King Kong

1976 โ€ข 134 minutes
4.2
166 reviews
53%
Tomatometer
PG
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

The Big Apple is again besieged by the monstrous King Kong. Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange star in this ambitious remake of the 1933 original, which adds a great deal of camp and good fun to the story, Again, the gargantuan ape battles attacking aircraft high above the streets of New York, this time plunging from the top of the World Trade Center to his death amidst thousands of horrified onlookers. King Kong won an Oscar for special effects, and the horror and the thrills are brought anew to another generation in this classy production.
Rating
PG

Ratings and reviews

4.2
166 reviews
Britton Thompson
July 5, 2015
This was botched from the start. The entire film was built on the wrong foundation. I'll get to the story aspect of that in just a moment, but first I'll address the most visually apparent problem it hasโ€“ Kong himself. He has no ape-like characteristics at all in this movie. Nothing about him actually looks like a gorilla. It's obvious that it's a man in a gorilla suit walking upright on a soundstage. Adding insult to injury, it's not even a good looking gorilla suit. Compounding matters is the fact it wasn't a trained actor portraying Kong. It was the guy who designed the gorilla suit wearing it! So not only was it not a good looking gorilla suit, it was worn by a Hollywood prosthetics & make-up artist instead of an actor. Naturally, Kong felt one dimensional throughout. Now, the problem of the story being built on the wrong foundation. The filmmakers didn't understand Kong in the first place. There's no dinosaurs on this island, which is critical to the story because Kong is only celebrated by the natives because he protects them from the dinosaurs. They offer him brides as thanks; out of gratitude for guarding them. That wasn't the case here. So many things were gotten wrong...
32 people found this review helpful
Shiori Love
April 30, 2021
A lot of people out there tend to believe that this 1976 version is a remake of the 1933 version. I also used to think that, but further research shows that this is not a remake but a rewrite. Don't get me wrong I loved the 1933 version. And that's why this 1976 version always gets a bad rating.because as long as everybody considers this a remake instead of a rewrite then yes this movie is going to fail. I even saw the 2004 version by Peter Jackson. And he made a lot of mistakes with that movie.
5 people found this review helpful
David Peeples
November 25, 2020
Yeah, they had some cheesy lines, but the overall cast was much better acting.And,true, Jacksons kong eazily more realistic. I would hope so after 30 yrs.