Kong: Skull Island

Why the fuck would he be a public domain character anyway? There are other characters his age who probably have never lost track of who owns them. Fuck, every ORIGINAL Disney character rests firmly in the hands of Disney and only goes elsewhere when doing licensed games.

While the video was more or less correct I practically spit my inexistant coffee when he said KING ARTHUR is "a character created by a writer long ago".

A character some English guy wrote fanfiction a few centuries ago.

I already knew about the evil mouse extending his life at the cost of everyone else. I'm assuming, then, that Kong was simply too old (Ran through his own copyright period) at that point and fell into Public Domain before the law happened.

King Kong's story is a messy one, with disputes over whether the character is solely owned by Merian C. Cooper, or the studio that owned the original films. So one court ruling I heard, while the 1933 film was still under copyright... Cooper's novelisation, released just before the film, did not have its copyrights renewed, and thus it — and its characters and plot — were in the public domain.

I'm not sure where it all stands right now, though. The rights are all split up, RKO still holds the original films, the '70s remake is owned by someone else, I think the Coopers won some rights and sold them to Universal, and it's a big mess that does my head in to keep track of.

edited 30th Jul '16 8:46:19 PM by Lavaeolus

Sounds like King Kong the giant ape is public domain while the human characters from each story are not. I actually don't have a problem with Public Domain as long as the author who created everything gets to set One Canon Above Them All. Which, I know, is anathema to public domain in the first place.

So it's another reboot bordering on In Name Only to set up a rerun. Does anyone really think MVP vs Togi Makabe will ever end any other way?

Which Diaz is fighting McGregor again?

edited 20th Aug '16 5:57:06 AM by IndirectActiveTransport

Uh, I think you might have posted in the wrong thread. This about the new King Kong movie, not wrestling.

Black Godzilla's a better rematch for King Kong, even though we all know how it would end. That it's not being done but people are pushing for the idea of that ape who should have never been matched up with Godzilla in the first place baffles me. All MVP would have to do is beat people up and maybe show off a scary new throw or hold and interest for a NEVER shot or something would pique.

McGregor and Diaz is a rematch actually happening because it's one people actually want to see. The only build up needed is and was I'll fight him again, I want that belt.

If the entire premise of the fight requires one side to not only make weight but grow unexplained mass and gain inexplicable new powers, and the opposition still needs a new handicap to make the audience buy it, it's a match up that probably should not have happened. Hollywood has night infinite ability to protect its fighters, there's no reason it can't pit King Kong or Godzilla against foes more appropriate to their weight class. Now they're remaking a movie for the fourth time that wasn't that good the first time for the purpose of making the gorilla into a mansquatch in the hopes this will finally make people buy it fighting Godzilla...no, you don't see MVP and Makabe going at it again and that would be a thousand times more preferable.

See Marvel vs Capcom. ("So what if you can warp the very fabric of reality on a galaxy-wide scale? I know kung fu!") -cue match that's closer than it has any right to be-

edited 21st Aug '16 10:52:06 AM by nervmeister

I'm not to worried about this version of King Kong not being a believable threat to Godzilla since, judging from the trailer, they made him gigantic even by King Kong standards.

And while he still might not be as big as the Godzilla we know he's going to be fighting, he can still have the upper hand in terms of agility and intelligence. So sure Godzillia could probably cook him with one solid hit with his breath attack, but actually getting a solid hit in will be easier said and done while King Kong is running circles around him and using the environment in creative ways.

The flying MUTO did attempt that tactic with initial success but Big G got that critical blow in eventually (albeit that MUTO was smaller than Kong appears to be). Kong's more humanoid shape in the trailer does make me wonder if he's going to be more human in his intelligence and cunning, whereas before he's generally been a pretty smart animal but still an animal, more instinctive and impulsive than rational and calculating - though way more violent and aggressive than vanilla variety gorillas normally behave.

Well, in terms of durability, Kong will likely be outclassed. Godzilla took the concussive and incendiary force of a megaton nuke at ground zero, had a building fall right on top of him, got moshed by two Mutos, and walked through a bridge as if it were a finish line ribbon.

I'm definitely on #Team Kong but it will always be an uphill battle for him. Kong is more or less a Prehistoric Monster from a different age while Godzilla is the creation of the abuses of atomic energy. I really do wonder if they would give him lightning powers like in the old movie, or if modern audiences would find that just too weird. Pretty much any "normal" type monster that doesn't have some kind of power other than strength and toughness ends up as a jobber.

Anyway, as for the quality of Skull Island, I have mixed feelings, and it's namely because of Samuel L. Jackson and John Goodman. I get the feeling these two are possibly replacing J.K. Simmons and/or Michael Keaton in whatever roles they were originally cast. Now, Jackson and Goodman are great actors, I like them, but they also tend to be cast in some really underwhelming movies, since they seem to be really easy to get. Them both being in this makes me feel like it could end up being really dumb, but still a fun movie.

I do really like the Vietnam War aesthetic they're going for though, I think it really fits Kong in general, a (relatively) more modern take on venturing into a dark, dangerous jungle where everything is trying to kill you. I also really like that shot in the trailer of the choppers flying towards a sunset, and you can see Kong's giant silhouette in the distance while heat waves ripple. Very Apocalypse Now.

edited 14th Sep '16 10:28:51 AM by StarOutlaw

They've been distributing Skull Island maps at NYCC with hidden blacklight details.

Apparently the Kong in the movie is only a teenager.

http://www.scified.com/news/major-skull-island-details--hidden-messages-discovered-kong-skull-island-poster

So would that mean he isn't fully grown?

Personally, I'm a little disappointed that this variation of King Kong is large enough to tangle with Godzilla on even footing, if only because a theoretical battle between standard King Kong and Godzilla has the potential to be a unique and fantastically staged action scene. Just establish early on that King Kong packs enough of a punch to bruise Godzilla, that his strength is enough to rip off individual scales, drawing blood, that his speed and agility in an urban environment give him great maneuverability, and that his intelligence is high enough to use all of these, plus tools, to his advantage against Godzilla.

Have their fight basically be the film equivalent to those bosses in video games where you have to climb on top of the giant boss, and take it down, bit by bit, while they destroy the landscape around them, except with more proactive fighting back from the giant boss's side.

I like that concept but I think getting Kong's size right to pull that off would be a really tricky balancing act. He's got to be small enough that he's pulling the colossus climb yet also big enough that we're expected to believe that he can do the kind of damage that's going to put Godzilla down (and given the beating the MUT Os gave Godzilla last time around he's basically got the chin of a big scaly Rocky.)

Kong being a little smaller and using his agility and cunning to box clever instead of getting into a slugging match is definitely an interesting move, especially given that this iteration of Godzilla is certainly no dumb beast and has a modicum of strategy himself (c.f: his tail-swipe impalement of the flying MUTO.) I can see some sort of giant city-wide rope-a-dope strategy coming into place.

edited 5th Nov '16 12:26:48 PM by jakobitis

I was thinking King Kong could be approximately the same size as Godzilla's head, making him small enough to climb directly on Godzilla and maneuver around him, but large enough that a direct jumping punch to Godzilla's jaw could realistically carry enough force to knock out a tooth.

First good look at the design. It's very much a modernized 1933 Kong rather then PJ's "regular gorilla but huge".

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/11/10/kong-skull-island-first-look-movie-monster

That picture gives me the impression of chimpanzee aspects mixed in with the gorilla, which makes sense really - this particular Kong is a species unto himself, he shares common ape features but is more than simply a scaled up gorilla.

The Jackson Kong seemed to behave in a pretty gorilla-ish way (albeit more aggressive than real ones) with the body language and so on, so it might be interesting to see how this one behaves relative to real great apes.

Even if Kong is as large as Godzilla, how is he going to get past his flame breath?

Kong is probably smarter and more agile.

Also, opposable thumbs.

I'm now picturing Kong winning the fight by jamming his thumbs in Godzilla's eyes.