King Kong [VHS]

This was the 1976 remake of the 1933 original that first showed the big ape to the world. The story revolves around an oil executive Fred Wilson (Charles Grodin) searching for a huge petroleum deposit on a mysterious island which ends up containing Kong. Jessica Lange was a model named Dwan who became Kong’s love interest and Jeff Bridges as Jack Prescott was an animal scientist that competes for her affections. The movie can be seen as a conflict between nature and civilization.Right at the start there’s one really bad sequence of the film. That’s when the ship rescues Dwan in a life raft. Afterward there are all kinds of scenes of her taking a shower, walking around the ship in skimpy clothes and men staring at her, etc. It’s just pure eye candy to get the audience to appreciate the beauty of Lange. Her looks are a given so this was just needless.Of course the heart of the movie is the discovery, capture and then escape of Kong. The movie gives him emotions with his feelings for Dwan and shows the avarice of people who want to turn him into an exhibit. The audience is supposed to sympathize with him over the humans.While the movie has its charms it’s actually my least favorite out of the three Kong films made in America.C

This is still the best Kong film; you can never go wrong with Jeff Bridges.Can’t believe there’s no Region 1 release.The Blu-ray version from Studio Canal looks great on 4k oled.

This movie is a very message-driven movie! Much like how George A. Romero would use Zombie movies to speak about social issues, so does the 1976 "King Kong".SPOILER: This movie has a lot to say about the pillaging of resources at the expense of the environment as well as the lands of the peoples those resources belong to.This movie also has a lot to say about how "Big Evil Corporations" and "Dumb Americans" don't understand that cultures are different. I think it's a bit heavy-handed at times, but "we*" (Consumer Americans are definitely THEE real antagonist in this movie).This movie has zero problem with having a gigantic gorilla undress a then-unknown Jessica Lange. That is the part that doesn't really age well. Now that I'm not a kid anymore watching this I can see that Kong's expression during these scenes is very unsettling.Jeff Bridges character is definitely the hero for the people and disenfranchised in this flick. I like early Bridges because he's not just playing a version of "The Dude" or "Rooster Cogburn".Also, all the stuff in the jungle is actually pretty boring now that I keep going back to this. It's all the stuff in New York that is fun and exciting.WARNING: If seeing the World Trade Center is a trigger for you then stay away from this movie. The Twin Towers are a major plot point in this movie.I think the creature effects are all still spectacular for being practical and being a man in a gorilla costume.I watched this movie a thousand times on Beta (and eventually VHS) when I was growing up. I love it to death, but can speak kindly about it's flaws.I really recommend.It's better than "Skull Island"; that movie is dumb.

I saw this 1976 King kong movie when I was very Young at a sat matinee one summer long ago. Back then I thought it was an alright movie.... for a monster movie anyway. As kids we were always at some matinee , Godzilla movies. Star Wars,...Jaws,..or some other rip off of Jaws ..animal gone mad killing humans movie. Disaster movie...ship wreck ,plane crash...building on fire movies. Horror Movies,...Carrie , Halloween, Nightmare on elm... etc ,.etc.. Now some of these Movies I saw as a Kid have stood the test of time,..Like Jaws and Carrie. And we all know what became of Star wars. I still enjoy some of the old Godzilla movies as well. They never clam to be anything but for fun. I bought this King Kong movie for these nostalgic reasons. But now that I'm much Much older I can see how bad it really was. Even a lot of the special effects was not even as good as the special effects in the Godzilla movies.The blue screening was terrible !! This Movie really suck. Glad the 2005 King Kong finally gave Kong a better update of the monster.

The original was ... well, the original best...but the emotional nuances of the lead characters are better demonstrated in this version. I love it. Don't bother trying to compare the two. You'll come up short, lol. King Kong himself is magnificently built with truly life-like movements and expressions in this version. But to be honest, not that much more sophisticated than the original version of him. In all of movie history, there are only two moments that truly spring fear, and at that, they both come 1/3 of the way into the film which of course makes the anticipation more striking. Those two are King Kong's arrival to the "sacrifice" and the arrival of the T-Rex in Jurassic Park! What is strikingly different between the two versions is the ending for each. Each ending is true to its dramatic focus. But for me, that this version's ending was psychologically unforgettable.

I have no complaints about the movie itself. This actually completes my collection of all King Kong related movies. Why I gave this only a 3 star is the fact the disc was low quality in several scenes. A lot of scenes are crisp and as good as you would expect a DVD to have, but then some are very low quality and even have "snow" across them.

Back In 1976 producer Dino De Laurentiis remake of The 1933 original King Kong was one of The most anticipated movies awaiting release by The movie going public. Laurentiis Team and writers had updated The story for a Then more modern audience. Gone was The original character big game Hunter and movie producer Carl Denham from The original movie keeping in with The current Trend at The Time The producers Had our intrepid explores in search of oil. Thus The explorers stumbling onto an island encountering natives protecting something on The other side of The island were still intact from The original. Although still relatively new at The Time The lead in The movie was given To Jeff Bridges as a free lance photographer assigned To The oil company. An important role in a movie like This The female lead went To The Then unknown Jessica Lange. The Anne Darrow character from The original was gone and Lange's character simply went under The name Dwan. some nice Hats off To The original movie were added The famous bronte log sequence with Kong shaking sailors of a Giant tree log and The Great Ape's battle with a Giant snake was olso added. The whole movie particularly The search and island scenes were beautifully filmed and a beautiful music score was added by The Great John Barry. Jessica Lange was no Fay Wray Though was simply stunning in whole of The scenes she was featured in. Kong 76 was released To mixed reviews from The critics at The Time. Though it's fair To say over The years it as now Gained The reputation of a Cult movie classic The Peter Jackson overblown CGI remake was still Decades away. This Blu ray release is probarbly The best version going at The moment Even Kong's second's Act if you like when The ape is brought back To New York were all filmed as night Time scenes These now show up Quite well on The HD Transfer Extras include a vintage making of The movie The original film Trailer and a commentary on The movie by Director John Guillermin make This release an essential purchase for any movie collection Five stars.

I loved this film since I first saw it on the cinema. It is my favourite King King film. The blu ray by Studio Canal looks really good with a bit of grain from the print but minimal to non-existant dirt. Contrast and colour are also really good and the DtS - Stereo sound is very clear and makes John Barry's fantastic score sound great. A product of its time the film still plays well and hasn't lost its charm. Cool, confident Jeff Bridges and sexy Jessica Lage make a great couple and Charles Grodin is also very good as the antagonist in the film. King Kong steals the film and you really feel sorry for him at the end. Very good direction by Guillermin. My favourite part of the extras on the disc are the 16 minutes of delete scenes. It's a real treat to watch. All in all a great movie and blu-ray. Highest recommendation.

I quite like this version, although it takes a real knocking most places. Just about 4/5 for picture quality, maybe a little less here and there. Better than I was anticipating. Only dark interiors let it down a bit, everything else looks pretty good, actually.Yeah, the ape looks dodgy in numerous places. Good performances. Charles Grodin is always good value in whatever I've seen him in, and he plays the likeable villain so well. Pretty snappy script, very un-PC in places, but it's 1976 and makes it better. Shot in Panavision, so it's a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. English DTS 2.0 soundtrack selectable (It's a German disc).

An old favourite I had to get on DVD. Reminds me of my childhood. I have seen the film many times as a boy so wanted to revisit it. Quality of the actual disc was fine. It is just a pity there wasn't more extras on the disc but for the price I can't complain. I have watched it all the way through and the disc plays perfectly. I would rather give 4.5 stars if possible. Downgrading from 5 as I would have liked more content like interviews and a making of documentary.

I still love this version of King Kong, as it was the first I ever saw in a cinema as a small child. This region 2 disc has good image and sound, and there are some deleted scenes which were used in the U.S. televised version of the film back in the late 1970's.