By Rob Hunter
“This whole movie is basically just my huge, expensive infomercial for why people should go visit Vietnam.”
Warner Bros.’ giant monsterverse is two films in so far, and the visible improvement from Godzilla to Kong: Skull Island bodes well for whatever comes next. The latter film understands that the big draw here are the big monsters, and it delivers an abundance of big monster action. The film was recently released on Blu-ray/DVD, and in addition to numerous featurettes and deleted scenes the supplements include a director’s commentary.
Keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary track for Kong: Skull Island.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Commentator: Jordan Vogt-Roberts (director)
1. The opening title sequence featuring WB and Legendary logos was originally meant to feature “throwbacks to 70s vector-based and illustrated company logos,” but not only could they not get them right but the companies were also “very protective of their logos.”
2. The American pilot falling out of the sun is meant to suggest Icarus, a world of myths, and the loss of mankind’s connection to them.
3. The opening on the beach is tonally inspired by the likes of The Good the Bad the Weird, and he adds that “I love the idea of this crazy David Lean movie.”
4. The title credits are done by Kyle Cooper who also did David Fincher’s Seven.
5. The image that Bill Randa (John Goodman) hands Senator Willis (Richard Jenkins) was originally of Godzilla, but he fought against that as he felt the film needed to be about Kong from the beginning.
6. Jenkins, Corey Hawkins, Toby Kebbell, and John Dykstra are all “the man.”
7. Three of his Kings of Summer stars — Nick Robinson, Erin Moriarty, and Moises Arias — appear in the background at the 12:10 mark. It was the last day of filming, and he flew them out to Hawaii for the cameo.
8. Thomas Middleditch is the voice on the phone with Brie Larson.
9. The ship named Athena is his “dumb, unnecessary” nod to Alien via the lettering font. It’s the first of several “dorky” nods in the film, and he promises to point some out while leaving others for the viewers to find.
10. Chuck Jones’ “Now Hear This” is playing in the background of the briefing scene. He’s always loved it and took advantage of this being a WB film to toss it into the movie.
Final Thoughts
As flawed as the script may be there’s no denying the appeal of the imagery throughout Kong: Skull Island. It’s a visually exciting movie, and Vogt-Roberts splits his enthusiasm evenly between what we’re seeing onscreen and the people involved. He loves his cast and crew, and he’s complimentary towards them all — with the exception of Samuel L. Jackson whom he only mentions briefly a couple times before his character dies. He’s also not shy about sharing his pop culture interests from video games to anime to Asian cinema, and if you take nothing else from his numerous references know this… he *loves* Evangelion. It’s a solid track with minimal silence, and he shares a lot of information regarding the production choices making for an interesting and engaging listen.
Read more Commentary Commentary from the archives.
The article 25 Things We Learned from the ‘Kong: Skull Island’ Commentary appeared first on Film School Rejects.
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