King Kong (1976)

Believe it or not, I've seen this film well over a hundred times. The 1933 original is my favorite film and I was fortunate enough to have seen it before the remake was released. I say fortunate because I had just turned 10 years old when the remake appeared. I spent my entire Christmas break at the theatre watching Kong in action and would actually hand out promotional mock New York newspapers detailing Kong's exploits but enough of the memory lane business. John Guillermin, who also gave us THE TOWERING INFERNO, does a fine job directing this updated version which has an oil research group heading to Skull Island instead of a film crew. Lead man Jeff Bridges is a stowaway anthropologist and Jessica Lange, in her film debut, is found floating in the middle of the ocean on a raft from a yacht that blew up real good! It has been fashion since it's release to bash the living shit out of this film and I've never quite understood why. Oh sure, the major gaffe was the animatronic life size Kong which they could have done without but overall this is one solid piece of work. The performances are way above average for a project like this, the visuals are stunning for the time and the make up top bloody notch. Rick Baker outdid himself with baby. John Barry provides a wonderful score with one of the best love themes ever used. As a small sidebar, it's weird watching it now in the post-9/11 world. With the World Trade Towers replacing the Empire State Building, there is one scene in which Bridges and Lange are in a deserted downtown bar in New York that seems very ominous when viewed from our modern day perspective. All in all, a fine couple of hours of fun you won't regret.