THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
1933’s King Kong has lived on to be a classic for being the both of both worlds: a monster flick that makes an imposing creature interesting for more than the simplicity, while showing how high stakes can be for an adventure film. With such a cultural impact, many would deem it impossible for it to be retold until it did.
PLOT
The second adaptation first released in 1976 gives a much different version of the iconic tale that is able to still respect what was done before. The film follows Petrox Oil Company executive Fred Wilson who plans to embark on an expedition towards the uncharted Indian Ocean Island hoping to score a huge deposit of oil. During the travels, primate paleontologist Jack Prescott sneaks onto his vessel to warn that the island is dangerous. Wilson ignores him and mistakes him to be a spy of a rival corporation and makes him the expedition’s personal photographer. When the travel progresses, they encounter a life raft that carries a woman named Dwan. Upon picking her up, she reveals to have been an aspiring actress and came from a yacht of an acclaimed director. The journey would move forward and she would fall for Prescott. But by the time of reaching the island, the crew encounter a tribe of indigenous people that have built a wall to protect themselves from their god they call Kong. Wilson would find a large sum of oil, but its poor quality would deem it unusable which makes the whole trip pointless. Before all could leave, Dwan would be abducted by the natives and would be offered as a sacrifice to Kong himself who turns out to be a gigantic ape. As Prescott leads a rescue mission, the king of the island would become tame within her presence and become fascinated with her as a whole. Prescott’s rescue party would encounter Kong in their attempt to rescue Dwan, but casualties would be high when the giant gorilla pushes them off a log bridge. Prescott is able to survive the ordeal and is able to retrieve Dwan while the beast gets caught up defeating a giant snake. Kong would follow them both, only to fall into a pit and is smothered with chloroform. This was orchestrated by Wilson who intends to bring him to America as a promotional gimmick. By the time they return to New York, Wilson would have the ape displayed in chains but his plan would be foiled as the beast would break free upon seeing reporters crowding around Dwan, mistaking it to be an assault. Upon breaking free, he goes on a rampage throughout the city and steps on Wilson in his attempt to reunite with the woman he loves. As the king for searches for her, she flees a with Prescott across Queensboro Bridge and plan on taking him back home with the assist of the military. Prescott would make the call with the request to not harm the creature when alerting he’ll climb World Trade Center due to how it resembles a mountain from the island. Kong would eventually find Dwan and capture her before going to the Twin Towers. With the military in pursuit, he climbs the South Tower and would leap towards the North Tower when being attacked by militants carrying flamethrowers. He would shockingly be shot down by military helicopters and fall to his death. The film would end with the ape’s body being surrounded by the crowd of NY whereas Dwan would be swarmed by reporters. THOUGHTS
King Kong was my introduction to what a remake is and does which I have to say generally impressed me because at the first time I watched it, the only thing I wanted was entertainment which is what I got out of it because that is what movies do best. Director John Guillermin has a creative spin to make the story his own and while he doesn't exceed expectations, he doesn't fumble either and the latter is more important. The on set location to bring an enthralling landscape out of the island. What matters most though is the intimidating presence of Kong itself which is possible thanks to Rick Baker wearing the costume to bring him to life, whereas Carlo Rambaldi & Glen Robinson engineer the animatronic for closeup shots to give life to his arms for the most part. The visual effects that were done to blend in both takes between the suit and the arm or the body and the humans was well edited because I couldn't tell until re-watching. I mean that is movie magic you gotta respect because if it wasn't done than, it likely wouldn't happen now. Since Kong is actually played by someone for the first time here, all the emotion is grasped thanks to Baker. He is of course an aggressive creature, yet we still see some humanity out of him when encountering Dwan. He is visibly attracted to her because he is in awe for someone to have such bravery compared to past native women being sacrificed to him. The attachment he has over her shows how hearts can come all shapes and sizes. Seeing all of this come from one who is originally deemed a monster makes us wonder who are the real monsters in our own world. In an obvious case, it is mostly going to be the species of man because whenever they want something, they will go through hell and back to get what they want and won’t have any shame in the aftermath. That is what you accept when you digest the presence of Wilson because Charles Grobin was just as arrogant as Robert Armstrong’s Carl Denham was in the original 1933 film. The guy was way too willing to make more money than he already had and chose to not care of the repercussions that would come from it. With no luck getting profitable oil, he refused to go home empty handed and made unlikely determination when it came to exploiting Kong. The big difference he has compared to both versions of Dneham is that he actually meets his comeuppance because Kong would step on him the way he stepped on nature. With that being said, there could’ve been no better way to take him down. Going back to the top however, Kong does not meet his own end had he not fallen in love and I dont blame him when a damsel is as beautiful as breakout Jessica Lange. Lange has us adore Dwana because like both versions of Ann Darrow, she’s not one looking for trouble yet it came her way when she survived a yacht crash only to encounter a giant gorilla. She was indeed a brave woman for being able to talk her way out of dying and from there, she is able to see how big of a heart he had thus not standing the fear everyone else has over him. Her tears were so genuine when he dies because she knows this could’ve been avoided and now she can’t enjoy the fame she was seeking upon such a tragedy. The situation was another moment where beauty killed the beast because of the ape’s love for her created his downfall. While there’s no doubt she wishes things were different, at least she has someone to grieve with. Jeff Bridges quickly has us respect Prescott for being quite a noble guy as his line of work in paleontology makes him very passionate in all life itself. He was scared of Kong like any sane person but knew he didn’t have to die had he just been left alone. He tried so hard to prevent his death when demanding the military to spare his life, but he should’ve known it was too good to be true. He and Dwan were a solid pair that hit it off so quickly because they just sense their equal warmth towards one another and trust each other from that alone. Since neither could’ve prepared for the journey they never really planned on being part of which led to an unlikely tragedy, at least they have each other. I am serious when saying I was overall impressed of what was done here, but there’s a handful of things story wise that don’t make any sense to me upon re-watch. From the top, how the hell does it take so long for Jack to reveal himself? He was pretty stealthy when sneaking onto the ship, but it shouldn’t have been too easy for him to sneak past so many people when having a giant bag on him. The same can be said when Kong reaches the log bridge because there is no something as big as him can stealthily get the jump like he did. And how the hell did the crew have enough clothes for Dwan to wear when they weren’t even planning to have a woman onboard? That’s more shocking than there wasn’t an actual doctor onboard apart from Jack. Also, how the hell did Dwan see a waterfall so far away when she was at the beach where she saw it? That had to take one hell of a walk to get there, so she’s got some eagle eyes for an actress. And how is the tribe so quiet until the crew gets over the wall. I mean that’s more of a surprise than figuring out how they got over the wall in the first place. If there was a secret door they found, we should’ve seen that shit. For someone who hates continuity errors, I was indeed livid on how one of the natives apparently left a bracelet upon kidnapping Dwan but it didn’t appear to have dropped during that scene and it ain’t visible until Jack sees it. I know we need an excuse for Jack to find out, but I feel like footprints would’ve been a clever way to do it. I didn’t think about it before but I gotta ask now, how the fuck did the crew get Kong in the ship? They never planned on capturing Kong until discovering him, so what tech did they use to do this? I mean you can’t go this far with ignoring logic. The fact they ignore this plot point three times in a row is fucking insane. The dumbest thing that the ship’s captain does is try to drown Kong in the ship when he throws a fit, rather than use more chloroform. If you’re saying they ran out, then that’s a shitty way to confirm it. And the only reason Jack stays to watch the show is for Dwan’s sake because he had nothing other after quitting. I even find it nuts for the reporters being able to reach Dwan so quickly when the cops were so caught up with the main crowd. I know Fred doesn’t mind this because he’s getting good publicity at this moment and this is what sets up Kong’s rampage, but this could’ve been avoided had there been a bigger staff. Another thing, Jack & Dwan come off like speedsters during the climax because they go from place to place so fast it’s like they have video game checkpoints they can get to from the thought of it, which is way too fast for escaping from a giant gorilla while the public is also running in peril. That is definitely more ridiculous than the biker ditching his motorcycle upon seeing Kong rather than driving away. Lastly, I don’t even see why Jack chose to tell Dwan to stay in one room while making the phone call when that was completely unnecessary. I know we need one more act of tension with Kong capturing Dwan, but that was so bizarre of a route to take. Other than that, this was still quite entertaining of a picture. In short, 1976’s King Kong is a unique iteration of the iconic tale for giving appropriate enhancements needed to remain a multigenerational story. If monster flicks are your thing, I hope you enjoy this remake as I have.
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