End of the Kong-A-Thon

Last week, we decided to close out our 'Kong-A-Thon'. This version of the Kong story was produced in the 70's (1976 to be exact) and it couldn't show it more. This version, by far, is the most dated piece of the bunch. Not only is the dialog 'corny', but some of the story points are laughable and I believe, out of the 3 versions, Kong himself is a very scale-challenged character. It's almost jarring how he changes size for different situations.

Up until this viewing, I myself thought it could've been the best of the bunch. Much like the James Bond movies, my first exposure to that character was in the Roger Moore era. It was only until much later that I saw Connery and realized that he was the definitive Bond. Anyway, this being my first Kong, it held a special, almost untouchable place in my heart, but this viewing shattered all of those illusions, where previously there was nothing to challenge it's standing.
Without putting too fine a point on it, there are many things wrong with this movie.

First, Jessica Lange. Don't get me wrong, but she is 'HOT' in this (her first) movie and arguably the best, only (visual) reason to watch this one, but her character is nothing but your stereotypical breathy, vacuous, bimbo, blonde.

Second, Kong himself. While I'm a big fan of Rick Baker's work, this is definitely not a high point. The Kong suit is not very convincing. He has since perfected his technique, but this suit is almost a joke by comparison to his later, more polished 'monkey suits' (Planet of the Apes, Gorillas in the Mist, Greystoke, etc.)

Finally, the special effects. Nothing would do them justice, but to watch the movie, but the special effects in this movie are pretty badly executed, even by 70's standards. For example, the compositing of Jessica Lange interacting with Kong, Kong over a non-motion-tracked background, rear projected action 'a la James Bond (see how it comes full circle?)' and (once again) a scale-changing Kong as well as bad continuity between Rick Baker in the Kong suit, to the animatronic hands and feet and the fully realized 40ft animatronic Kong, which is only seen for, at most, 1 minute's worth of screen time. (I guess I did sharpen that pencil pretty well.)

This one definitely did not hold up very well and, now, with a wealth of material to compare it to, it quickly fell to the bottom of the Kong heap.

With not much to redeem it, Kong '76 gets a 1.5 out of 5.