The Legend of King Kong (Miniseries)

The Legend of King Kong is a 2013 three part miniseries by HBO that was created to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the original King Kong film and featuring an ensemble cast. It received two Emmy's, one Creative for Outstanding Special Visual Effects and one Primetime for Outstanding Drama series.

Plot
In 1954 famous movie film makers Carl Denham and Baxter Wilson chart a ship to an unknown island located in the Indian Ocean.

Cast and Characters

 * Brian Steele as King Kong - A giant 30 ft ape resembling a Gorilla, he lives on a tropical island located west of Sumatra. He is worshiped as a god by the island Natives who once in a while sacrifice virgins to him, in the third episode it is revealed that he is the last of his species. Also in the third episode he is captured and bought back to New York for show, however he breaks out and goes on a rampage though the city. He is killed whilst battling army jets on top of the Empire State Building.
 * Tamzin Merchant as Ann Darrow - A beautiful young woman who is an actress. She was hired by Denham to star in latest picture
 * Jai Courtney as Carl Denham - A young film director
 * Kyle Chandler as Jack Drischoll - The first mate of the Wanderer.
 * Forest Whitaker as Captain Englehorn - The captain of the S.S. Wanderer
 * Ben Mendelsohn as Bruce Wilson -
 * Temuera Morrison as Native Chief -

Creatures of Skull Island

 * Tyrannosaurus Rex - The most famous predator from Cretaceous North America and the largest predator on Skull Island. One appeared in the second episode where it menaced Ann, whilst she was in a tree, Kong came to her rescue and after a lengthy battle managed to kill it by breaking its jaws.
 * Triceratops - A famous three horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation. A small herd appeared in the second, where Kong and Ann encounter them on volcanic flats. Kong fought and killed the lead by breaking off one of its horns and stabbing it in the neck before throwing boulders at the herd sending them into a stampede and impaling a member of the Wanderer crew.
 * Parasaurolophus - A species of duck billed dinosaur from Late Cretaceous North America. An unusually aggressive individual appeared in the second episode where it encountered the Wanderer crew in the swamp, it capsized their raft and killed a few in the water.
 * Velociraptor - A vicious little pack hunting dinosaur from Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous. A pack of ten appeared near the end of the first episode where Ann, having run into a pit full of Kong's previous victims met a pack of them. Kong showed up and killed most of the pack after a vicious fight with them, the surviving members then fled.
 * Ankylosaurus - A species of armored clubbed tailed dinosaur form North America during the Late Cretaceous.
 * Pteranodon -
 * Titanoboa -
 * Arsinoitherium -
 * Pit Scorpion -
 * Giant Amphibian -

Locations

 * New York City - A located along the East coast of North America.
 * Yankee Stadium -
 * Empire State Building -
 * Skull Island - A mysterious uncharted island located in the Indian Island, Southwest of Sumatra. It is surrounded by a perpetual fog bank and is infamous for its mountain in the shape of a human skull.
 * Native Village -
 * The Wall -
 * Kong's Lair -

Visitors to the Island

 * 1605 -
 * 1749 -
 * 1830 -
 * 1933 -

Episodes
Episode 1: The Journey Begins -

Episode 2: The Search for Kong -

Episode 3: The Fall of the King -

Differences from the Original King Kong
Whilst being similar to the Original King Kong, the miniseries has several differences.
 * The miniseries is set in 1954, rather than 1933.
 * Carl is portrayed as being much younger than most of his portrayals.
 * Ann and Carl fall in love with each other, whilst in most other versions Ann falls in love with Jack Drischoll.
 * Carl also takes Jack's place as Ann's rescuer in the miniseries.
 * Captain Englehorn is African America in the miniseries, whereas he's Caucasian in both the original and 2005 remake.
 * In the miniseries, Jack Drischoll isn't Ann's love interest and is killed on Skull Island.
 * The natives of Skull Island are seemingly of Maori descent.