TALKBACK: King Kong Lives

[lhb412]

[MouthForWar]

[lhb412]

[jellydonut25]

[Pkmatrix]

This is a movie I waited a LONG time to actually see in full. I originally saw the first 30 minutes or so around 20 years ago, on the same night I saw Mothra for the first time (my cousins had it recorded on the same tape, the tape ran out after about 30 minutes so I never saw the rest). I remembered what I saw of the movie fondly. I got it on DVD for Christmas around six years back, but just kept putting off watching it. I put it off so long that the Icons of Sci-Fi set came out and I finally rewatched Mothra (which, somehow, I'd only ever seen that one night in the early '90s). I loved Mothra, and it's quickly skyrocketed to nearly the top of my personal favorites. This kind of pumped me up for rewatching King Kong Lives, and last year I finally sat to watch it.

Oh GOD, it's AWFUL.

Now, I've never been much of a fan for the '76 Kong, but for all its issues it wasn't a BAD movie. If anything, I think people are too harsh on that one. But KKL? Good Lord, it may be one of the most painfully bad movies I've ever seen. Maybe I went into it with the wrong mindset, lhb412, since it sounds like you enjoyed everything that had me pulling my hair our.

[Gargantuan Gargantua]

Movie is fantastic as a crappy movie. You can also see Linda Hamilton's

[ultrazilla2000]

This movie is terrible, but I am quite fond of it! I actually saw this in the theaters when it was first released. My dad got a bunch of free showing tickets for test driving a car, LOL! Anyways, it's bad, but I do like it. I don't think the 70's Kong is bad though. Not great, but I love certain scenes and the score is awesome.

[MouthForWar]

[The Real McCoy]

[mr.negativity]

[GFan]

I love KING KONG LIVES. Vastly superior to the '76 film IMO. It's so confidently cheesy and just plain badawesome, plus you get to see King Kong really f*ck some sh*t up in it. I'll watch it anyday over Peter Jackson's film, which I also enjoy, but is far too long and bloated on repeat viewings... KKL delivers the bad movie goods in an easier dose.

[tbeasley]

I can't believe a movie like this exists.

[Psycho Soldier]

Just finished watching this one.

Um.

Okay, I'll say that what bothered me most is the way they anthropomorphized the Kongs. It goes to such extremes - in the facial expressions, in the general behaviour - that the movie could've been about two mute giants and lost nothing. The original Kong was quite human, too, but he still came across as a wild beast and a god. The one in KKL is just a family man.

I guess if you've seen it, I don't need to go into the other ridiculousness. The baby Kong almost lived up to the hype for me - I knew it was just going to be a man in a basic gorilla suit, but the execution was slightly less awful than I was expecting. Overall, the movie wasn't unbearable. Some of the bad moments were amusing, and there's little that's particularly offensive about it. But I won't be watching it again without really good reason.

Also, a confession: I really thought they were going to show the Kongs having sex. I'm elated that they didn't.

[tbeasley]

[lhb412]

There is a schizophrenic nature to the quality of Rambaldi's work in these big films.

Guess it can just be chalked up to how much time and money he had and whether his goals we're realistic or not (like a full size giant robot).

[mrbluehair]

[mrbluehair]

Oh yeah, the movie was bad. Not seen it in over 20 years, not planning to.

But it is a giant monster movie, so....Nope it doesn't get a pass from that perspective either.

[lhb412]