King Kong (1976)

Why so much hype?

not as good as all the hype

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is just a terrible movie. It's slow, at the time Jessica couldn't act worth a damn, had so many fake posters showing things that never happened. I saw this on a double feature with the equally dull Bug (read the book the Hephaestus Plague instead) and nearly fell asleep during both. The so called 'Robot' barely got used, instead falling back on Rick Baker in a beautiful ape suit. Just an abomination.

The first half is fantastic. A terrific and creative set-up with the famous story altered so that oil speculator Charles Grodin is seeking the island surrounded by fog as a possible origin for that gushy stuff that keeps cars running...Jeff Bridges, as a "hippie" stowaway who bribes his way aboard the ship/freighter, knows the island has a big secret, and yet even he's not sure exactly what... Had another actor been cast in this preachy photographer role, liking and even thinking he understands simians over humans (especially the 11th hour American Military in Copters that he infamously cheers upon their destruction), would be annoying and/or pretentious, even cliché: Given his cred, it's no surprise that Bridges can be just cool enough to add a tinge of pulpy action hero to the hairy modern do-gooder...And after what are the best scenes occurring on-the-way to Skull Island, he's part of, along with the mostly doomed search party on land that includes character-actors Ed Lauter and Julius Harris, the same kind of old school adventure vibe, keeping the action at a neat, economical pace: something director John Guillerman can do nicely. ranging from SHAFT IN AFRICA back to THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND...In search of the initially lost-at-sea and now reluctant monkey's bride is a would-be actress with the strange name of Dwan, played by the extremely gorgeous Jessica Lange, an airhead character who probably wouldn't have made a good actress, so Jessica's own performance may seem stilted and campy, but like Bridges, her unique presence makes-up for any otherwise damaging flaws. "My horoscope said I was in crossover water," she says about the powerful man who can possibly change her life with a big role, and, unaware of the underlined irony that waits ashore, continues with: "And that I was going to meet the biggest person in my life."Skull Island more a tropical Hawaii than the original's African vibe Meanwhile, Grodin, with his usual glib persona, is a snarky, funny and likeable villain (whose forced selfish dialogue fleshes-out any and all villainy), and at one point says "Let's not get eaten alive on this island... Bring the mosquito spray!" And he's ultimately not as lucky as Robert Armstrong's original instigator, Carl Denham: after all, Hollywood prefers directors to oilmen...But this entertainingly epic yet nicely contained popcorn flick hits a gigantic Kong Wall, ironically when the Ape arrives and the story centers on he and Lange's idyllic honeymoon that's not only corny, but makes this formidable creature lack the complete and edgy, monstrous quality needed for his Big Apple destruction later on (but at least he doesn't ice skate like in Peter Jackson's multi-million-dollar vanity project). Kong is also inevitably bogged down by dated special effects... despite beautiful matte painting backdrops and Rick Baker's costume (Bridges says at one point: "Who do you think went through there: some guy in an ape suit?"), which seems genuine and palpable up-close as opposed to wider shots, the opposite of the 1933 classic - still the champ after all the sequels, remakes, expanded tales and in this particular case, with the working tag-title extension THE LEGEND REBORN, is one of the first reboots despite that term not being used (much) in 1976, one year before effects-driven pulpy adventure movies would be changed, forever.

I consider this my favorite movie. I first saw it when I was 4 or 5, I think. It's the first remake of the 1933 version, which is the original. This is light-years better than the original and the 2005 version. A guy stow aways on a ship that is bound to look for oil. The ship heads off. He reveals himself during a presentation and tells a story of a person hearing the roar of the Kong species on the island, I think centuries earlier. As he is taken to be confined somewhere for being a stow away, he sees a raft in the ocean and a woman is unconscious in it and is rescued. She is the only survivor of a boat disaster. She is revived and says her name is Dwan and says what happened, and becomes friends with Jack, who is the stow away. The ship reaches the fog that surrounds the island. Some of the people, including Jack and Dwan, go to the island in a smaller boat. They explore the island and see the wall and the villagers. The villagers are dancing in a ceremony. They see what they think is oil bubbling in a pool in the village. The chief sees them and stops dancing and makes the others stop dancing. They confront each other and the chief sees Dwan and offers to trade six of his women for her. They refuse, of course, and the villagers attack them and are scared away by them shooting in the air. That night, Dwan is kidnapped by some of the villagers and forced to drink a drug which puts her in a dazed state so she doesn't resist. Jack discovers that she's gone and he and others go after her. Dwan is taken through a gate in the wall and tied to two poles by two villagers. They then go back through the gate and it is closed and locked. The villagers make noises and Kong comes and stands in front of Dwan. The villagers become quiet. Dwan looks up and sees Kong. Kong roars and beats his chest. Dwan screams. Kong picks her up and she screams no. He sniffs her and roars. She passes out and he takes her back to the forest. Jack and the others arrive as the villagers celebrate. The villagers are scared away with fireworks and gun shots. The gate is opened and they go through and see fallen trees from Kong. Fred falls into a footprint of Kong, mistaking it for a normal hole. Jack tells him it's a footprint. I'll get less detailed now. There are scenes such as Kong messing with Dwan, Fred finding out that the black liquid won't be workable oil for maybe about 10,000 years so he decides to try to bring Kong back instead, people falling off a tree into a canyon from Kong turning it back and forth, Kong escaping in New York City and other stuff there. Some differences from the original are, in the original, there are several monsters other than Kong on the island, and in this, there is only one, which is a gigantic snake that goes after Dwan and Kong kills by tearing it open. Another thing is, in the original, the guy who falls in love with the main woman is the first mate of the ship, and in this, he's a stow away. Another thing is, Kong climbs to the top of the Empire State Building in the original, and in this, he climbs to the top of one of the twin towers. Another is, in the original, the ship is a film making expedition, and in this, its an oil expedition. Another is, in the original, the main woman is a poor woman that the filmmaker meets, and in this, she's a woman found floating unconscious in a raft. Another is, in the original, there is nothing of the journey from the island to New York City, and in this, there is. There are many other differences, of course. The visual and sound effects in this are amazing. It's a scary and very entertaining movie. It totally blows the original and 2005 versions out of the water. It's rated PG, but it was made before the PG-13 rating existed and by today's rating system standards, it's a PG-13 level movie. There's a sequel to this called King Kong Lives which was released in 1986, and that's really good. Not as good as this, though.

King Kong 1976 is a film I've always avoided up until now due to some bad reports about it since it first came out. It came up on TV recently and I watched it tonight and it really was the most pleasant surprise of a put-down movie I've seen since Waterworld, which I enjoyed equally. Two movies then that are very misjudged. King Kong not only looks great, it looks big in every way, not just the gorilla, but the sets, the scope, the stunning scenery, big in every way. Jessica Lange in her first picture is amazingly good (in fact I just read she won the Golden Globe for best newcomer) and Jeff Bridges is his usual reliable hero, so two strong leads here. I did spot John Agar right at the end who I haven't seen since his 40's heyday so that was a surprise. I know the picture is now 41 years old but it just looked terrific to me so seven stars from me. I love the original and also the Naomi Watt's more recent one but this stands up extremely well against the others which I really didn't expect. Highly recommended if you, like me, have been avoiding it.