King Kong (1976)

Director: John Guillermin

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange

Run Time: 134 mins

Certificate: PG

 

Plot Outline: An oil company, greedy to exploit any new reserves it finds to beat off competition, has discovered what may be an island hidden in a fog bank. They set off to investigate, picking up a shipwrecked female along the way and a scientist who has stowed away on board. When they get there, they find a giant ape who takes a liking to the female passenger. Seeing the opportunity for big bucks, the oil company decide to capture it and take it back to America to be put on display.

The Review: Despite suffering the indignity of starring in some bad Japanese monster movies, King Kong returned to the American big screen with this unnecessary remake of the original classic. It's nowhere near as good as the original in virtually every sense but despite seething criticism, it's not actually that bad either. Only the acting comes anywhere to beating the original as Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange and Charles Grodin all perform well in their roles. But you would have thought that over 40 years later, the special effects would have been a lot better. Instead, I still prefer the original Kong over this Kong (and I will always love stop motion, despite modern CGI). For some reason the special effects won an Oscar! Since when did having a guy in a suit constitute an Oscar? They should leave guys in suits to the Japanese who do it best! There is also a huge life-size mechanical robot Kong which is used in his escape sequence at the show. This looks extremely pathetic and fake because it's so static and limited. The film itself takes a while to get into it but once they reach the island and actually find Kong, then it picks up. As before there's the usual sequences involving Kong fighting other dinosaurs and the crew of the ship setting off in the jungle and being taken out one-at-time in various grisly ways. Kong is more of a human in this film and some of his mean, aggressive side from the original has been taken away to reveal a more caring, protective side. This is probably to highlight the emotional relationship between Kong and the girl, which is a bit more established and poignant in this one. And the ending on the World Trade Centre is slightly more tear-jerking than in the original with added colour and splashes of blood as Kong is gunned down.

Final Verdict: It's not a case that this King Kong remake isn't good, but more of a wasted opportunity. It's just that it had to beat a hell of a film. Two hours of good-natured fun which should have been a hell of a lot better.

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