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1986 | Action | Horror
105 mins United States
Sequel to the 1976 Dino De Laurentiis remake of King Kong. Kong the giant gorilla has been in a coma for ten years and needs both a bionic heart transplant and a blood transfusion in order to survive. As luck would have it, adventurer Hank Mitchell (Kerwin) discovers another oversized ape living in Borneo and manages to capture it, providing a source of blood for Kong's vet Dr Franklin (Hamilton). But the two giant gorillas fall passionately in love and bust out of the facility where they are being kept...
| Produced by | De Laurentiis Entertainment Group |
| Director | John Guillermin |
| Writer | Ronald Shusett |
| Cast | Brian Kerwin, Linda Hamilton, George Yiasumi, John Ashton, Peter Elliott, George Yiasoumi, Jimmy Ray Pickens and Frank Maraden |
monster movie gorillas in love
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History has seen many overly optimistic monster movies, but few quite as out-of-touch with reality as King Kong Lives. It's not just that the story is preposterous (it is), or that the special effects are terrible (they are), but that one of main emotional relationships at the heart of the story is realised through the medium of two stuntmen in not-great gorilla suits nuzzling up to each other in simulation of simian romance. Your mind rebels when it is exposed to this stuff. 'No,' comes the interior monologue, 'no. Even the big bird in The Giant Claw was more convincing than this. I object. I am on strike from this point on.' With your suspension of disbelief in full revolt, you are forced to watch the rest of the movie simply in 'how much worse can this possibly get?' mode. And the answer is: considerably. To be honest it's only the sheer badness of the movie that keeps it interesting; anything remotely competent is also rather dull. I don't think the 1976 version of King Kong is nearly as bad as most people say; it certainly looks like a classic compared to this.
Only someone with a heart of ice would fail to be moved when Kong picks up the missus and carries her out of the holding facility a la An Officer and a Gentleman. I don't know why the producers didn't go for an outsize Marine Airman's formal attire and throw in the strains of Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes - only they will be able to tell you why they didn't.
This will be quite possibly the most enjoyable bad movie you will ever see. Ultimately, like with all the Kong movies it is tinged with sadness as we all know what happens to the big fella in the end - open heart surgery and blood transfusions not withstanding of course. Don't be surprised if you hear the patter of really massive feet at the end in what is an unintentionally hilarious yet genuinely uplifting finale.