Director: John Guillermin
Screenplay: Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, Charles Grodin, John Randolph, Rene Auberjonois, Jack O’Halloran
Country: USA
Running Time: 134 min
Year: 1976
BBFC Certificate: 12
If you were to prompt a film fan with the phrase “…the remake of King Kong.” most folks will likely immediately turn to Peter Jackson’s 2005 epic rather than this mostly forgotten 1976 effort, produced by Dino DeLaurentis. You know the drill by now – the crew of a ship travel to an uncharted island in search of fame and fortune, stumble across a lost civilization who immediately attempt to sacrifice the female member of the crew to their giant ape god, Kong, kong is captured and brought back to mainland USA and chaos ensues. Like Beauty and the Beast it’s a tale as old as time, although the 1933 RKO original is without a doubt the best iteration put on screen.
This take has a fairly decent cast, with Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin taking the leads as environmentalist Jack Prescott and oil mogul Fred Wilson respectively (although Grodin’s moustache in this film gives him an uncanny resemblance to Tremors era Michael Gross) while Jessica Lange appears in her first feature role as Dwan, the unfortunately named film star who finds herself aboard Wilson’s ship after the one she’s travelling on with a film crew bizarrely explodes. Yes, this is a film which attempts to subvert the Kong norm. Instead of a film producer on a quest to make the ultimate film, we have a businessman hunting for the biggest petroleum haul in the world, instead of a heroic screenwriter we have his exact opposite, stowing away on the ship as he’s convinced that there’s something on the lost island they’re hunting that’s worth saving. Then we have the actress who only joins the crew to become the big ape’s McGuffin thanks to a plot contrivance.
King Kong 1976’s big fault is basically the same as Peter Jackson’s 2005 film – it attempts to take the familiar formula of the original and do something different with it by telling the same story slightly differently but grander in scale. As with that other remake, this is a longer affair, clocking in at half an hour more than the 1933 original. More time is spent building up the crew on the ship, with Kong only appearing around the halfway mark when Dwan is kidnapped by the native tribe on the island to act as a sacrifice. After that the film attempts to establish their relationship, as the original and 2005 versions do with the character of Ann Darrow, and it’s really here where the narrative starts to falter.
It’s really a shame that Lange had this as her first film. Dawn as a character is simply portrayed here as a dim blonde actor, rather than the sharp witted Darrow we see played by Fay Wray in the 1933 film and Naomi Watts in Jackson’s version. Ultimately King Kong as a story hinges on building an almost romantic relationship between this character and a giant ape, and what we get here is simply not convincing. A large part of that is likely down to the decision here to use a man in a suit as Kong and, ultimately, that becomes the films undoing.
It feels harsh to criticise the Kong suit as it was built and inhabited by the great Rick Baker, but it’s really not great. When moving there’s a real lack of weight to the character which breaks the illusion that this is a giant beast on a rampage, as Kong always seems to be moving far too quickly for a creature his size. Then there’s the face which, when not furious with rage attempts to do a weird grinning smile while romancing Dwan. It’s weird, creepy and unsettling and breaks apart the love story elements of the story by turning Kong into that creepy bloke that won’t leave you alone. Add to this a rather shaky finale which sees Kong badly composited into a climb up the side of New York’s World Trade Center before being gunned down in a rather unnecessarily brutal manner and you have a film which, while less indulgent than the 2005 remake, is far less interesting and worse executed.
There are some positives to be had though; the switch up of the narrative to a quest for oil is an interesting one and lends the film a more anti-corporate feel, especially with how Wilson captures and exploits Kong when the oil he’d hoped to find turns out to be non-existent, and Grodin’s portrayal of the businessman is far more slimy and cruel than the driven film producer Carl Denham, portrayed by Robert Armstrong in 1933 and Jack Black in 2005. The shots on Skull Island are also nice and lush, moreso than the grimy aesthetic employed in the 1933 and 2005 versions, and FX wise, the use of a large animatronic hand for Jessica Lange to interact with also gives some of the close up shots of Dwan and Kong a good weight and shows how convincing puppetry at the time could be in making films like this (sadly the same can’t be said for the full size animatronic Kong used in a handful of shots which just looks goofy)
There’s also the score from Bond maestro John Barry which, while booming and ominous is also clearly a Barry jam, with echoes of his love theme from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service coming through during more tender moments. It comes to the fore on the audio mix of this UHD release which also features a lovely crisp image with lush HDR colours showing throughout – fans of this remake will certainly be well serviced here, especially as the disc also has a 3 hour extended TV cut included. Sadly though, this longer version of the film is simply that – more of the same. If you’re unconvinced at the theatrical version you’ll be best giving this release a giant ape sized berth – definitely one for fans only.
Bonus features
- Extended TV broadcast cut (unrestored)
- Audio commentary with film historian Ray Morton
- Audio commentary with actor and makeup artist Rick Baker
- Interview with Barry Nolan
- Interview with Bill Kronick
- Interview with Scott Thaler and Jeffrey Chernov
- Interview with David McGiffert and Brian E. Frankish
- Interview with Jack O’Halloran
- Interview with Steve Varner
- Deleted Scenes
- Original Trailer
While there is a solid selection of extras including the aforementioned extended cut, it’s a shame not to see any vintage making of features included, especially considering how much Paramount and Dino DeLaurentis set this film up to be a huge tentpole movie on its original release. The commentaries and interviews do add a degree of depth to the background of the film, but are noticeably lacking any participation from Bridges and Lange.
Read only a few sentences and your thoughts are so unoriginal and stupid worthless I won’t read on. No the 1933 is not without a doubt the best iteration.
It is the original, a very original cinematic milestone and classic in the highest sense… but you are simply following the herd and parroting the internet consensus. The 1976 was a great remake and event at the time. You don’t know what you’re talking about like all the other jackasses. It is not a flaw to try to do something new and bigger with a remake dummy! What do you want, a shot for shot remake like the “Psycho” disaster?! What’s the point? And to tie this with Jackson’s based on length is pure incompetence! This is a good length, and was appropriate in its time! Of course it’s shorter than just about everything now, while Jackson’s was bloated and overlong in 2005 and still would be just as much. 2:15 and 3 hrs is a world of difference dope. Take it from an editor, which you don’t understand. Jackson wrecked his otherwise stunning extravaganza because he’s a self indulgent adolescent. The 1976 was made by adults and played for all audiences, walking just the right line (again) for the time.
I could go on and on…
While I enjoyed Lorenzo Simple Jr.’s script, the use of satire in the film, the remake is on the cheesy side. Still, Bridges and the rest of the cast (particularly Charles Grodin) are game. Rick Baker’s make up is impressive but the giant Kong was a disaster. I remember folks making jokes about the hydraulic Kong needed a diaper it leaked so much.
It’s still fun entertainment but, by no means is it flawless (neither is Jackson’s remake). The film runs too long (a does Jackson’s) compared to the originals breezy 90 minutes. I have a fondness for this having worked for Dino and contributed to the awful sequel.