John Guillermin

Director of The Towering Inferno and the remake of King Kong.


King Kong (1976) -- Dino DeLaurentiis produced this remake that succeeds as a huge-ass special effects monster movie, even if they gave the monster a heart.  The script for the movie is full of self-referential jokes and other bits of goofiness (the name of the oil company at the center of the film is Petrox, for example), but the director and actors don't seem aware of it, playing it more or less serious.  These competing tones don't always work--the worst being the cheesy grin on Kong's face from time to time--but the movie is still entertaining and Jessica Lang (in her first role) does a good job as the good-looking love of Kong, and in many ways she gave the character a believability better than both Fay Wray and Naomi Watts.  The movie also stars Charles Grodin's moustache. (John Guillerman also directs the sequel, King Kong Lives.) B


Copyright (c) Feb 2006 by Rusty Likes Movies