By Kit-Kat

Alright, let's just get this out of the way: Peter Jackson rocks and there is pretty much no way could I ever disdain any of his work. He caught my eye back in the early days of Meet the Feebles, Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners (to name a few). He blinded me to all else with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now, you mention his name associated with anything and I am so all over it. Seriously, he has impressed me so much that he makes me even pay attention to other directors now, where before I'd have the dazed blank look whenever a director's name was mentioned.

Given the opportunity to review King Kong: Peter Jackson's Production Diaries was never something I would even think about passing up. The man is a genius plain and simple. If you know anything about Peter, you know that King Kong is one of the films that meant the most to him therefore, it's pretty much a given that the mans heart and soul would go into the remake. I imagine he worked even harder on this than my coveted Lord of the Rings - and that I can hardly wrap my brain around.

The Production Diaries were originally released on the Kong is King website (branch of TORN aka The One Ring.net) every few days during filming (how cool was that!) so if you've watched them then you pretty much have a jist to the DVDs. The packaging the DVDs (two of them) come in is quite cool - I absolutely loved the briefcase styled box and your treated with a notebook looking DVD holder with production booklet (great snaps), a numbered certificate of authenticity with a reproduced Peter Jackson signature (woohoo), and four amazing lithographs featuring concept art! Even now I keep staring at all of it, playing show and tell whenever I get a chance, since you just don't get neat little packages often with most DVDs (at least not in my experience). While he may not go into pain staking details enjoyed in the LotR making of DVDs - these are fantastic in their own respect. Peter is the guide throughout the featurettes and you delve into the minutia of moviemaking, filmmaking tricks of the trade and even have humor along the way.

You can tell the actors had fun and it was a joy to see Andy Serkis again (the man is a marvel) both on screen and behind the scenes as Kong, Adrien Brody and Jack Black give you sea faring tips. If you ever lacked knowledge of the details for filmmaking you will be a pro by the time you're done with these. Another great thing is you know (straight from the man himself) that these are not going to be repeated as extras on the King Kong DVD - rather they stand in their own right and the movie DVD will have all sorts of other extras to sink your teeth into. Mind you the featurettes were done on the internet so they will not be up to DVD standards as far as quality goes and the sound, while clear is a lower end than what you're probably accustomed to on regular DVDs. What the quality is lacking the sheer information and details make up for (not to mention the smashing packaging). There is even a great T-Rex documentary that will have you just dancing in your seat wishing for the movie release.

Have you figured out I was in awe, enamored and overwhelmed with the very idea of The Production Diaries? If not you my friend are living under a rock. There is nothing I can say as a flaw for this set. You can bet these are on the top shelf along with the proudly displayed LotR goodies I have.

This is a must own for all movie fans. Whether you are a film nut and just salivate over the behind the scenes goodness that Peter always tosses up, or you were a fan of the old version of King Kong - this DVD set is something to cherish. If you don't want to spoil the movie for yourself, I'd recommend buying the production diaries and waiting to watch them until after you've seen the film - I guarantee you'll appreciate the amazing amount of effort that went into the remake of this classic.