critters - what's not to love? While there were some nice scenes in the PJ version, overall it was too sloooooooow. The crew behind Kong: Skull Island took to hear Tripod's advice: "Get to the f***ing monkey"!(1)
-Michael
(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZKc574LnBM
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One thing I didn't see in the trailers, is there any inter-species love interest in this movie? Does Kong fall head over toe-thumbs for a little blonde woman? Or is it more politically correct lol
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A hint of that theme is there, but much downplayed. Kong and his now-departed relatives set themselves up as the protectors of the native population, and the LBW is a human. Also, first time he sees her as an individual, she was trying to help a trapped critter, so he identifies her as Good Human.
The basic setup seems to be the Gigantic-but-otherwise "normal" creatures (the apes, the water buffaloes) vs the Hollow Earth creatures that come to the surface.
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I'm just back from the cinema with my wifey and I must say we both quite enjoyed it. The final fight is awesome and I started to cheer when the final scene after the credits hinted at seeing Mothra, Rhodan, Big G and...King Ghidora soon!!!!
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Saw it last night with son and grandson. We all enjoyed it. The multiplying helicopters, the fights, the giant spider and the biggest monkey we ever did see. Lots of fights and bullets flying about with no soppy bits. Reality suspended.
Wanted to see the giant ants - maybe in the Director's Cut?
Grandson even got the tribute to centenarian Dame Vera Lynn at the end.
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I thought it was great fun, it had everything I wanted in it, although I wouldn't have minded seeing a Skull Crawler fight a T Rex or a Triceratops.
Kong actually seemed a little too big, but I suppose if they want to have him fight Godzilla in an eventual sequel, they've got to make him larger.
I absolutely adore the RKO picture, it's one of my all time favorite films - and I liked PJ's version. I didn't think of that as a remake, just as a flowery love letter to the original.
The less that's said of the 1976 version (or the 1986 sequel, King Kong Lives), the better.
... OK, maybe we can briefly mention that Jessica Lange makes a decent stand-in for Fay Wray, but that's about it.
I think that the new Skull Island picture is a solid entry in the franchise - it has some cool monster fights, a giant ape punching helicopters, and Samuel L Jackson running around Samuel L Jackson-ing all over the place. I thought it was a hoot, and I'll be buying it on DVD.
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I went to see it last weekend. I would recommend it. It was fun, lots of action, full of ideas for future games. It's a pulp fantasy movie. don't try to read too much into it, take away what you can & have fun.
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Is it too late for me to get in on this game?
I found myself amazed at how polarizing this movie was. It either did things amazingly or awfully. There was no in between. Kong is fan-frigging-tastic. I speak as someone who watched the original 33 movie all the time as a kid. I did appreciate how this wasn't a soft reboot, sequel, remake, or anything like that. It was just it's own thing. Also I like how it went to the 70's instead of modern times. Seriously, why do all remakes have to take place in modern times? I'm looking at you Tom Cruise Mummy... >:(
Characters? Meh. Well, besides our pilot buddy. He really shocked me. Plot? Meh. I feel like they were overcompensating for the lack of action in Godzilla and slow pacing of the Peter Jackson movie. Learned from the mistakes, but tilted too far in the other direction. Had it been more balanced it would have been amazing. But even now I feel the itch to watch it, cuz man oh man the action is absolutely spectacular.
I also totally geeked out at the mention of Hollow Earth theory. As a lover of the Pellucidar series, hearing about that theory again makes me want to clap my hands in glee and did a lot to elevate it from being too stupid. And yay for new monsters too! Not just rehashes of the same ones. Yeah, woulda been nice to see another Rex, but I think he's on vacation. New saurian beasts! I'm down with that.
I hope they actually expand on other hollow islands and relic species. There is a lot of potential there.
Also, am I the only one who thought that half of the shots looked like they were made as trailer fodder? Holy crap this is one of the most cinematic movies I've ever seen in my life. You just take 30 stills and you've got all you need to make your own story in your head.
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Hey, he's approx 22 inches....
It's his wife I'm worried about....
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I sort of see the Jackson KK as a re-imagining of the classic black and white movie. I am interested, what didn't you like exactly? It was perhaps a tad slow paced and overlong, I grant, but you must agree that the setting was much more pulp, being in the 20's with the tramp steamer and all....the new one looks (to me, just based on the trailers) like a mash up of Jurassic Park 2, Predator and Platoon. I just can't get excited about it.
The ice skating scene in the PJ could be the worst scene in all of movie history. That alone, but Jack Black was tragically miscast and Adrian Brody as an action hero/love interest didn't quite work either. And the dinosaur stampede, and the weird natives, etc...
Loved the 30s bits and the ship and the island, but once you got to meet the characters... :?
Renting the new one tonight!
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How did a P-51D get into a dogfight, in a hurricane, with a Zero, over an unknown Island far removed from any other land mass? Was there a carrier version of the P-51 in WWII?
Wouldnt experienced attack chopper pilots figure out real quick, that when attacking a giant ape, the first rule is "Stay out of his reach"?
Now the realistic part. When I won the "Monster Island" Championship at Recon (I had Godzilla, and it came down to a last battle against Kong for the championship) Kong picked up and threw 1/144 scale trees just like in the movie!
But I prevailed! Only problem, out of like 12 players, I was the only adult! I beat children! :( Poor kids (average age was like 6) were crying when I killed their Kaijus (and then stood up and danced a jig and yelled "Get up! I gotta lot Mo' for ya! Get up!") Won an armful of prizes, including two big sets of Bandai kaijus (like 20 figures) which of course, I gave out to all the kids :( I gave away every prize. :(
One poor kid was proud of his "Man Card" (it was a card that said man card) and when he balled after I killed Hedora, his father said to him "I'm gonna have to take your man card!" lol