Curator Watchlist
A big, earnest 1970s monster-movie remake with strong production scale, a memorable score, and surprising emotional pull, but also enough camp, uneven effects, and tonal awkwardness to keep it from being an easy recommendation for everyone.
Where to watch: Buy
Wed · 2h 14m
Director: John Guillermin
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, Charles Grodin
An oil company expedition disturbs the peace of a giant ape and brings him back to New York to exploit him.
John Guillermin
Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, Charles Grodin
A big, earnest 1970s monster-movie remake with strong production scale, a memorable score, and surprising emotional pull, but also enough camp, uneven effects, and tonal awkwardness to keep it from being an easy recommendation for everyone.
This remake has a reputation problem. It is often treated like a punchline, but the movie is much more interesting than that: a lavish 1970s studio adventure that leans into scale, melancholy, and spectacle instead of trying to be cute about its premise. The production design, John Barry’s score, and the foggy build toward Skull Island give it a genuinely grand, ominous mood.
The creature effects are a mixed bag, but the suit-based Kong has a physical presence that a lot of later versions lack. That gives the film a tactile weirdness that can be both scary and funny, sometimes in the same scene. The cast also helps sell the material, especially when the movie shifts from corporate greed to genuine tragedy.
It is not seamless, and some of the dialogue and effects work are plainly of their era. But if you meet it on its own terms, it plays like a sturdy, slightly off-kilter blockbuster with real heart. It is less a definitive Kong than a fascinating one, and that makes it worth revisiting.
Karsten (4★) · 613 likes
monkey mondays #34 kind of flabbergasted at how much i dug this. dare i say one of the best takes on kong out there. he doesn’t look amazing but he looks leagues better than most of the stop-motion versions, and a hell of a lot better than any CGI kong. i loved how expressive his eyes were, sometimes terrifying and sometimes hilarious. some sketchy ADR aside, the whole cast is great. ever since the heartbreak kid charles grodin is always gonna… more
pd187 (4.5★) · 371 likes
whyd nobody tell me how good this is??! like if brian depalma directed a kaiju
callum (2.5★) · 257 likes
never knew how much i needed a scene where jessica lange asks king kong what his star sign is and then guesses he’s an aries
Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine (4★) · 197 likes
KAIJULY: MONKEE KONG All that I was expecting from a Dino’s production. It’s grand in scope and scale with some very immersive production design. The Kong’s suit was for the most part great, though there’s a scene while he’s holding Jessica in her arms that you can clearly see the fiber. But overall, Kong was great here. Loved their introduction with him slowly coming off the trees. Again, the cinematography here is really great, stunning even. A lot of the… more
The Reel House (3.5★) · 190 likes
This movie is basically the “Die Hard 2” of the franchise and by that, I mean that this film is the forgotten gem of the King Kong films that will be going on for eternity. It is not the original classic, it is not Peter Jackson’s special effects extravaganza epic and it isn’t the newest addition (the one that is currently prominent in the cultural zeitgeist ) : “Kong : Skull Island”. “King Kong” (1976) takes everything that made the… more
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monster tragedy, corporate greed, beauty and spectacle, exploitation, island adventure, urban destruction, human-animal empathy, showbiz spectacle
monster movie, adventure, fantasy horror, 1970s cinema, practical effects, campy, tragedy, spectacle, remake, creature feature