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.
 * Brie Larson as Ann Darrow - A beautiful young woman who is an actress. She was hired by Denham to star in latest picture, whilst
 * Tom Hiddleston as Carl Denham - A young and idealistic film director and Ann's love interest and eventual fiancee.
 * Kyle Chandler as Jack Drischoll - The first mate of the Wanderer.
 * Forest Whitaker as Captain Englehorn - The captain of the S.S. Wanderer and an old friend of both Carl and his late father.
 * Ben Mendelsohn as Bruce Wilson - A film director who used to do film business with Carl's late father. Unlike Carl however, Bruce is a selfish and ruthless man whose only thought is to further his career.
 * 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 then 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. One appeared in the first episode where it encountered Kong whilst feeding, it then left
 * Pteranodon -
 * Titanoboa - A species of giant constrictor snake from Colombia during the Eocene. One appeared in the second episode, where it menaced Ann at the base of Kong's lair. It attempted to constrict Kong, however he managed to pry it off and killed by both smashing its head against the rocks and ripping its jaws apart.
 * Arsinoitherium - A large rhino like mammal from Egypt during the Eocene. One appeared in the second episode where it encountered the Wanderer crew, it at first ignored them until a panicking crew member shot it thus enraging it. It chased them through the jungle, trampling one of the sailors too death, it then kept them trapped on the log bridge between itself and Kong. Other then Kong, it the is only prehistoric mammal shown in the miniseries.
 * 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 Skull Island
Over the centuries, several people have visited Skull Island. However they either come back without any proper evidence or never come back at all.
 * 1605 - A Spaniard named Fernando De Queres was blown South from Tenotang. He wrote in his log, about "piercing the white veil surrounding and landing on the island of the skull shaped mountain". Where he heard the roar of "the greatest beast", unfortunately the rest of the log entry was suppressed by the Holy Office in Rome.
 * 1749 - A waterlogged lifeboat was found in the same area. Now it was empty, but drawn in blood on the thwart was the likeness of some huge slouchy, humanoid creature and a strange warning "from thy wedding with the creature who touches heaven, lady God preserve thee".
 * 1830 - A British merchant vessel called the Queen Mary, sailed into the area whilst on its way to Sumatra. Neither the ship or its crew were ever seen again.
 * 1933 - A canoe full of natives from the island was blown to sea. When they were picked up by the captain of a Norwegian barque

Episodes
Episode 1: The Journey Begins -

Episode 2: The Search for Kong -

Episode 3: The Fall of the King -

Episode 1

 * Ann is seen sunbathing in a swimsuit.
 * Some native women are some topless with their breasts covered by flowers, this is for tribal purposes only.
 * The two native sacrifice victims have very revealing outfits that reveal cleavage.
 * Whilst being prepared for her sacrifice to Kong, Ann in bought into a native hut, where she is stripped naked and bathed by three tribal hags. Her breasts and buttocks are seen.

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.
 * Jack Drischoll isn't Ann's love interest in the miniseries, he is also killed on Skull Island.
 * The natives of Skull Island are seemingly of Maori descent.
 * The ship is called the S.S. Wanderer, instead of the Venture. This was the same in the 1932 novelization.

Trivia

 * The miniseries, is based mostly on the unnamed 1976 film The Legend of King Kong by Universal.
 * The main filming location for the miniseries was Kauai, Hawaii, the same filming location as Jurassic Park.