David_Newcastle
Joined Jun 2000
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Reviews10
David_Newcastle's rating
Oh Lord, somebody please tell me I wasn't the only one who sat through this three-hour insult to the original classic and was cringing in embarrassment. There are so many things wrong with this thoroughly misguided movie that I couldn't possibly list them all! To sum up the problem, everything the original film did artfully and effectively, this bloated joke did with a complete lack of same.
Just take, for example, how completely wrong the characters are: Ann Darrow is changed from a terrified girl who is carried off by monstrous beast into a gutsy animal-rights activist who pleads with all those cruel people who want to stop the dear misunderstood beast from tossing cars and blonds over his shoulder in New York.
Jack Driscoll is transformed from a handsome, macho seaman on a tramp freighter into a hawk-nosed nerd who sits in the ship's cargo hold and types bad movie scripts.
Carl Denham, the fearless filmmaker with the big dreams is reduced to a lying, bad-check-passing, no-talent little weasel who is pursued by studio creditors. He walks around quoting insincere epitaphs to people who just died in the jaws of dinosaurs.
Just to make certain that everything about the original film was thoroughly slandered, Jackson even adds a new character to the story an egotistical ham actor named Bruce Baxter who plays out a scene in front of Denham's camera on the deck of the Venture. The scene is a jokey recreation of the famous scene in which Faye Wray looks so lovely while she flirts with the handsome star of the original movie Bruce Cabot.
Gee, thanks Peter . . .
And just when I thought the movie couldn't possible get worse, Kong's Broadway début is presented as a singing-dancing stage number complete with Max Steiner's original music and a campy, Vegas-style recreation of the native ritual from the original.
The only thing this misguided mess did not do that would have degraded the Kong legacy even worse was to let Ann Darrow give Kong a big wet kiss atop the Empire State Building and then have the ape magically transformed into a handsome prince by the love of Beauty.
Cheer up, folks. Maybe that scene will be in the five-hour "director's cut" on DVD.
Just take, for example, how completely wrong the characters are: Ann Darrow is changed from a terrified girl who is carried off by monstrous beast into a gutsy animal-rights activist who pleads with all those cruel people who want to stop the dear misunderstood beast from tossing cars and blonds over his shoulder in New York.
Jack Driscoll is transformed from a handsome, macho seaman on a tramp freighter into a hawk-nosed nerd who sits in the ship's cargo hold and types bad movie scripts.
Carl Denham, the fearless filmmaker with the big dreams is reduced to a lying, bad-check-passing, no-talent little weasel who is pursued by studio creditors. He walks around quoting insincere epitaphs to people who just died in the jaws of dinosaurs.
Just to make certain that everything about the original film was thoroughly slandered, Jackson even adds a new character to the story an egotistical ham actor named Bruce Baxter who plays out a scene in front of Denham's camera on the deck of the Venture. The scene is a jokey recreation of the famous scene in which Faye Wray looks so lovely while she flirts with the handsome star of the original movie Bruce Cabot.
Gee, thanks Peter . . .
And just when I thought the movie couldn't possible get worse, Kong's Broadway début is presented as a singing-dancing stage number complete with Max Steiner's original music and a campy, Vegas-style recreation of the native ritual from the original.
The only thing this misguided mess did not do that would have degraded the Kong legacy even worse was to let Ann Darrow give Kong a big wet kiss atop the Empire State Building and then have the ape magically transformed into a handsome prince by the love of Beauty.
Cheer up, folks. Maybe that scene will be in the five-hour "director's cut" on DVD.
I agree with the all the POSITIVE comments on this unique little blast-from-the-past. "Flight to Mars" is a very enjoyable movie, despite it's limitations.
Beware, however, of the new DVD of "Flight to Mars". It is NOT derived from the same print as the prerecorded videotape that came out several years ago. The DVD print is riddled with scratches, and several scenes are ruined by numerous missing pieces of film!
We can only hope that a new DVD -- transferred from a BETTER print -- is released in the next few years. Meanwhile, please take my advice and watch the videotape. You'll thank me later.
Beware, however, of the new DVD of "Flight to Mars". It is NOT derived from the same print as the prerecorded videotape that came out several years ago. The DVD print is riddled with scratches, and several scenes are ruined by numerous missing pieces of film!
We can only hope that a new DVD -- transferred from a BETTER print -- is released in the next few years. Meanwhile, please take my advice and watch the videotape. You'll thank me later.
