Directed by:
John GuillerminCinematography:
Alec MillsComposer:
John ScottCast:
Linda Hamilton, Brian Kerwin, Peter Elliott, John Ashton, Peter Michael Goetz, Jimmie Ray Weeks, Mike Starr, Leon Rippy, Scott King, Nat Christian (more)Plots(1)
Picking up where the last film left off, Kong is being kept alive in a comatose state at the Atlantic Institute. Monitored by Dr. Amy Franklin (Linda Hamilton), it becomes clear that Kong will need an artificial heart if he is to survive, the problem being that he also desperately needs a blood transfusion. With none of the other known species of apes having the same blood type, adventurer Hank ‘Mitch’ Mitchell (Brian Kerwin) is recruited to traverse the darkest corners of the globe in search of match. He finds what he is looking for in the jungles of Borneo and returns stateside with an unexpected boon, Lady Kong. The resurrection of Kong is a success but when the mighty ape senses that a potential mate is near, he escapes, taking his new paramour with him. When the fanatical Colonel Nevitt (John Ashton) is brought in to retrieve the fugitive lovers but only manages to capture Lady Kong, all hell breaks loose. Can the world survive an enraged King Kong willing to destroy anything and everything that stands between him and his mate? (Umbrella Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (2)
This sequel has been widely spat upon, but in my opinion it is no worse than Guillermo's film, which is a decade older, and to which it is a direct sequel. I might even say it's slightly better because it's more fun. The idea that Kong somehow survived the fall doesn't strike me as bad at all, even the discovery of his (future) mate doesn't bother me. The plot sometimes teeters on the edge of (unintentional?) parody, when we watch monkey and human courtship in the forest, or when the title character eats crocodiles, but sometimes it makes fun quite deliberately ("I've never seen such brown and big eyes."), and that's quite pleasant. Surprisingly, the film has quite good momentum, the operation was shot perhaps even thrillingly and several special effects scenes are great, especially Kong's showdown with the two hunters.___P.S. If anything deserves to be spit upon, it's definitely the domestic DVD release with its hideously grainy and oddly cropped and squashed image. Yuck.
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King Kong Lives is a sequel that's not really a sequel; it's actually a remake because the overall story is exactly the same. It's even worse than the first film, even dumber, with such unnecessary scenes that aren't even very logical, that you'll wish it would all just end. And thankfully it ends and you are literally forced to be sad. A poor product of American production that nearly degraded the entire concept of King Kong.
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