King Kong holds court along with his offspring

The King Kong Collection

(Warner, $40 for the set; $27 for two-disc special edition of “King Kong”; $40 for two-disc collector’s edition)

THOUGH the verdict is still out on Peter Jackson’s remake of “King Kong,” due Dec. 14, its impending release has been a boon to the landmark 1933 original and its filmmakers, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack.

Thanks to Jackson’s new movie, Warner is releasing “King Kong” as well as several other Cooper/Schoedsack films: the 1933 sequel “Son of Kong,” the 1949 Oscar winner “Mighty Joe Young” and the 1935 disaster film “Last Days of Pompeii.” Milestone is re-releasing two silent documentaries the pair made in the 1920s.

King Kong

This exhilarating spectacle -- Hollywood’s first real monster movie -- is still a treat and proves that one doesn’t need expensive budgets, color film or computer graphic special effects to mesmerize audiences.

Willis O’Brien’s innovative stop-motion effects, which brought the giant ape so vividly to life, are, like Kong himself, the eighth wonder of the world.

Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot, who were modeled after Cooper and Schoedsack, star, along with Fay Wray, who played the beauty who caught the attention of the beast. Her piercing screams at the first sight of Kong earned her the nickname “The Queen of Scream.” The score by Max Steiner was also groundbreaking in the way it heightened the action on screen, as was Murray Spivack’s innovative sound design.

Extras: The two-disc set features a beautiful transfer of the restored and digitally mastered print, which came from England -- it has all 29 scenes that were cut because of sex or violence for the film’s 1938 reissue -- and affectionate commentary from special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen and visual effects specialist Ken Ralston, with excerpts from vintage interviews with Cooper and Wray.

The second disc includes the pleasant documentary “I’m King Kong! The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper,” which will air on Turner Classic Movies, and a comprehensive seven-part documentary, “RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World.” The documentary also includes Jackson’s re-creation of the lost “spider pit sequence.” Rounding out the disc is four minutes of “Creation,” a film O’Brien was planning, with commentary by Harryhausen.

The Son of Kong

With the phenomenal success of “King Kong,” RKO quickly put a sequel into production. Armstrong returns in this lighthearted action-adventure in which he finds Kong’s sweetnatured offspring.

Mighty Joe Young

Cooper and Schoedsack reteamed with O’Brien for this enchanting action film about a girl (Terry Moore) and her very, very big pet gorilla. O’Brien supervised the special effects, which won the Oscar, and Harryhausen assisted -- marking his first feature. Armstrong and a young Ben Johnson also star.

Extras: Delightful commentary from Harryhausen, Moore and Ralston; a charming featurette in which Harryhausen is interviewed by contemporary stop-motion animators the Chiodo brothers; and another mini-doc with Harryhausen and the Chiodo brothers on the animation for “Young.”

The Last Days of Pompeii

(Warner, $20)

This hokey period drama, directed by Schoedsack in 1935, only comes alive when Vesuvius erupts -- so just skip to chapter stop 25. Playing a blacksmith turned gladiator, Preston Foster has as much appeal as dry paint.

Grass: A Nation’s

Battle for Life

(Milestone, $30)

Back in 1924, first-time filmmakers Cooper and Schoedsack teamed up with writer/spy Marguerite Harrison to film the remarkable migration of the Bakhtiari tribe of what was Persia. Twice a year, more than 50,000 people would set out on a perilous journey with half a million animals to find grazing land.

Extras: Excerpts from a 40-year-old audio interview with Cooper conducted by film historian Rudy Behlmer.

Chang: A Drama

of the Wilderness

(Milestone, $30)

Cooper considered “Chang” his best film. Shot in Siam (today’s Thailand) and released in 1927, the action-adventure is about a poor farmer and his family, eking out a living in the jungle, who must fend off the bears, tigers and elephants with which they share the land. The family’s pet monkey, Bimbo, steals the movie. Be forewarned, though: The scenes in which animals are shot and killed are disturbing.

Extras: The original press kit, a test colorized sequence from “Chang” and commentary with Behlmer, augmented by excerpts from his Cooper interview.