With Peter Jackson readying his King Kong re-make for global release, the world's most famous oversized ape is on alot of folks' minds. That includes me, for I may be the one person on the planet who didn't think the widely-reviled 1976 version didn't profusely suck. Of course, I was nine when I saw it. But despite my lack of cinematic sophistication, Dino De Laurentis' big gorilla re-do was an easy sell. C'mon - Jeff Bridges as the hippy photog, Charles Grodin as the snarky oil executive, Rick Baker in a bad monkey suit...throw in a ravishing Jessica Lange and you have a film that stirred me in ways my nine year old brain didn't even understand yet. Of course, one year later Star Wars came along and scrambled my pre-adolescent brain to the point I forgot all about giant primates straddling World Trade Centers (but not Jessica Lange). Now that Kong is once again about to dominate the nation's collective imagination, I'm increasingly stoked to see what director Jackson does with source material he so obviously holds dear. I may even rent the '76 version, though I'd hate to think my childhood favorite won't seem quite as brilliant as it did back in the summer of the Bicentennial.
Those polyester shirts with the butterfly collars I use to wear back then sure don't.
3 comments:
I saw the old one on cable a couple of years ago and loved it just as much as when I was a kid. I am sure the new one will have better special effects, but I sure hope the story and acting are also good.
I was 5 when I saw the 1976 version. It was the first 'adult' movie I saw. My dad took me. Spur of the moment. I was so happy. It didn't suck to me.
I never saw the Jessica Lange version but I did see previews of the Peter Jackson version at the theater last week as we were waiting for harry Potter to start. The only thing I can say about the previews I saw is "I'm in".
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