(VNF) - The country’s ruggedness, wilderness and beauty make the Kong retake look fresh, says Jordan Vogt-Roberts.

A photo of the Kong: Skull Island film set in Quang Binh, Vietnam. (Photo: @voteroberts/Instagram)

“Kong: Skull Island” is hitting global threaters in two days, and that matters for two reasons. First, it’s the return of the giant mythical Kong, obviously, and second, because it was filmed in Vietnam.

In a recent chat with Channel NewsAsia, the film’s director praised the “gorgeous” Vietnam for giving the movie a fresh look and making it stand out from previous retakes.

In this film, audiences are plunged into the waning days of the Vietnam War and sent on a discovery expedition - alongside a cast of Hollywood A-listers such as Samuel L Jackson, John Goodman, Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson - to a mysterious island inhabited by the titular Kong.

To fully immerse audiences in Skull Island and bring Kong’s homeland to cinematic life, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts told Channel NewsAsia that it was “incredibly important” to try to shoot as much of the movie in real locations.

A sneak peek of 'Kong: Skull Island' filming in Vietnam. (Photo: @voteroberts/Instagram)

To capture the film’s primordial landscapes, Vogt-Roberts and his cast and crew filmed in places such as Hawaii, Australia and Vietnam over a period of approximately six months. Visually it has paid off, setting Kong: Skull Island apart from its predecessors and the rest of the Kong oeuvre.

For the director, filming in Vietnam stood out.

“I scoured the world. I very specifically didn’t want (the film) to look like Jurassic Park ... I wanted it to look fresh,” he explained. “I think audiences go to cinemas to see new things. So I went to a lot of places in Asia. People have shot in Thailand before and it seemed like an easy fit but I was like, ‘No!’ so we kept going around. And then I landed in Vietnam, looked at these landscapes and just fell in love.”

VIETNAM IS "GORGEOUS AND OTHERWORLDLY"

According to Vogt-Roberts, Vietnam provided the “perfect aesthetic” for the film.

“The look of Vietnam is gorgeous and otherworldly at the same time,” he said. “There’s such a raw, powerful and unspoiled beauty that general audiences hadn't experienced on screen before. There’s ruggedness and a beauty to a place like Vietnam.”

The world's largest cave Son Doong in Vietnam. (Photo: @voteroberts/Instagram)

An all-star cast, including Oscar winner Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and Tom Hiddleston, and around 120 crew members touched down in Vietnam in February last year. The filming took them to famous sites in the central province of Quang Binh’s colossal caves, the northern province of Ninh Binh and the world-renowned Ha Long Bay, all of which are some of the most remote and beautiful parts of Vietnam but have not appeared in a Hollywood film before.

“That’s the reason why we shot there, because you’re trying to find something that is completely untouched and looks unlike anything you’ve seen before. And Vietnam is the answer to that,” said actress Brie Larson.

“You can see it in the film. People will have to go visit it. I cannot say enough nice things about Vietnam. It was my first trip there and it will certainly not be my last. Hanoi was absolutely incredible … and Ninh Binh was also beautiful. I tell everyone who wants to go there that (Hanoi) is such a great place to start because there’s so much to do and so much to see.”

Larson, who had to fly directly from Vietnam to the Academy Awards to receive her Best Actress Oscar and then back to resume filming of Kong the morning after, told Channel NewsAsia that the experience was all about “the little things”.

“They built our trailers from the ground up! They took what I think were old school buses, gutted them completely and put in plumbing and couches. It was amazing!” she recalled. “The craftsmanship on those things was amazing. It was just little things. I think they even built roads for our trucks to get to these locations because we were so remote.”

Van Long Lagoon in Ninh Binh. (Photo: Andre Luu)

Veteran actor John Goodman told Channel NewsAsia that it was a “pleasure” to run around the streets of Hanoi trying to get lost and finding his way back.

“They said we were the first western film to film there, and they were very accommodating to us,” he said. “And they wanted us to feel welcomed and they most certainly did that.”

“In and out of the countryside, you see some rice farmers, some buffalos, things that I never thought I’d see. Water, caves, it was just beautiful.”

"I'VE NEVER SEEN LANDSCAPES LIKE THAT BEFORE"

All that said, filming in Vietnam was not without its own challenges.

Because of its remoteness, actor Samuel L Jackson shared that travelling from where they were living to the actual location took up to two hours on some days.

“Some days, we had to get in canoes with little ladies who rode us through the mountains and caves,” he said with a smile. “But that was kind of fun!”

For Tom Hiddleston, it was filming one particularly tough swamp sequence.

“There’s a swamp that we ran through every day for 10 days which was incredibly cold! And for continuity, we had to get the same amount of 'wet' for every one of the 10 days,” he recalled.

Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson in Kong: Skull Island which was shot on location in Vietnam, Australia and Hawaii. (Photo: @voteroberts/Instagram)

But overall, the Brit actor found working in Vietnam nothing short of “amazing” and a “privilege”. And that is because the people were so welcoming and warm, he said.

“The topography of where we were … I’ve never seen landscapes like that before,” he continued. “It’s our job as actors to imagine we’re living in this desert island and undiscovered wilderness untouched by man. And the fact that we’re in these swamps, out of which arises these towers of rock, makes at least that part of the imagination easier.

“Now all you have to do is put the 100-foot gorilla in there,” he continued with a laugh.

Vogt-Roberts is hopeful that the film will encourage more people to visit Vietnam, although he said he is mindful of both the advantages and pitfalls.

“Hopefully tourism grows properly. You can look at what happened in Thailand after The Beach (starring Leonardo DiCaprio); there’s definitely a way that it could go wrong,” he shared.

“But it’s such a beautiful part of the world. I find that people on that side of the world have that general graciousness that we lack here (in the US). And so I sincerely believe that our film will have a positive impact on tourism, filming, and a general understanding of how stunning and beautiful the country is.”

Another famous scenic spot in Ninh Binh is the tourist complex of Trang An, consisting of Bai Dinh Pagoda, the ancient capital of Hoa Lu, Tam Coc - Bich Dong, and Trang An wharf. (Photo: hachi8)

The movie will make people feel the urge to go visit the country, said the actress, who posted Instagram photos of her trying local food and putting on ethnic clothing during her first Vietnam trip.

Quang Binh Province last month also published a video promoting itself as an exciting destination, reminding viewers that it was the set for the Kong blockbuster and featuring the testimony of the film’s director himself.

Vogt-Roberts told Channel NewsAsia he believes the movie will do justice to Vietnam’s tourism industry, just like “The Beach” (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) did to Thailand and “The Lords of the Rings” to New Zealand.

“I hope they go and explore Vietnam, fall in love with the landscapes, the people, the culture and the food.”

( Compiled by VNF )