King Kong II

King Kong Lives (1986)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Sequel to the 1976 remake has Kong in a coma after falling from the World Trade Center. His heart is quickly going back so he needs a mechanical heart installed. Before the doctor (Linda Hamilton) does this, Kong is going to need blood so thankfully there's a redneck hunter (Peter Elliott) who has captured a female Kong. This movie has the reputation of being one of the worst ever made and people must have believed it because they stayed away from the film when it was originally released and it turned into one of the biggest box office disasters in history. This was a favorite of mine when I was a kid but it really hasn't aged too well. The biggest problem with the film is the film itself because it's never quite clear what the movie is trying to do. The story is all over the place, characters are coming in left and right and the entire Army set up just doesn't make too much sense at all. I'm going to take a wild guess and say this movie was meant for romance because we've got Hamilton and Elliott falling for each other and we've got the two Kong's falling in love. There's no doubt this is a very stupid movie but thankfully it's dumb enough to be mildly entertaining. The scenes with the two Kong's falling in love are pretty funny as is a scene later in the movie where redneck hunters trap Kong and try to torture him. The ending is just as wild as anything that follows it and I must admit that I found it pretty cute and touching. The special effects are certainly several notches below the previous film but they aren't too bad. Elliott and Hamilton really don't have too much to do because the screenplay doesn't offer them much but both are fine in their roles. What really kills the film from being a true cult item is the fact that we've got a 75-minute story expanded to 105-minutes, which is way too long.

Don't expect a work of art, but do expect a masterpiece of absurdity and fun. King Kong Lives is an ultra-cheesy monster flick that's wacky from beginning to end. Sure it's "bad", but it's also extremely amusing and entertaining. It's absurdities are part of it's charm. King Kong is brought back to life and sets about romancing a female giant ape while squashing nasty humans. I had a great time cheering for Kong while watching this. It's hard not too cheer for him since he's such a lovable lug. My heart really went out to him at times. At other times I just couldn't stop laughing! King Kong Lives will always be one of my very favorite giant monster run amok movies.

Are you kidding me? This is the sappiest sequel I have ever seen! I thought King Kong has perished from being shot down of The World Trade Center. WRONG! He survived the fall, that left him in a coma for a decade. So what happens next? He gets an artificial heart, and a new mate: Lady Kong. Boy, it doesn't get any better than this. The whole place in Georgia becomes a jungle when these primates get together. Unlike the one made 10 years earlier, this movie goes back to nature in many ways. A zoo that big couldn't hold these two lovebirds. Did I say lovebirds? Hahaha! I did it, again! When the two protectors Hank(Brian Kerwin) and Amy(Linda Hamilton) go to extreme lengths to assure the safety of King and Lady Kong. But there's trouble. The U.S. Army lead by mad Col. Nevitt (John Ashton) will go to full length to neutralize the Kongs. After Hank brings Lady Kong from Borneo, nothing would be the same. When the Army attacked Kong, he turned those tanks and jeeps into broken hunk of junk, and the scene where Kong recovers from his injuries, it was just amazing. Eating the alligators, or better yet, when he ate one of the hunters. But the fun part of the movie I like the most, is when Kong squashed the Col. Like a bug. That one was too silly there. And the really cheesy part of the film is when Kong gets to see his son for the first and last time. This movie didn't do well in the box office, but I think it's great... for a rainy day. Some legends remain to be legends, King Kong could have have more there in this sequel. The problem: IT'S TOO SHORT!

The decidedly crappy reviews heaped on this film were pretty well deserved, though it must be said that there have been much worse insults to filmgoers' intelligence than "King Kong Lives." Linda Hamilton stars as Amy Franklin, head of a scientific team that develops an artificial heart to miraculously keep Kong with us after his famous fall from the New York City skyline. With the help of blood transfused from a newly-discovered Lady Kong, the big guy is soon up and around and eating people again. But this time his true interest lay in his new girlfriend, whom he not-so-subtly rescues from captivity. The hairy couple hope to live happily ever after, but the brutish army and rifle-bearing yokels have other ideas.

It's difficult to pinpoint the biggest fault of "King Kong Lives." Overall, it's pretty ridiculous, from the story to the special effects to the supposedly emotional moments. It's overlong, the dialog could have been written by junior high kids, and the characters, particularly the "bad guys," are so one-dimensional it's not even funny. But if you can accept all of that, you can get at least some entertainment value out of this sequel, though don't expect a so-bad-it's-funny picture.

Well I gotta tell ya - when I bought this flick ($4 - yeah...I KNOW I was way overcharged)in the late 80's, my kids loved it! As an 8 year old, you tend NOT to notice the hilarious dialog, K-Mart effects and Z-Grade production values. My five year old sobbed her little eyes out when KONG was having a coronary...the other three cheered when he wrote off the bad army guys so hey, I'm biased! This film made my kids happy so I haven't the heart to belittle its achievements - microscopic that they are!

PLUS the fact you get to see Linda Hamilton when she was really pretty so c'mon, be charitable - let it be wouldja?