lf (1).jpg FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1964)
Adaptation of HG Wells novel.
A tale of two halves really. The film starts as a comedy of sorts with the inventor Lionel Jefferies really quite irritating as he bumbles around explaining and shouting about his invention to go to the moon.
Once we enter the moon things change and become more serious.
Ray's model work is excellent as usual in the visual effects but this time only two creatures to animate, the Moon Calf and the Selenites.
fullsizeoutput_4637.jpg KING KONG (1976)
A box office smash on release. Only later has the movie been subjected to ridicule.
The movie has it's good and bad moments but for the most part it is a good film. The man in a suit Kong is well played and the animatronic Kong heads look awesome. The scene at the waterfall when Kong blows Dwan dry with John Barry's music playing is fantastic. Also the scene in the cargo ship on the way back to New York is also very sad. A full size Kong was made for the movie with limited movement but did not look good so it is only seen in quick shots nearing the end of the movie.
There were a lot of good ideas in this film involving Kong and the girl that Peter Jackson expanded on in his later version.