ape ( 1976 film )
king kong is a 1976 american giant monster film co - produced by the dino de laurentiis corporation and paramount pictures, and a remake of the 1933 film of the same name. it was released to american theaters on december 17, 1976 .
a korean / american co - production, ape is yet another me too released in the wake of the 1976 king kong remake. the story starts halfway through the typical kong story, with the titular ape being taken…
featured in the best and worst films of 1976 (1977). see more »
the 1976 king kong remake was fraught with problems. ryan looks back at its legal battle and the struggle to build a 40 - foot robot ape ...
1976' s king kong remake was fraught with problems. we look back at its legal battle and the struggle to build a 40 - foot robot ape ...
king kong' 76: the legal battle, the massive $ 1. 7m ape
3d, a * p * e. paul leder, alex nicol, ape suit, bad movie, dino delaurentiis, giant ape, jack h. harris, joanna kerns, king kong, king kong 1976, nak - hun lee, rip - off, rod arrants, the mighty peking man
both the shark and snake that the ape
fights
were normal - sized in real life, making them appear inexplicably gigantic next to the supposedly 36 - foot ape. despite this, there is never an acknowledgment by any of the characters that giant animals other than the ape exist .
why? why ?
the tearful blond heroine asks the hero after ape has been killed .
tom and captain kim race after the ape, as well as much stock footage of military vehicles they could afford, and they catch up with the ape in some rocky terrain. colonel davis is upset that the authorities want to catch the beast alive, and the ape isn’t too keen on the idea either .
king kong' 76: the legal battle, the massive $ 1. 7m ape | den of geek
replies the hero ,
he [ ape ] was just too big for a small world like ours .
one of john cerisoli' s models of the giant ape, poised above the new york skyline ...
toho and planet of the apes were the only ape type costumes and masks which preceded rick baker’s work on kong, so in that respect, baker’s work is outstanding. take a look at ape (1976) and queen kong (1976) to see truly terrible special effects. besides, a few months later stars wars would make everything before it seem dated. 1976 kong was a critical and financial success and its reputation suffered thanks to the head of paramount complaining at a board meeting that it didn’t do as well as jaws. nothing can top the 1933 original; even peter jackson’s technically impressive, but uneven, overlong, bloated leviathan .
the giant ape, star of the radio picture' king kong', shown in comparison to eight ...
in february 1976, filming began in korea on the new king kong in space - vision. on march 15, a trade ad was placed in
3rd december 1976: film actress jessica lange who starred in a remake of ‘king kong’, with a model of the famous gorilla, at a reception at the savoy hotel, london. (photo by keystone / getty images )
sliff 2016 – tribute to king kong nov. 6th – here are the top ten giant ape movies of all time !
premiered and became a big heap of ape dung that was hated by anybody who had seen the original. the poster for
a. p. e. (1976) aka the attack of the giant horny gorilla. director - paul leder. stars: rod arrants, alex nicol. moria - the science - fiction, horror and fantasy film review .
wearing a one - shoulder valentino couture dress at the orange british academy film awards .
in 1976, another british monster movie riffed on kong—this time with a deliberate comedic angle, not to mention a complete gender - swap of all the roles from the original .
kenny b and movie historian and filmmaker ron strong discuss the making of the paul leder film a * p * e (1976), the development of 3d cinematography, and the numerous king kong lawsuits resulting and involving the us / south korean co - production .
this is a list of references for king kong (1976 film). these citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. these references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [ 1 ]
ape is a truly strange hybrid: my best guess is that it was an korean monster film that got bought by an american filming crew who spent a weekend getting background shots and shot all the giant ape footage in their backyard. from the first great line in the film in which a mildly depressed actor utters the most deadpan expression of shock to stock footage of a cow that becomes an obviously fake battery - operated toy in faraway shots this film is a laugh riot. the cherry on top of this cake is that' joanna von savant' of the title is really joanna kerns from tv' s growing pains. apparently the 1980s weren' t a good time for her, between being fondled by a fake ape in a ripoff of a dino laurentis film or a tv mom to a bunch of stupid kids that go to a school that calls their sports team
hooters .
in short, don' t watch ape. experience it and hope to god someone' s future film career depended on this .
king kong’s arrival in movie theaters was only a piece of the overall marketing strategy. time magazine, in october of 1976, featured a cover story to the film, which promised “here comes king kong, ” and then the merchandise began to hit toy stores in waves .
the year was 1976 — exactly forty years ago — and america was celebrating its bicentennial. jaws (1975) was a huge blockbuster, and star wars was still a year off .
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a * p * e is the pinnacle of bad film making, a pure example of a cash grab / rip - off that insults the viewer every moment of the film’s running time .
no one cry when jaws die ,
italian super - producer dino de laurentiis famously told time magazine in 1976 .
but when the monkey die, people gonna cry. intellectuals gonna love kong. even film buffs who love the first kong gonna love ours ...
the giant ape, star of the radio picture' king kong', shown in comparison to eight normal sized apes, to emphasize its colossal size .
the 1976 movie starred a very young jessica lange, jeff bridges, and charles grodin, and the screenplay by lorenzo semple jr. updated for the disco decade the classic movie’s story - line .
in fact, it is hard not to see the entire film a spoof of the upcoming king kong remake. the director of the film within a * p * e is named “dino” (played by actual a * p * e director paul leder). i can’t see this as anything but a none - to - subtle attack on dino de laurentiis, producer of the 1976 kong remake .
movie poster for the film' king kong,' directed by merian cooper and ernest ...
one of john cerisoli' s models of the giant ape, poised above the new york skyline in a scene from the classic monster movie' king kong'. in one of his enormous hands is leading lady fay wray, the film' s heroine .
the history of a * p * e is fascinating and important to truly appreciating with film. dino de laurentiis was about to release his big king kong remake. and even though the film suffers in comparison to the 1933 and 2005 versions, it was still a big hit. it was the seventh highest grossing film in 1976, despite the fact that it wasn’t released until 17 december of that year. had it been released earlier, it would have been the second highest grossing film behind rocky. so love it or hate it (or both, as i do), it was a big deal .
that discusses the production of the film and how they apparently did build a giant kong, but most of what you see are just arms and rick baker himself in make - up. and, man, for 1976 - it' s pretty damn good stuff. you can' t believe the jump from
we' re dealing with a giant gorilla, of course, much like king kong in principle. in practice, our gorilla is a shameful imitation of the mighty kong, insofar as our gorilla is very clearly nothing more than a man who is wearing an ape costume. it' s not even a very good ape costume, and the man inside it doesn' t bother to act in an ape - like manner. it wouldn' t have been any less convincing if they' d skipped the costume altogether and just written
ape
on a piece of paper with a sharpie and taped it to the guy' s shirt .
instead, rambaldi made some giant ape hands to interact with lange, and worked with makeup - effects expert rick baker to create a series of ape masks and a convincing ape suit, which baker then wore to perform the part of kong on a miniature set. the effect is, unavoidably, reminiscent of a godzilla movie—to my eyes, charmingly so. de laurentiis promised state - of - the - art, and though the publicity leading up to kong ’s release played up the robot ape, only kids would mistake the kong who gets the most screen time for anything but an extremely talented guy in a (mostly) first - rate costume .
, complete with a poster that trumpeted that this kong would fight a great white shark, going blockbuster to blockbuster against jaws. this battle would be foreshadowed (and was probably ripped off from) a 1976
the only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of this film are the first 92 .
i' ve always had a soft spot for this movie. i first saw it on tv when i was about three years old, and it really captured my imagination. i of course eventually saw the 1933 original and later the peter jackson remake and came to view those more highly, but i never really considered the 1976 version a bad film. it has some fine acting, beautiful set design, a fantastic score and an endearing interpretation of everyone' s favorite giant ape .
i would be perfectly willing to bet a large sum of money (if i had a large sum of money) on the fact that i could take any person on this website, give them the budget available to ape director paul leder, whatever it was, and be assured that they would turn in a better movie. then again, that may sound like a backhanded compliment, because blank film - stock would have been better then ape .
until rko got wind of it and sued them $ 1. 5 million dollars. the film was then titled
an american / south korean co - production, this film was intended for a 3d release, as is quite evident when you see the flaming arrows shot at the camera that the big ape cannily dodges against a blue screen. it was released just before the much buzzed about and aforementioned
in 1976, an odd collection of american and south korean filmmakers got together to make the 3 - d feature a * p * e, a king kong remake. most people call it it a knockoff. i call it a parody. and as such, i think it’s a lot better a film than most people recognize .
our agreement permits mr de laurentiis to make the best possible film ,
read sid sheinberg' s statement ,
and permits universal to select the best possible approaches to its king kong venture. universal intends to produce and release a king kong film under optimum production and distribution conditions, subsequent to the de laurentiis film release .
among other idiocy, the giant ape literally flips off the korean military. this bit of nonsense plays like an obscene inversion of godzilla' s
victory jig
in 1965' s monster zero. as for ape' s costume, it is even worse than toho kong' s much - denigrated monkey suit in king kong vs. godzilla .
a giant ape escapes as it is being shipped back to disneyland and rampages across the south korean countryside, where it causes mass destruction and snatches up a beautiful american actress .
is laughable in every respect. the effects work here is shockingly bad. the scenes of the ape destroying a ridiculously unconvincing model ship and then wrestling with a rubber shark at the start of the film are a clear indication of what is to come. the scenes that follow with the ape rampaging through and smashing obvious plywood houses and, in a couple of hysterically unconvincing model shots, stepping over a toy cow and batting a hanglider and pilot on a visible wire, produce gales of laughter in their ineptitude. scenes of destruction go on and on without even the slightest degree of directorial conviction of dramatic interest being created due to the fact that the film eschews almost any type of optical shots whatsoever  we never see any shots of the ape and people together in the same frame. although the reason for this could be that the three optical shots we do see that patch the ape over stock background shots of seoul are some of the worst travelling matte shots in the history of special effects. the ape suit is immobile in expression and one can clearly see the eyeholes that have been made in the mask for the actor inside. there is stock footage of military vehicles on manoeuvres repeated several times throughout, which are meant to stand in for the massed military attack against the ape .
our agreement permits mr. de laurentiis to make the best possible film ,
read sid sheinberg' s statement ,
and permits universal to select the best possible approaches to its king kong venture. universal intends to produce and release a king kong film under optimum production and distribution conditions, subsequent to the de laurentiis film release .
a lot of folks these days seem to think that the mcu or star wars movies originated the movie franchise - merchandise connection, but king kong mania, 1976 - style is evidence to the contrary in the cinematic fossil record .
film actress jessica lange who starred in a remake of' king kong', with a model of ...
actress fay wray in rko' s film production of' king kong', directed by merian c ...
king kong was met with mixed reception from viewers and critics alike upon release. many criticized it for failing to live up to the original film, and it was often accused of being too campy. some critics, including roger ebert, gave positive reviews to the film, praising the humor and acting. the film launched the career of actress jessica lange, who received a golden globe for best acting debut in a motion picture - female for her role in the film .
oh, sure, there’s some lip service to environmentalism and a greedy oil company exploiting the land—but really, this king kong is all about sex, and brutish male sexuality. the giant, horny ape both within and without. and thanks to lange, that’s the only level on which the film succeeds .
it’s while she is filming this movie that the ape spots marilyn for the first time and becomes fascinated with her, she’s blonde and i guess that is something giant simians just can’t resist, but before grabbing the damsel he does spend time terrorizing children at an abandoned amusement park which had me waiting for one of the kids to exclaim, “ that’s not a giant ape, it’s only mister jenkins the park owner! ” the giant ape also beats up on a snake, interrupts a kung fu movie being made, and plays with a passing hang glider .
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the 1976 remake of king kong made the leering, heavy - breathing sexual subtext of the first film into text by featuring a heroine (jessica lange as ditzy actress dwan—yes, not dawn) who is practically sex incarnate. in a performance that gives little indication of the powerhouse, oscar - winning actress she would become, lange radiates incandescent sensuality as the unfortunate object of king kong’s carnal desire—as well as everyone else’s. this includes hunky jeff bridges as a rugged animal - lover type, who is so hairy that he puts off a distinct ape - man vibe himself .
the title of this movie may indicate a monster of primate origins, but the film itself is a dog under any nomenclature .
actress fay wray in rko' s film production of' king kong', directed by merian c cooper and ernest schoedsack .
despite often being called a financial flop, king kong was actually a sizable financial success, earning paramount pictures over triple its budget. king kong had a budget of approximately $ 24 million and ended up with a worldwide gross of $ 90. 6 million. according to the numbers, king kong was the third - highest grossing film of 1976, behind rocky and to fly! [ 1 ] according to variety, king kong went on to be the fifth - highest grossing film of 1977 as well .
erb’s book, revised from her earlier 1998 version, comprehensively details global and national interpretations and analyses of king kong, and includes a section on peter jackson’s king kong. it is indispensable for film studies scholars who want to situate the film within competing discourses .
but that the producers of a * p * e managed to perfectly parody de laurentiis’ king kong before it was ever seen by the public says much. they knew the technology that was avaiable, and so they knew just what a silly ape they would create. all i remember of the 1976 king kong is a clearly fake kong looking at dawn (jessica lange) like she a big pearly that he had won in a grammar school game of marbles .
in fact, the lawsuit also forced the producers of this film to state that this movie “was not to be confused with king kong. ” that’s right, please don’t confuse this movie about a giant monkey kidnapping an actress and fighting planes with any other film .
in any event, an exceedingly horny ape happens upon the set and abducts marilyn, as expected. (she runs directly into his open palm .) lacking an empire state building, ape takes marilyn out into a nondescript field and stashes the screaming growing pains mom in a cave while he fights with the military, which has finally swung into action. the soldiers fire bullet after useless bullet at ape; ape responds by smashing the tanks and killing a lot of soldiers. marilyn, instead of using this distraction as an opportunity to flee, stays in the cave and screams. she does this until tom the smarmy reporter
rescues
her, which he does by getting within earshot of her and calling her name, causing her to run toward him and thus to safety, as if she were a beagle .
an american / south korean co - production, this film was intended for a 3d release, as is quite evident when you see the flaming arrows shot at the camera that the big ape cannily dodges against a blue screen. it was released just before the much buzzed about and aforementioned kong, complete with a poster that trumpeted that this…
then again, kidnapping a giant ape from its homeland, bringing it back to the united states, and parading it around town like some sort of circus sideshow, seemed like a good idea as well .
7. as the military attack continues, the big ape faces the scream and flips them off. but honestly, that just has to be the contempt this entire movie has for you, the audience .
this scene is not helped by how bad the ape suit looks wet or by the fact that the actors t - shirt is briefly visible during the “fight” sequence. the ape then wades ashore and proceeds to rampage through this seaside village, but really it looks more like a drunk stumbling home while trying to scrape dog shit off his shoe. a * p * e is not poetry in motion. aside from the big ape the film focuses on four other characters; captain kim (nak - hun lee) a local police official whose claims of a giant ape terrorizing the countryside are ignored, then there is movie star marilyn baker (joanna kerns though she was billed as joanna devarona as that was her given name, it was after this film that she changed her name to kerns, for obvious reason) and when she is arrives in south korea she is met by a gaggle of press that includes journalist and ex - lover tom rose (rod arrants), who comes across as more of a stalker than a serious love interest. but the real star of this movie is colonel davis (alex nicol) as the beleaguered american military officer who can’t believe he is stuck dealing with an oversized monkey, and he spends the first half of the movie in denial that this giant ape even exists .
king kong was the first film project for legendary makeup effects artist rob bottin. bottin, famous for his later work on films such as the thing, robocop and total recall, served as an uncredited assistant makeup effects technician under his mentor rick baker for this film .
yes, king kong 1976 was a pretty big failure, critically and commercially. there’s no getting around it. production problems were minimal, but the budget ballooned and the shooting schedule expanded beyond eight months. a 40 - foot tall replica of kong was built for a large portion of the film, but looked so awkward it wound up with merely seconds of screen time. critics derided this larger - than - life remake, perhaps undone by its own bombastic publicity tour and ego - filed poster leading up to the film’s release :
really, though, it’s samuel l. jackson’s war - mongering psycho—who gets more crazy - eyed with each successive scene—who cuts the most kurtzian figure. then again, skull island is clearly about vietnam as well—so maybe king kong represents our allies in the region? or, appropriately enough, the viet kong? this is all so confusing! why can’t a movie about a giant ape just be about a giant ape ?
according to wikipedia: “king kong was commercially successful, earning paramount pictures back over triple its budget. the film ended up at # 5 on variety’s chart of the top domestic (u. s .) moneymakers of 1977. the film was released in december 1976 and therefore earned the majority of its money during the early part of 1977. the film made just over $ 90 million worldwide on a $ 24 million budget. ” commercial failure? i think not. but yes, it received a mixed response from critics for sure. it was also nominated for three oscars, winning one for best visual effects. and on a personal note, the sound track by john barry is absolutely incredible and very underrated. thanks for writing about this film. some of us totally understand the appreciation for this awesome 70’s gem !
10. it all ends with the fakest tank in the history of cinema shooting ape in the heart, leading to him spitting a comical geister of blood, as if he were a cowhand in a peckinpah flick, as the swearing general screams, “let’s see him dance for his organ grinder now! ” ape slowly falls, slowly dying, quite slowly, as the music slows and life slowly leaves his body. slowly .
“see a * p * e … defy the jaws of a giant shark … destroy a teeming city … demolish an ocean liner … vanquish a monster reptile” – the tag line for a * p * e (1976) promises as much as the incredible poster for this race - to - the - theater king kong rip - off from director paul leder. yes, yes! this is the film where the giant gorilla flips off the army … in 3d, no less. let the fun begin! the black saint and doc rotten tackle another groovy horror film from the 1970s. joining the grue - crew is gruesome magazine contributor jeff mohr and nc effects artist and film maker bill mulligan .
but the king’s lasting impact couldn’t be denied. the character inspired at least two japanese silent films in the years immediately following, a 1933 comedy (in which a stage performer in an ape costume is mistaken for the real thing) and a 1938 drama (featuring a pet ape played by an actor in a costume). both films are now lost, but king kong would return to japan—and to america. many, many times .
1. kong changes size and shape throughout the film and never break the illusion that he is but a man in a suit. where in a great kaiju film you can get past the rubber suit effect, here, they nearly push it into your face like a james cagney held
observed :
fraley, a film buff, is known for his savantlike ability to name every best picture winner in history, by year .
though this film is often looked down upon, i think too much talent and effort went into it to call it a bad movie. true, it doesn' t live up to the grandeur of the original film, but after all these years i think it' s been made plenty clear that' s never going to happen anyway; the original is just too groundbreaking of a film to be so easily matched, let alone surpassed .
a newly discovered 36 - foot gorilla escapes from a freighter off the coast of korea. at the same time an american actress is filming a movie in the country. chaos ensues as the ape kidnaps her and rampages through seoul .
a newly discovered 36 - foot gorilla escapes from a freighter off the coast of korea. at the same time an american actress is filming a movie in the country. chaos ensues as the ape kidnaps... see more »
there' s about a good ten minutes of goofy giant ape action padded out with dull scenes featuring the mom from
growing pains
and sorta - amusing bits with a military big - wig with a thing for smoking cigarettes .
in general, books on king kong tend to be fan books, but many like gottesman and geduld 1976 have useful articles on production and interviews of the cast and crew, and some, like goldner and turner 1975 and morton 2005, have information on sequels and remakes. in particular one looks to these books for background information on the history of the film, its reception, marketing, and the cast and crew, as well as for historiography. they also contain detailed information on the animation process headed by willis o’brien as well as the making of the lush wagnerian musical score by max steiner. erb 2009 provides the most comprehensive book discussing the role of king kong in popular culture. cashill 2006 provides a critique of what is altered with computer - generated imagery (cgi) and the peter jackson version of king kong. lovelace, et al. 1976 is the novelization of the film .
the film spectrum began as a labor of love in may 2005, and after years of obsessive research, launched in october 2011. two months later ,
due to the film' s financial success, dino de laurentiis tried for years to produce a sequel. finally, ten years later in 1986, de laurentiis' production company de laurentiis entertainment group produced a sequel, titled king kong lives. this film, however, was a critical and financial failure .
nbc aired an extended 182 - minute version of the film on television in 1978. [ 2 ] this cut has never been released on home video .
queen kong, of course, would not have happened without 1976' s giant - ape main event: superproducer dino de laurentiis’ king kong, a somewhat faithful remake of the 1933 original. it’s more lighthearted tone has been tempered since the climactic ascent at the end takes place at the world trade center, a relatively new nyc landmark at the time. the effects team led by carlo rambaldi won an oscar (the guy who actually wore the ape suit, rick baker, went on to have his own oscar - winning career in special effects), and though critical reception was mixed, king kong once again proved to be a box office hit. this time, however, it took 10 years to produce a poorly - received sequel: 1986' s king kong lives .
in cooper’s film, the huge ape—brought to life by willis o’brien’s remarkable stop - motion effects—dwells on the mysterious skull island, somewhere near indonesia, where dinosaurs and giant insects also roam. he’s pursued by filmmaker carl denham (robert armstrong), who was based on cooper, and falls for ann darrow (fay wray), the comely blonde who eventually accompanies him up the empire state building .
there is the odd occasionally amusing line  lets see him dance for his organ grinder now,  says the general as the military shoot the ape down. the heros end epithet for the ape  he was too big for a small world like ours  raises unintentional laughter. alex nicol at least gives an amusingly hard - headed performance as the american colonel (and should get some award for having to yell an entire performance into a telephone). in every other regard however ,
as well as the mechanical kong, rambaldi had to devise separate mechanical hands with working fingers, which could be used to scoop up dwan in close - ups, and a man - sized ape suit for long shots. for the ape suit, rambaldi collaborated with rick baker, the 25 year - old make - up effects artist who' d recently scored a major credit as an assistant to dick smith on the exorcist. trade papers reported that king kong' s producers were auditioning actors who could play kong in those ape - suit long - shots; ultimately, baker himself wound up taking on the role, because, he later said ,
they couldn' t find anyone else stupid enough to wear the suit .
as well as the mechanical kong, rambaldi had to devise separate mechanical hands with working fingers, which could be used to scoop up dwan in close - ups, and a man - sized ape suit for long shots. for the ape suit, rambaldi collaborated with rick baker, the 25 - year - old make - up effects artist who' d recently scored a major credit as an assistant to dick smith on the exorcist. trade papers reported that king kong' s producers were auditioning actors who could play kong in those ape - suit long - shots; ultimately, baker himself wound up taking on the role, because, he later said ,
they couldn' t find anyone else stupid enough to wear the suit .
wastes no time getting started. an overdubbed ship crew discusses kong’s attack in harlem, making it seem that this film is a sequel to either the original or the upcoming remake (legally we must inform you again that this film is not to be confused with king kong), which makes sense in the former and none at all in the latter. but what do you expect for a film that took two weeks to shoot and had a budget of $ 23, 000 ?
. at that time, dino de laurentiis was in production on his $ 22, 000, 000 remake of king kong and the producers changed the title to super ape in june. it finally opened as a * p * e in october .
and yet, the film succeeds well beyond the realm of sports. rocky’s rags - to - riches journey applies to all walks of life. it’s a lesson in wanting something more than the other guy and making the most of the opportunity when it comes along. rooting for rocky is the easiest pathos in movies, because the film’s basic premise and tagline — “his whole life was a million to one shot” — speak to something basic in us all — the notion that we are all capable of bettering ourselves. this was the emotion that carried the film upon release in 1976, as audiences literally stood and cheered in theaters. (d) people couldn’t get enough as rocky grossed more than $ 117 million, while total domestic box office from all the films exceeded $ 565 million. (e )
even though there is a clear sexual element to it, kong seems always to see ann (dawn in 1976) as a pet. it’s hard to see kong in a political context, because there never really was a major slave uprising. the minor ones did, of course, end as kong always does .
dino de laurentiis promised a lot of things when he remade the classic king kong in 1976 and the backlash poisoned the critical reception. but almost 40 years later, it' s not as bad as everyone thought. not close to the original, better than the peter jackson fiasco, it holds up pretty well .
actually, king kong ’76 was the 7th highest grossing film that year, making over twice its production budget. hardly a commercial failure. critical reception was mixed .
a * p * e features one of the worst gorilla costumes committed to film, ever. the seems are evident and the stitches come loose in the opening scene when ape fights a giant shark, revealing the undershirt underneath. amazing! the film feels padded at 80 minutes long and features scene after scene of random locals running from the 36 foot gorilla, many of which can be seen smiling and laughing as they run. rich! the army shows up late in the film so they can point their guns into the camera in “stunning” 3d effects. marvelous! the gorilla shimmies, shakes, and dances his way across the south korean landscape scaring villages, stepping over fake cows, wrestling live snakes, and tearing down buildings with glorious glee. ah! there’s nothing else left to say… watch the film if you dare. regardless, listen to the grue - crew discuss a * p * e .
the movie opens with a freighter transporting the 36 foot tall titular ape from points unknown, though one sailor mentions it was picked up in harlem and is being transported to disneyland. i’m not sure if that is an attempt at comedy or just plain racist, it’s quite hard to tell in this film, but it’s clear that this movie’s $ 23, 000 budget could not afford to give us skull island, and the toy boat we see in this opening scene is indicative of the effects this movie will bring us. for some reason the ape awakens early and starts to smash his way free. “ oh shit, ” exclaims one of the sailors, and by “exclaim” i mean deliver it in the deadest monotone possible. the acting in this movie goes from the hilarious to the hilariously bad. the ape escapes the flaming wreckage and then proceeds to fight a giant shark, and that the shark in question isn’t a terrible constructed prop but an actual shark is a bit off - putting. if you thought rick baker in an ape suit wrestling a big rubber snake in the delaurentiis king kong was lame wait until you see a * p * e wrestle a dead shark .
martha' s vineyard celebrated the film' s 30th anniversary in 2005 with a
jawsfest
festival, [ 208 ] which had a second edition in 2012. [ 209 ] an independent group of fans produced the feature - length documentary the shark is still working, featuring interviews with the film' s cast and crew. narrated by roy scheider and dedicated to peter benchley, who died in 2006, it debuted at the 2009 los angeles united film festival. [ 210 ] [ 211 ]
while the ape is swatting down toy helicopters tom is able to sneak in and rescue, and then captain kim offers his home in seoul as a safe place for marilyn to hide. unfortunately for us this leads to endless shots of kim’s wife and kids putting on a marionette show for marilyn. while this puppet shows goes on the death toll mounts as the ape leaves the countryside in search of marilyn. colonel davis almost bursts a blood vessel when the stupid “scientists” still insist on catching the rampaging monster alive .
directed by john guillermin. produced by dino delaurentiis. screenplay by lorenzo semple jr. based on the screenplay by james creelman and ruth rose from an idea by merian c. cooper and edgar wallace. starring: jeff bridges, charles grodin and introducing jessica lange. year of release: 1976. running time: 134 mins .
the most recent book on the making of the 1933 king kong, which includes the production, exhibition, and distribution of its sequels including the son of kong, king kong versus godzilla, the john guillermin remake of king kong (1976), his king kong escapes (1986), and peter jackson’s remake of 2005 .
king kong (1933) • son of kong • king kong vs. godzilla • king kong escapes • king kong (1976) • king kong lives • the mighty kong • kong: king of atlantis • king kong (2005) • kong: return to the jungle • kong: skull island • godzilla vs. kong
what that last thing means is that he was probably everything involving film during the second unit shooting. but anyway, these are the guys who get all the credit :
5. the music consists of one 16 bar section repeated ad nauseum throughout the film. there is no changing in tone or intensity. just the same music notes ,
american actor jessica lange stands in a pile of debris near the fallen giant gorilla in a still from the film,' king kong,' directed by john guillerman .
9. ape tosses a rock 3d style at the camera not once, not twice, but four times. if you think the filmmakers won’t repeat the exact same shot — as soldiers again slowly make their way toward center frame — you haven’t been paying attention .
speaking of instincts and stupid things, ape lumbers into downtown seoul and begins systematically tearing apart buildings looking for marilyn, in a sequence as tedious and lifeless as the previous several destruction sequences. at long last he finds her and abducts her again, leading to more firefights with the military, leading us to fear that somehow the movie is stuck on a loop. but no, eventually ape gets what all living creatures deserve, i. e. , death. rather spectacularly, too: a rocket to the chest finally does the trick (after a thousand others didn' t), and ape spits out blood! more fantasy creatures in movies need to spit out blood when they' re dying. i mean it. picture a unicorn doing that. it' s great, right ?
it made all the sense in the world to remake king kong in 1976. the original changed the face of cinema, sure, but it had been over forty years earlier. ages ago. the time felt right, and with mega - producer dino de laurentiis behind the scenes failure seemed to be the last thing on anyone’s mind .
the new film will be set in 1969 and depict a fictional war between the u. s. and russia as they race to land the first person on the moon .
film actress jessica lange who starred in a remake of' king kong', with a model of the famous gorilla, at a reception at the savoy hotel, london .
tagline :
ten tons of animal fury leaps from the screen
an ultra low - budget king kong rip - off with classic lowbudget effects! if you want to see a giant ape give the military the middle finger (literaly), check this movie out. .
one particularly teeth - grinding sequence in a * p * e features the giant simian clapping (yes, clapping !) and swaying to the movie' s music score (!! !) while the unconvincing model of a hang - glider awkwardly bobs over its head (!! !! ! !). gadzookeries! and then there' s the scene where ape steps over an obvious wind - up toy cow. please. we also get to see ape puke copious amounts of blood. oh, goody, and right before dinner too .
posters for the american release of godzilla vs. megalon featured godzilla and megalon battling atop the world trade center as an attempt to cash - in on this film' s release .
initially unaware of what the other was doing, sheinberg and diller began putting the wheels in motion for a king kong remake at their respective studios; diller hired dino de laurentiis to revive the great ape on behalf of paramount, while sheinberg hired tv producer hunt stromberg, jr .
taking another look at this still - maligned film over three decades later, however, it seems that original vicious response on the part of audiences and critics alike was more in reaction to the publicity surrounding it and not the film itself. for all its flaws, it’s hardly the monster disaster it’s been made out to be. in fact, it’s pretty good .
peter jackson’s remake is overwhelmingly faithful to its source material, so it recycles a lot of themes about kong as the shaggy embodiment of nature’s fury. yet because it is also so very, very long, jackson’s remake looks at the familiar great ape from some new perspectives as well .
unfortunately, the film has become so diluted by pop culture references and endless sequels that watching it today almost feels like an exercise in self - parody. it’s so easy to forget that
jason fraley holds an m. f. a in film & electronic media from american university and a b. a. in journalism from the university of maryland. he has contributed to
promotional still of fay wray clutching the arm of bruce cabot (1904 - 1972) from the film,' king kong,' directed by merian cooper and ernest schoesdeck, 1933 .
the gorilla isn' t given a name. names are for winners. this 36 - foot loser is called
the gorilla
and
the monkey
by the people in the movie. we' re going to call him ape, because we assume he is the title character. ape wades through the ocean (which i guess is less than 36 feet deep in these parts), fights a shark that' s the same size he is (just for the fun of it), then walks ashore in south korea and wrecks a village. all of this occurs matter - of - factly, without any fanfare or enthusiasm .
yep, it' s a giant ape ,
the movie seems to say .
he' s gonna smash some stuff. yep, there he goes. yep... might as well settle in, folks, he' s gonna be at it for a while .
look, the producer' s nephew' s woodshop class went to the trouble of building some flimsy models that kind of look like houses, so whoever' s in that ape costume is damn well going to smash them all .
critics ripped into the film endlessly, in part for de laurentiis' failure to come close to living up to any of his own hype, and in part for his arrogance in thinking he could even begin to compete with an untouchable classic of american cinema. very quickly, the film became a joke—a model for all flashy, bloated, big - budget hollywood bombs to come .
was originally made in 3d but has only been seen flat in the west. thus there are an inordinate number of shots with extras throwing burning spears at the camera, soldiers rushing into the camera to pose and shoot, and the ape throwing the same rock on a wire at the camera .
king kong was nominated for academy awards for best visual effects, best cinematography, and best sound. the film won the award for best visual effects, sharing it with logan' s run, on which several of the film' s effects crew also worked. actress jessica lange won the golden globe for best acting debut in a motion picture - female for her role as dwan .
if the mechanical hand was temperamental, the full - size kong was downright noncompliant. envisioned as a beast so sophisticated that could walk, move its arms and even waggle its ears, it was instead stiff and unconvincing. intended to do much of the heavy lifting - both literally and figuratively - and a key part of king kong' s pre - release publicity, the mechanical ape was barely used. instead, far more weight was placed on baker in his ape suit which, thanks to a system of interchangeable masks and complex mechanics, could bring at least a modicum of expressiveness to kong .
lest anyone think that movie hype is a creation of the 21 st century and modern hollywood studios, today i wish to call your attention to the incredible age and specifics of king kong mania: the marketing and promotion surrounding the mid - 1970s dino de laurentiis remake of the 1933 giant ape movie .
overall, while not of the same caliber as the original film, this movie is still a decent retelling of a classic story. it' s better than a lot of people might assume .
the gorilla makes it to land where we see that it has incredible night vision. then it starts destroying buildings for no particular reason other than to show off what i suspect were some pretty great 3 - d effects. [ 1 ] lots of stuff flies at the audience. this is repeated throughout the film. and i have to admit that this is the first time that such things have made me want to re - watch a film in 3 - d. i’m not a fan of the process in general. anyway, that made up the first ten minutes of the film.
ape ( stylised as a * p * e and released in south korea as 킹콩의 대역습 - king kong eui daeyeokseup ; the great counterattack of king kong ) is a 1976 monster movie . it was an american/south korean co-production produced by kukje movies and the lee ming film co. ( south korea ) and worldwide entertainment ( usa ) with 3-d effects . directed by paul leder and featuring special effects by park kwang nam , the film stars joanna kerns , rod arrants and alex nicol . it was released at approximately the same time as dino de laurentiis ' 1976 remake of king kong . the film is generally regarded by some critics as a campy z movie . in latter years the film has gone under the titles of attack of the giant horny gorilla ( for its 1982 grindhouse re-release ) , and hideous mutant ( for its original home video release ) . it marked an early film appearance by kerns , who later moved to tv movies and shows . 
ape (stylised as a * p * e and released in south korea as 킹콩의 대역습 - king kong eui daeyeokseup; the great counterattack of king kong) is a 1976 monster movie. it was an american/south korean co-production produced by kukje movies and the lee ming film co. (south korea) and worldwide entertainment (usa) with 3-d effects. directed by paul leder and featuring special effects by park kwang nam, the film stars joanna kerns, rod arrants and alex nicol. it was released at approximately the same time as dino de laurentiis' 1976 remake of king kong. the film is generally regarded by some critics as a campy z movie. in latter years the film has gone under the titles of attack of the giant horny gorilla (for its 1982 grindhouse re-release), and hideous mutant (for its original home video release). it marked an early film appearance by kerns, who later moved to tv movies and shows.
ape (stylised as a * p * e and released in south korea as 킹콩의 대역습 - king kong eui daeyeokseup; the great counterattack of king kong) is a 1976 monster movie. it was an american/south korean co-production produced by kukje movies and the lee ming film co. (south korea) and worldwide entertainment (usa) with 3-d effects. directed by paul leder and featuring special effects by park kwang nam, the film stars joanna kerns, rod arrants and alex nicol. it was released at approximately the same time as dino de laurentiis' 1976 remake of king kong. the film is generally regarded by some critics as a campy z movie. in latter years the film has gone under the titles of attack of the giant horny gorilla (for its 1982 grindhouse re-release), and hideous mutant (for its original home video release). it marked an early film appearance by kerns, who later moved to tv movies and shows.