King Kong

"The most exciting original motion picture event of all time."

1976 2h 14m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 959

AdventureHorror

Synopsis

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An oil company expedition disturbs the peace of a giant ape and brings him back to New York to exploit him.

“The most exciting original motion picture event of all time.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Jeff Bridges
Jack F. Prescott
Jessica Lange
Dwan
Charles Grodin
Fred S. Wilson
John Randolph
Captain Ross
René Auberjonois
Roy Bagley
Julius Harris
Boan
Jack O'Halloran
Joe Perko
Ed Lauter
Carnahan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Guillermin
Writers: Lorenzo Semple Jr., James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

50 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "King Kong (1976) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Guillermin, shot by Richard H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ralph E. Winters shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange and Charles Grodin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The most exciting original motion picture event of all time.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Guillermin directs. Richard H. Kline behind the camera. John Barry scores. Ralph E. Winters cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.
250 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "King Kong (1976) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by John Guillermin, shot by Richard H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ralph E. Winters shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange and Charles Grodin carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The most exciting original motion picture event of all time.".
9IMDB entry: tt0074751 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "indigenous", "giant snake", "remake", "giant animal".
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Richard H. Kline
Original score: John Barry
Editing: Ralph E. Winters
Production design: Dale Hennesy
Costume design: Anthea Sylbert
Makeup / hair: Rob Bottin
Sound: Harry W. Tetrick
Stunt coordinator: Bill Couch
Runtime: 134 min · 2h 14m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.78:1 (16:9)
Status: Released
Budget: $23,000,000
Box office: $90,614,445
Return: 394% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: King Kong (1976)

Awards

Special Achievement Academy Award
Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

King Kong (1976) Collection

An American giant monster film series remake based on the 1933 film of the same name, about a giant ape that is captured and imported to New York City for exhibition.

Also by

John Guillermin

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-01-16
★ 7/10
I had first seen the outstanding original of 'King Kong', still transcendent and captivating in its then-prescient use of special effects wizardry, then Sir Peter Jackson's recent remake, which was still extremely impressive. I had only heard horrible things about the 70's version, but I have come to admire Guillermin's films that I had watched, and look at that cast, so when I found the blu used, for a good price, I took a chance. It's definitely the runt of the litter, but is by no means a disaster. It's intriguing that they had originally wanted Joseph Sargent to direct with Peter Falk starring, and that Meryl Streep was considered for the role that eventually went to Jessica Lange. The changes they made to update Kong for the seventies were intriguing (as they wanted the script to be completely different from the Cooper/Schoedsack masterpiece), and I'm left curious, had Sir Peter Jackson chosen to make Kong a 21st-century schizoid apeman instead of doing a period piece, how that would have transpired. Even being Canadian, seeing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center made me wistfully nostalgic. The only part of the film that was excruciating to watch was when Kong is made to perform for the American Bicentennial festivities, and at the ending, I was curious how Lange got down from the rooftop of one of the towers so fast. The answer probably lies on the cutting room floor, and the editing was probably rushed for release date, so no one must have noticed...
John Chard2019-06-12
★ 5/10
No, you're dead wrong. He was the terror, the mystery of their lives, and the magic. 1976 and I had already been spellbound and terrified by Jaws the year previously, I mean I was only 10 years old. Having been introduced by my film loving parents to the original King Kong from 1933, as soon as this update - in colour - was released, I stood in that queue for two hours to see it. I was spellbound, absolutely loved it, telling everyone in school or on the playing fields how great an experience it was. Those things never leave you, it's love of cinema with youthful eyes, and none of us should ever decry those moments as being ignorance. Much later in life, watching this reworking of the Kong story becomes a battle to not extinguish those youthful fires. For now you can see just how poor the effects are, in fact just how much of a cheat (through research) that uber producer Dino De Laurentiis was as he put this onto the screen. Conversely, though, you can now see just how adult much of it was. The pic is full of sexual connotations and imagery. I mean look at Jessica Lange's first scene, she is introduced in a wet dress with erectus nippleus in full effect. I didn't remember that as a 10 year old boy... There's some smart era concerns in the narrative, fuels, discrimination etc, and for sure the array of characters on show are 1970s intelligent. Hell! even the change to helicopter attacks instead of aeroplanes for the finale deserves respect - with the added sombre setting of the WTC twin towers now more attention grabbing - yet it's hard to get away from just how poor the production is. So as we may still shed a tear as the giant beast is felled by his love for a beauty, and we curse mankind for just not leaving him on his island, this is still poor film making that comes close to shattering fond memories of the young movie lovers back in 1976. 5/10
JPV8522021-05-07
★ 6/10
A bit long but not terrible and had some adorably funny moments like seeing a man in an ape outfit tossing around a model train or hiding behind a building to avoid a helicopter. But seriously, the ape costume wasn't bad however his expressions were at times creepy, especially when looking at Dwan. Certainly one of the lesser of the Kong movies (though haven't seen King Kong Lives) but I guess watchable. 3.0/5