I decided to watch this edit because I just didn’t like the original movie that much. Too long, too bloated and a too meandering plot. I wanted to give the movie another go in the form of a fan edit.

I agree with Blackhawk’s review. I liked the idea behind the edit and it is definitely carried off well.

The edit excised all the stuff that irked me about the original, but doesn’t go far enough, for me. I realize, however, I have never liked this movie and edit doesn’t improve my personal opinion about “King Kong”. I’m not faulting Gekko or his edit, but the original movie is just one of those movies that disappoints me, in whatever format/version.

I absolutely loved this edit in B&W and helped improve my dismal opinion of the original.

I noticed the artifacts in this edit as well, and am not sure if this was intentional to create a more old-time B&W movie feel or if is due to the over-compressed video. In the long run, it bothered me. The DVD does have a Gb of used space and could have well serve this edit.

Like a few other edits I have watched from here, it seemed like the “dust” and “scratched” film effects were a bit too overused here. I want them there, but less than presented in this edit.

Again, fans of the original (i.e. the 2005) movie will more than likely appreciate this edit and like it more than I.

There were two things I didn’t care for. The video is overly compressed. There are major artifacts throughout the video. This is very distracting. Maybe a higher bit rate would have helped. The DVD was only about three and a half Gig, which means a Gig of space on the disc was wasted. Less compression would make a big difference. And, personally, I could have done with less simulated dirt and scratches. It is very common to find B&W films with none of these and even films that have had no restoration normally only have noticable dirt and scratches on the first part of the first reel. A film has to have been abused to have dirt and scratches all the way through. I know the intent was to create the impression of a vintage film, but look at the DVD of the actual 1933 KING KONG. It doesn’t look this bad by a long shot.

Those issues aside, it’s an impressive job.

Only gripe i had, was that some shots near the beginning, mostly talking shots, were still a bit too sharp looking to look old. Quality was a bit too high, and a few more dust n scratches could have helped. Aside from that it was excellent.

And well worth the download.