Paramount Pictures released King Kong on 17 December 1976.
You can’t really remake a classic and expect critics to applaud you. Critics didn’t universally hate the 1976 King Kong. They mostly just dismissed it. I am one of those who dismissed it. I saw it at the time. And I thought it was stupid. In particular, Kong looked like a smiling idiot.
But I watched the film again recently. This time, I watched it with a positive attitude. And it really is rather good.
I am not fond of the presentation of the natives of Skull Island, but they aren’t any worse than in the Peter Jackson King Kong. The worst thing in that regard is the female lead. Dwan (the Ann Darrow character) is annoying because she acts more like a 13-year-old than a 26-year-old.
The film has a ton of 1970s-era cynicism. And it squashes Fred S Wilson (the Carl Denham character). So we lose the line, “It was beauty killed the beast.” But given the nature of the film, that’s probably for the best.
Overall, it’s a fun watch. And we are going to watch it! But if you ask me, A*P*E is better. In the days before The Asylum, different producers created cheap knock-offs of upcoming blockbusters.
But A*P*E isn’t just ripping off Dino DeLaurentis’s production. It is also mocking it. And despite having a tiny budget, the ape doesn’t look much worse than it does in King Kong. According to some, the production cost just $23,000. That’s $134,000 today. I find this extremely hard to believe. But it was definitely a low-budget production.
If you would like to watch A*P*E, I encourage you to do so. There is a good print you can watch for free. But I’m highlighting King Kong. It’s not great. And it doesn’t feature any fighting with a shark. But it is fun!
King Kong (1976) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
