The first time I became aware of King Kong is when I caught an ending to the 1976's King Kong that my parents were watching on TV when I was a kid. I asked what's going on in the movie and got a one sentence summary. I remember being shaken by what I saw obviously. Not only Kong's demise was very brutal and bloody, but for the first time I saw a movie with no happy ending. I couldn't believe that no one will save Kong and that he died. I was appalled by how indifferent the crowds gathered at the end of the movie were. That moment when Kong's heartbeat started slowing and eventually stopped, lingered in my mind for the next few days. You could say it was a bit traumatizing.
Years later, when I was about 11, I saw the ads for another showing on TV and I got pretty excited for it. I wanted to see the full movie. For the time being I began collecting all the articles from TV guide magazines about it. I can't really remember what I thought about the movie. I think it jest felt like "ok, here's the movie", and moved on from it few days later
Many, many years later when I was in my mid 20's I began rewatching all the movies I loved and liked from my childhood to see how they're holding up and if they are as good as how I thought they were (See my Terminator Post). Well, 1976's King Kong was one of those movies that were not only nowhere near as good as I thought they were when I was a kid, but also simply just not good. It was a major disappointment. That feeling lingered for years, but then I decided to revisit it again in my late 30s with a whole new perspective. It's important, or rather, fair, to judge the movie having in mind the time it was made in, and I think what isn't fair is judging the movie against the greatest movies.
Overall, the movie is not good but is not completely terrible. It's dragging a lot. And I sure am not a person that can't wait for an action in a movie, just the opposite. I loved the buildup of it, but the movie just hovers in the middle without any real thrills or emotions. There's no immersiveness there, no feeling. It feels flat. There are things happening on screen, but they don't have any feeling or flash behind them, they're not engaging at all, that's why the movie starts dragging terribly. The whole thing's a bit awkward. It's clearly a 1970s movie (and I'm not talking about the fashion), and I'm not even talking about special effects, they mean very little to me. A great story is a great story, if it's done with stop motion or puppets it doesn't matter (to me at least). I'm talking about the overall feel, the way it's made - you can easily tell which decade it was made in. There's nothing wrong with it, just noting it. I do like the idea of doing a contemporary version of the story, taking place in the 1970's.
The female protagonist, played by Jessica Lange is responsible for a lot of awkwardness of the movie. The character of Dwan is very weird. She's obviously not right in the head, and I'm not being sarcastic here. From her first dialogue it's clear that she's quite a looney toon, but extremely talkative and charming with her child-like and odd behavior. She talks like she's on something and acts that way too, and even when she's alone she keeps smiling to herself and laughing at nothing. She's either a mental case or has mental retardation, which, as I mentioned, makes the character and a lot of the movie feel awkward.
The male protagonist played by Jeff Bridges is a likable guy but his motivations are very foggy. He's an environmentalist (and a doctor, and a paleontologist, and a zoologist, and a hippie, and a photographer) but for some reason he chooses to reveal himself on a ship he stowed away in before they reach the island and is glad to join the oil company's team as a photographer and active participant. He never protests setting charges to check the land for oil. He cheers when a couple of national guards under orders are killed by Kong. He is against Kong's exhibition but only after a certain time passed and after he already agreed to participate in it, yet he knows it's a dangerous killer beast and tries to get Dwan far away from him. His moral compass is very confusing
As for the main baddie, the mighty King Kong, he's confusing too. Most of the time he's shown to be a terrifying monster. Not a large ape or gorilla, but a MONSTER. A monster which is a humanoid Apeman and kills everything other than Dwan. His relationship with her is never clear thus never touching. He keeps her but shows no affection other than putting her down/letting her go. The movie doesn't show that he likes her more than a curious trinket that he claims as his, and considering the fact that Dwan talks an acts as if she's high on something all the time, there doesn't seem to be an actual affection. Instead, we have a monster that gets angry when someone wants to take his stuff, and a girl which could as well talk to flowers and ocean, so she could talk to and like anything because she's not right in the head. The fact that Kong goes on a murderous spree later on in New York doesn't help his case. Example: he attacks a subway train to find Dwan, but when he realizes he picked up a wrong girl, he just kills her. He doesn't just look into the train for her, he destroys it with people in it. He tramples over people who are running away when he gets free.
About the only two times we can feel bad for him is when he's trapped in the ship and when he's getting killed, because it's so brutal. Kong in this movie is presented as a murderous monster who kills anyone if given a chance. His roar, copied form a 1957's movie The Land Unknown, is bone chilling and reused often in other movies and many 1970s and early 1980s cartoons (mainly He-Man). His face design can be very demonical when lit in a certain way, with the shadows covering his eyes. Truly a terrifying monster
I've read that some people complain that there's no dinosaurs in this version. Really? Oh c'mon, I know the effects are wonky but the focus is here on a giant apeman. Other creatures would not only tint the waters but it would make the movie less grounded. So I'm ok with a giant snake being the only unbelievable creature other than Kong.
So do I like the movie? It's interesting if you want to see a "modern" retelling of the story, but it's very dated and badly paced. I don't think the movie works. I would say it's a very uninspired and dragging. No real emotions, no thrill. And the relationship between Kong and the girl is badly done for the reasons I gave above. Kong never shows any true affection for the girl other than curiosity and possessiveness of his item (not to mention presenting him as a horror monster murdering innocents throughout the movie does not create a likable character), and the girl is mentally unstable so there isn't a true/pure affection there.
About the only thing the movie is sometimes good at is creating a bit of fear. The Kong is presented as a monster with absolutely creepy roar (The creepiest along the original Alien's screech and The Thing's Benning's sound), and the sound effects of his approach are actually scary. And the movie is lit like a horror movie. But you really have to do a number on your imagination with that one because Kong is very obviously a man in a suit. He also has a good, scary musical theme throughout the movie. I can see how this movie scared a lot of kids back in the days. You know that when this beast approaches, and you hear those fast approaching fast paced thuds, he's gonna kill.
PETER JACKSON'S KING KONG
I went to see Peter Jackson's King Kong in movie theater with my High School friends. It was the first Peter Jackson movie I've seen and I enjoyed it very much. I was taken for an adventure. When I saw it again with my wife many years later, I was surprised how good it was. It was even better than I remembered, but it was so heartbreaking I didn't plan to revisit it anytime soon. I finally decided to give it a chance after close to 10 years, to see how I would view the movie now.
First, the negative. At first, I was a bit taken aback at how lighthearted and comedic the movie is. I didn't remember it being so cartoony with its humor, and I felt the movie dragged a bit between meeting Ann Darrow and discovering the island. The dinosaurs on the island have a very wonky design. I was never a fan of the way they looked. Then again, I'm applauding them for at least coming out with an original design, and for not being another Jurassic Park ripoff.
The movie also suffered from the same thing nearly every movie does for the past 20 years: the action is over the top. falling or running in between multiple dinosaurs who continuously snap their jaws and miss, navigating between brachiosaurus herd, Kong fighting three V-Rexes, hundreds of giant insects attacking. It's so over the top that honestly, I never felt tension during the action sequences. They were "loud" and "everything was everywhere" in a typical, modern fashion of CG heavy action sequences. I wasn't moved at all by action until it involved hurting Kong. I was about to rate the movie as "ok" but then the wonderful relationship between Ann and Kong developed.
I think that friendship has been done wonderfully with very little. But the little we were given, gave such a huge weight and made such an impact in the story, like Ann sitting on Kong's hand admiring the sunset, or their sign for admiring a beauty of the world.
Once that story started to develop, the movie changed tone drastically. It dropped the humor almost completely, if not. People started dying tragically, relationship had been shattered by death. And once it's decided to capture Kong, the movie becomes something else. Capturing of Kong is extremely strong emotionally, it's cruelty kicking the stomach of the viewer. Kong's last gesture to Anne when succumbing to the beating and chloroform was extension of his arm to Anne, the one she used to sit on to admire sunsets with him - a truly heart twisting moment that broke my heart immediately. I'm not gonna even post a screenshot to showcase the moment, because it isn't pleasant to look at.
The ending is absolutely heartbreaking. It's a mix of touching moments suddenly interrupted by gunfire and cruelty. There's a musical theme, or a motif, played during Kong's heartbreaking moments, and I'm not talking about the string parts, but a theme that resembles the mighty Kong theme, but a bit softer, and tragic. The end was so gut wrenching that I promised myself not to come back to the movie anytime soon. Not that I dislike the movie for it of course, the movie creates beautiful moments and touching, tragic ending. It's just that it isn't pleasant to experience a sad ending like this one.
The movie looks like a dream, or a fairy tale. It's heavily stylized in that way, and I applaud it for it. Movies are art, and I like when they look like one, when they have a style, when they resemble an artwork.
There's so many beautiful imagery in this movie, I hope it'll get a 3D conversion some day. Doubtful, but one can always hope.
The characters are great: very distinctive, very defined. Cartoonish at first, intentionally. But that light humor in the first 1/3rd of the movie pays off later on when a lot of the characters die surprisingly because the humor got us close to them, made them likable. Their deaths mark the switch for the movie's tone.
Again, the relationship between Ann and Kong is very well done. Ann is a great, good hearted, but insecure character. She is pure heart. She recognizes that Kong is an animal like any other, not a monster. A big ape with personality and feelings, and one that suffers from loneliness. It is inferred by the film that all of his kind and family had died for some reason, and he is the last one who lives lonely on top of a highest mountain, admiring the world in the moments of sadness.
The movie makes sure that his eyes are always visible, whether he's angry or sad or happy. The eyes are what humanizes the creature. They're a window to the soul
In Ann, Kong finds not only company, but someone who treats him like equal: someone who communicates with him, shares moments with him and has laughs with him. It's an animal that falls in friendly love with his human friend. He then gives his all to save her from danger and never tries to force her to stay. He even gives her a choice to leave and is then hurt by her decision, but puts his pride aside to share a sunset moment with her.
Kong only becomes aggressive when attacked, confused or when he thinks Ann is in danger. He attacks people crossing the log because they greet him with automated weapons. As in the previous version, he grabs a train and nearly destroys it, but the difference here is that he is being bombarded with unknown forces from all over. Cars are hitting him from every direction, he's suddenly in a place he doesn't recognize with crowds of people screaming and cars honking everywhere. The women he throws aside into the snowy streets look like survivable falls. Once he escapes the crowded streets and their madness and meets Ann, his demeanor changes. He doesn't grab Ann like a prisoner against her will like in the '76 version. He greets her and she willingly goes with him and then they play together in the park. He repeatedly gave her a choice.
There's also a great deal of acting and projecting emotions without any words spoken. Just a shot, just the closeup, just the emotions, just a face that tells a thousand words. And I love that
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