Hello all, and Happy New Year. For some reason on this, the last day of 2014, I on a random whim decided to give the 1976 Dino De Laurentis production of King Kong another watch, and it holds up better than I thought. True it is inferior to the original and the 2005 versions in a number of ways, but there are three things about it I absolutely LOVE. 1) The suitmation in this film is great. Kong looks wonderful and his face is very expressive. I wish Toho could have made their Kong in 62 look more like this. 2) The score captures the romantic element of the story with great charm and ease, the main theme is a beautiful piece of composition that I find myself humming after the film is complete. 3) This is the biggest reason, the ending. Even more so than the original I think, this film captures the tragedy and sadness of Kongs death expertly. Theres the heartbreaking moment when Dwan (whose ridiculous name luckily doesnt spoil the film) begs Kong not to put her down, knowing that the minute he lets go of her the choppers will have a clean shot. Of course Kong understands this not and puts her down because he believes it to be the way to keep her safe, and he is gunned down accordingly. As the bullets rip through his flesh one after another, his body becomes a bloody mess and his wonderfully expressive face twists in agony. Kong then falls to the bottom of the World Trade Center, leaving the crying Dwan to grieve for him. As the last bits of life escape him, we hear his heartbeat waver and then finally stop.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 01:21:04 +0000