KING KONG: Blu-ray (Paramount, 1976) Shout! Factory
When producer, Dino De Laurentiis undertook to remake King
Kong (1933) he did so, already under a cloud of suspicion that his
resultant spectacle, no matter how state-of-the-art and lavishly appointed,
would somehow fail to compare. To this end, de Laurentiis aspired for a total
departure from Merian C. Cooper’s cult classic. Made at the height of the Great
Depression, the original Kong had generated an instant sensation at
the box office as well as genuine apathy for the ill-fated super-ape. The
public simply could not get enough of King Kong. In some theaters it
played for half a year, and, in its time, was considered cutting edge in its
integration of stop-motion animation with live action. Through various theatrical
reissues, and later, endless revivals on Saturday afternoon and late night ‘creature
feature’ television, the legend of Kong evolved from movie-lore
into a truly iconic watershed in the American picture-making biz. Yes, King
Kong was that big. So, De Laurentiis’ aspirations to outdo that Kong
with another were considered foolhardy exploitation at best – a shameless plug
from a master showman who had obviously mislaid his creative marbles.
Comparisons between Dino De Laurentiis and the great
ape are rather obvious. Both man and monkey had come from humble beginnings; the
primate, from jungle gym to circus star, and De Laurentiis, selling his father’s
spaghetti in Naples as a boy. And like Kong, De Laurentiis would find
ever-lasting fame with a relocation from his beloved native land to the United
States. De Laurentiis, in fact, produced nearly 150 movies during his lifetime,
many regarded as cornerstones in Italian cinema, including La Strada
(1954) and Nights in Cabiria (1956). His collaborations with producer,
Carlo Ponti led to an uneven creative spate of Bible-fiction epics, Barabbas
(1961), The Bible: In the Beginning (1966), the James Bond spoof, Kiss
the Girls and Make Them Die, the Sergio Leone-esque western, Navajo Joe
(1966), and cult sci-fi classic, Barbarella (1968). There was better
work ahead: Serpico (1973), Death Wish (1974), Three Days of
the Condor (1975), The Shootist (1976), and, Ragtime (1981)
among the offerings, with Conan the Barbarian (1982), and, Blue
Velvet (1986) coming later on. There were also some awful misfires – Sergei
Bodnarchuk’s gargantuan, Waterloo, the bloated and glossy homage to Saturday
matinee serials, Flash Gordon (1980), and David Lynch's failed futurism,
Dune (1984). Directed by John Guillerman, King Kong (1976) comes
splat in the middle of De Laurentiis’ most active period. And to suggest it as
the lesser of the two movies devoted to the same giant gorilla is not to
discount the many virtues to be gleaned from it along the way.
Indeed, one of these was Jessica Lange in her movie
debut, looking sexy as hell while writhing in terror, then – later, to be
caught in the throes of Munchhausen’s by proxy anguish while firmly gripped in
Kong’s clutches as he scales the World Trade Center. The biggest asset,
however, was Kong himself, sculpted to scale, with various mechanical life-size
incarnations made of his head and bust, and, at intervals, also played by just
a man in a gorilla suit – future make-up specialist, Rick Baker – expertly
photographed by cinematographer, Richard H. Kline so as to make the illusion seamless
and compelling…for the most part. There
are varying accounts as to how King Kong came about; the first,
involving ABC exec, Michael Eisner – a great admirer of the original – who supposedly
pitched the idea of a remake to Paramount CEO, Barry Diller. In this scenario,
Diller called De Laurentiis to work on his project. However, De
Laurentiis remembered nothing of the sort, and, in fact, professed to have come
up with the idea all on his own. According this version of the tale, Diller
suggested that Paramount and De Laurentiis do a generic monster movie and De
Laurentiis instead added, “Why not King Kong?” Either way, Paramount’s
stake in the picture was enormous, putting up half of the proposed $12 million
budget, equivalent to approximately $60 million today!
De Laurentiis’ vision for King Kong oft gets a
bad rap, precisely for its departures from the original movie. Indeed, the
producer was not interested in repeating the stop-motion techniques of yore,
but sought instead to create a totally new experience from then state-of-the-art
special effects. Initially, De Laurentiis endeavored that his Kong
would not be a crudely conceived chest-thumping primate, but, in fact, a
human/primate hybrid – the actual ‘missing link’ between ape and man; a very high-concept
that, mercifully died on the vine as the picture continued to reshape itself more
along the lines of the original movie. Lorenzo Semple Jr. was brought on board
to write the screenplay, set in the modern age and with the newly created screen
spectacle of having Kong scale New York’s Twin Towers, then, the second-highest
buildings in the world, and, only 3-years-old at the time. Inspired by the energy
crisis, Semple also changed the purpose of the expedition, now mounted by the
Petrox petroleum conglomerate, eager to tap its unrefined oil reserves. Also
excised from the remake were the dinosaurs to be found on Kong Island, mainly
to beef up the burgeoning love affair angle – or rather triangle, between
Prescott (played by a goofy-looking Jeff Bridges), Dwan (Jessica Lange) and an
obviously smitten Kong: also, to keep tight reins on the escalating budget.
Semple’s original plan to embroil the Vatican in a conspiracy subplot was
immediately nixed by De Laurentiis, who otherwise liked what he read in Semple’s
first draft. Pairing it down from 140 pages to 110, Semple completed his final
draft just prior to Christmas, 1975.
To suggest King Kong was made of compromises is
a bit much. Undoubtedly, it was a movie for which De Laurentiis often had to
rethink his first hopes and aspirations. For the part of Dwan (that’s ‘Dawn’ in
dyslexia), the sultry female to whom Kong takes a fancy, De Laurentiis killed
the idea of Meryl Streep, despite her enthusiasm to play the part. Ironically,
while Streep did not rate very high on the producer’s ‘sexy’ meter, he briefly
toyed with the idea of casting Barbra Streisand in her stead. Mercifully,
Streisand turned it down, allowing ex-Manhattan fashion model, Jessica Lange to
assuage into the part with virtually NO prior acting experience. De Laurentiis
also had to say goodbye to his plans for Roman Polanski to direct. Polanski was
hot in Hollywood, but wholly disinterested in King Kong. Thus, John
Guillermin came to the table, having just directed the mega-hit, The
Towering Inferno (1974) for producer, Irwin Allen. It was, in fact, Guillermin’s passion to
direct a remake of another thirties’ classic, The Hurricane. But Kong
was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Nevertheless, Guillermin was to
chronically clash, not only with De Laurentiis, but also various members of his
cast and crew. Indeed, make-up artist, Rick Baker, hired to create creature
effects and also appear as Kong in a body suit, was not at all pleased with De
Laurentiis’ desire to build a life-size Kong, designed by his good friend,
Carlo Rambaldi and operated by puppeteers. Nor was the quality of the gorilla
suit Baker was required to wear when impersonating the ape in long shot to his
liking.
Cinematographer, Richard Kline’s expert lighting and
provocative angles created more mood and suspense here, and Baker has since
acknowledged Kline’s indispensable expertise to make a silk purse out of the
proverbial sow’s ear. The massive bust of Kong, yielding to a myriad of
emotional responses, was designed by Rambaldi from Baker’s original concept
art, although here too, Baker graciously deferred to his co-worker for creating
the real heart and soul of the mechanical ape. The one misstep made by Rambaldi
was in his nearly million-dollar recreation of a 40 ft. life-sized Kong, at 6
tons, totally unmanageable and only usable in the movie for the briefest of
cutaways to suggest scale rather than movement. While much of the picture was
shot under closed set conditions, the climactic death of Kong in the plaza
between the Twin Towers in New York drew a crowd of 30,000 frantic onlookers to
the World Trade Center. Mercifully, the crowd was well-behaved, although the
city’s Port Authority was gravely concerned the weight of the people would
cause the plaza to collapse.
This King Kong is set in the modern day, then,
circa 1970. We meet Fred Wilson (Charles Grodin), an exec of the Petrox Oil
Company on an expedition in search of some vast oil reserves on an uncharted
island somewhere in the Indian Ocean, permanently shrouded by fog. Alas, primate paleontologist, Jack Prescott
(Jeff Bridges) stows away with a forewarning for the team about rumors of a ‘great
beast’ on the island. He is, of course, fluffed off by Wilson who orders
Prescott detained, suggesting him to be a spy for a rival company. Now, the
ship comes across a seemingly abandoned raft carrying the sultry, but unconscious
Dwan. She stirs, and regales the company with what happened. As an aspiring
actress, Dwan was aboard a director’s yacht when it suddenly caught fire and
exploded. Dwan is the only survivor. The story is intriguing, if not wholly
believable, and Prescott quickly finds himself drawn to Dwan and vice versa.
Arriving on the island, Prescott, Dwan and Wilson discover it inhabited by a
primitive tribe who have built a formidable wall around their enclosure to
protect them from a mysterious ‘god’ known only as Kong. Wilson is bitterly
disappointed to learn while the island does contain a rather large reserve of underground
oil, it is of such abysmal quality as to render its usefulness to the outside
world moot. Meanwhile, the natives kidnap Dwan, intent on using her as a human
sacrifice for Kong. That evening, as a horrified Wilson and Prescott look on, a
gigantic ape emerges from the jungle, seizing Dwan from her sacrificial altar
and carrying her into the jungle.
Although momentarily terrified, Dwan quickly realizes
Kong possesses a tender and inquisitive heart. Her cries for help are met with
curious glances and, after Dwan attempts escape, but falls into a mud pit, Kong
rescues and takes her to a waterfall to clean up, drying her with gentle gusts
of his warm breath. Meanwhile, Prescott, and First Mate Carnahan (Ed Lauter)
have organized a search and rescue party. They first encounter Kong while
attempting to cross a log over a dangerous precipice. Kong rolls the log, causing
Carnahan and the rest of the sailors in the party to fall to their deaths. But
Prescott and crewman Boan survive and proceed to Kong’s lair where Dwan is
being kept. Now, a massive snake attacks, seemingly from nowhere. Kong
intercepts the serpent and Prescott rescues Dwan. Enraged, Kong makes chase,
only to fall into a trap set by the natives. He is smothered with chloroform. Wilson has an epiphany. If the prospect of finding
oil is doomed, why not make a spectacle of Kong, shipping the beast to America
where he can be exploited as a mascot for the company? Bound in restraints and
wearing a crown, Kong is shamelessly shown to the public for the first time.
Alas, no chains can hold him, and Kong escapes, terrorizing the city in a
rampage. Wilson is trampled to death in the deluge and Kong, in search of Dwan,
destroys an elevated train. Prescott and Dwan flee across the Queensboro Bridge
to Manhattan, breaking into an abandoned Manhattan bar where Prescott calls the
military to suggest they allow Kong to climb to the top of the World Trade
Center. Alas, Kong finds and reclaims Dwan before embarking on his perilous
trek up the South Tower. The military assault Kong as he reaches the apex of
the building. Dwan is unable to prevent the inevitable. The military fatally
wound Kong, who topples to his death. In the resultant pandemonium, Dwan and
Prescott are separated by a relentless mob and reporters as Kong expires in a pool
of blood and fractured cement.
To suggest the original Kong had a
following to stir a critical bias against this remake is an understatement.
Nevertheless, De Laurentiis had the last laugh when his picture tapped into the
public’s enduring fascination with this iconic ape, making his King Kong
a box office winner, grossing $90 million worldwide, the fourth-highest-grossing
movie of the year. Even better, NBC bid a cool $19.5 million for the broadcast
rights to a two-night ‘event’ movie, for which De Laurentiis provided an
extended cut of the picture, cobbled together from excised footage and
outtakes, adding 45 minutes of narrative girth to the original story. Alas, the
stringencies of television censorship necessitated a more ‘family friendly’ viewing
experience. And thus, much of the overt violence as well as the sex scene, and
virtually all of the profanity spoken in the theatrical cut was either shorn
entirely or mercilessly pruned to obtain the G-rating. One of the fallouts of
September 11, 2001 is that the original poster art, depicting a violent Kong
straddling the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center was replaced by Paramount
in a marketing move that was considered ‘tactful’. Personally, I am not a fan
of such obfuscation, as the original intent of the picture makers was not to
foreshadow or promote the terrorist attacks that leveled these New York icons. Movies
are cultural touchstones reflecting the mores of their time and therefore are
not – or rather, should not – be subject to the liberalized scrutiny of
contemporary sensibilities that have since taken on a very different objective
to censor or otherwise rewrite the past. Can’t be done, folks. No one should
even be desiring to give it a try.
Interestingly, critical praise for the movie was
divided between those who found its cutting-edge special effects ‘marvelous’
and ‘superb’ and those who judged the picture’s dramatic intensity as
either ‘touching’ or ‘silly’, ‘lewd’ or ‘good-humored’.
L.A. Times critic, Charles Champlin thought Kong “a spectacular film” that “…for
all its monumental scale retains the essential, sincere and simple charm of the
beauty and the beast story.” I’ll second that. Interestingly, while Jessica
Lange was singled out for her performance by most critics, and also won ‘New
Star of the Year’, no film offers were forthcoming thereafter. The actress
would spend the next 3-years honing her craft, seemingly in seclusion, resurfacing
as ‘the angel of death’ in Bob Fosse’s magnificently dark musical, All That
Jazz (1979). Viewed today, this King Kong is far more engrossing and
enjoyable than most critics of the day gave it credit. It’s not a literal
reboot of the 1933 classic and this is as De Laurentiis always intended. And
its success at the box office ensured Kong would rise again…and
again…as several big-budgeted remakes have since come to fruition. Point blank: De Laurentiis’ experiment is a
pretty fun movie whose special effects, for the most part, still hold up under
close scrutiny. Yes, much of the acting is of the hokey-jokey ilk, and yes, the
plot is pretty straight forward to the point of being obscenely simplistic. But
this Kong does what it is supposed to do – entertain us with the
illusion of a really big and tragically flawed ape who dies for love. Cue harp
strings and a monumental roar.
After an interminable absence from home video, King
Kong arrives on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory, properly framed in its
original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. On loan from Paramount, this one hasn’t been
given all the consideration it ought to ready these elements for hi-def. So, we
get more pronounced grain, intermittently appearing harsh instead of natural. Fine
detail is solid in close-ups and medium shots, with a decided downgrade during
opticals and SFX shots. Colors here are mostly subdued, perhaps in keeping with
the original cinematography, though, on occasion they can adopt a slightly
muddy tinge, especially during sequences taking place at night. Flesh tones lean
slightly toward unnatural piggy pink hue. But overall, the balance is passable,
if hardly extraordinary. Despite not having been afforded all the bells and
whistles of a 4K remaster, age-related artifacts, while present, are very rare.
Shout! has also elected to release the TV edit on a second disc. Owing to the
fact the 1.33:1 footage here has been reframed in 2.35:1, certain characters
and bits of scenery never intended to be viewed by the public crop up during
the re-inserted footage. Personally, I don’t think the added scenes do anything
to augment the overall appeal of the storytelling. They are just filler to stretch
a 2-hour movie into a 4-hour television event, originally with commercials. King
Kong’s 5.1 DTS audio is solid. There’s some sonic weight to these tracks,
while dialogue is presented crisp and clean. Shout! has also included a new 2.0
DTS mix, replicating the theatrical soundtrack. Both cuts of the movie contain
these tracks.
On the theatrical cut we get 2 audio commentaries, the
first by Ray Morton and the second by Kong performer, Rick Baker. Morton’s
offers historical context while Baker’s is largely confined to anecdotal tales
from the set. Both are worthy of a listen. Shout! has also commissioned a slew
of new extras – interviews with production manager, Brian Frankish and
assistant director, David McGiffert, a video conference interview with
production messengers, Jeffrey Chernov and Scott Thaler, another with sculptor,
Steve Varner, and yet another with actor, Jack O'Halloran. Short puff pieces with photographic effects
assistant, Barry Nolan, and second unit director, Bill Kronick follow. There
are 4 separate ‘image galleries’ to peruse, as well as TV and radio spots and
two theatrical trailers. On the extended TV version, we get King Kong '76,
an almost 70-minute panel discussion with author, Ray Morton, O'Halloran,
Baker, and, cinematographer, Richard H. Kline, plus De Laurentiis’ widow Martha
and composer, John Barry's assistant, Richard Kraft, plus NBC promos to
advertise the forthcoming TV broadcast. Bottom line: Shout! Factory has done
everything possible to resurrect the glory of Kong on Blu-ray. While
it would have been prudent of Paramount to provide them with a 4K restoration
from an original camera negative, this 1080p transfer is fairly solid and
pleasing. The extras alone are worth the price of admission. Bottom line:
highly recommended!
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the
best)
3.5
VIDEO/AUDIO
3.5
EXTRAS
5+
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