When Merian C. Cooper unleashed his "King Kong" in 1933, he went to great lengths to safeguard the secrets behind its mind-bending special effects. The original series migrated to DVD the day before the new "Kong" opened, giving viewers the unusual option of watching a hit film's DVD extras just as it premieres. The shorts aren't all that different from most well-made production featurettes, but few projects have looked into this many corners of the filmmaking process or spent 31D2 hours doing it.

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