Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a natural history of a lost world, December 4, 2005
One problem with lost world stories is authors have always assumed that evolution would suddenly come to a grinding halt 65 million years ago. That's why you get prehistoric plateaus, mysterious islands and underground worlds filled with T. rexes and triceratops resembling their ancient counterparts. I believe it was Greg Bear who first broke this trend in this novel Dinosaur Summer. And I'm glad to see the filmmakers of King Kong have decided to break it as well.
Both science fiction fans and paleontology lovers will enjoy The World of Kong. It is a bestiary and field guide to the wildlife of Skull Island, at times amazing in its detail, documenting even the insects and fish that thrive in the imaginary ecosystem. The folks at the special effects Weta Workshop let their imaginations run wild in this collaborative effort, but kept their beasts mostly grounded in science. In these pages are the descendants of Permian mammal-like reptiles, dinosaurs and even prehistoric terror birds, along with a few new creatures like flying rats (but, alas, no pterosaurs other than one short mention). The book is full of gorgeous color illustrations accompanied by short, concise articles documenting the behavior and evolutionary history of the species described in it.
I would give this work 4 1/2 stars if that were possible because there are some minor problems. There is too much focus on predators, as if everyone at Weta was in a competition to dream up the scariest monster. The authors also play up the "lizardness" of their dinosaurs despite the evolutionary link to birds, giving their V. rex (an evolved T. rex) crocodile-like hide and their "raptors" a snake-like skin. And if you wanted to be priggish about it, an island is far too small an area to support all these large animals, and some of the insects and spiders are far larger than what is physically possible. (A dinosaur-eating spider?!) But these are minor complaints. Creature lovers and fans of fantasy illustration will dig this book.
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29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quite a piece!, November 26, 2005
Finally someone did it right! And, no I'm not talking about a remake of King Kong. Rather, someone published a book of movie development art that actually reflects some of the fictional element of the film in a stylish way. Crammed full of gorgeous paintings, this book also features text that gives the reader the impression that he or she is studying the results of some paleo-expedition to Skull Island. Rather than repeat the same old "making-of" quality of other movie art books, this one serves as a nice compliment to the movie.
The only drawback is that most of the book deals with the numerous dinosaurs and giant bugs that inhabit the island and paintings of Kong (our hero, after all) are few and relegated to the last few pages. I personally would have also like to have seen more of the tribal village, but that's nitpicking.
That said, if you're a Kong fan, of all the merchandise that's bound to spew forth from Peter Jackson's remake, this book will by far be the most stylish.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great art and world design!, December 4, 2005
The World of Kong is a fantastic book that depicts the world beyond what you're going to see in the movie. All of the art is original designs of environments, creatures and their brief "archeological" explanations. They're seemingly a mixture of digital and traditional art. No still shots/photos from the movie or script included.
The "expedition journal" format breaks up the material very well and makes it a fun read. The book cover itself is jungle green with gold text and image of Kong. There is more in depth information of the various creatures that inhabit Skull island from dinosaurs, insects, and aquatic life. Great landscape artwork gives you a solid idea of what Skull Island is
The book may be short of images of Kong (actually, there are several) the people and everything you'll see in the movie, but... that's what the movie is for!
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