King Kong Lives

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King Kong Lives
Directed by John Guillerman
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis (executive)
Ronald Shusett (executive)
Martha Schumacher
Written by Ronald Shusett
Steven Pressfield
Starring Linda Hamilton
Brian Kerwin
Peter Elliott
Music by John Scott
Cinematography Alec Mills
Editing by Malcolm Cooke
Distributed by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Release date(s) December 19, 1986
Running time 105 minutes
Language English
Budget 10,000,000 USD
Preceded by King Kong (1976)
IMDb profile

King Kong Lives is a 1986 film that serves as a sequel to the 1976 version of King Kong. The film was directed by John Guillerman and starred Linda Hamilton. The screenplay was written by Ronald Shusett and Steven Pressfield. The original music score was composed by John Scott. It was marketed and released in Japan and Italy under the title "King Kong 2".

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

King Kong, after being shot down from the Empire State Building, is kept alive in a coma for about 10 years at the Atlantic Institute, under the care of surgeon Dr. Amy Franklin (Linda Hamilton). In order to save Kong's life, Dr. Franklin must perform a heart transplant and give Kong a computer-monitored artificial heart. However, he lost so much blood that a transfusion is badly needed. Enter adventurer Hank Mitchell (Brian Kerwin), who captures a giant female gorilla in Borneo (Mitchell theorizes that Borneo and the island from the first movie were once part of the same landmass), bringing her to the Institute so her blood can be used for Kong's operation. The transfusion and the heart transplant are a success, but Kong escapes alongside the female, who is dubbed "Lady Kong." Archie Nevitt (John Ashton), an insane army colonel, is called in with his men to hunt down and kill the two apes. Lady Kong is captured alive by Nevitt's troops and imprisoned; Kong falls from a cliff and is presumed dead, but soon returns to try and rescue his mate. But as Franklin and Mitchell (no fans of Nevitt's sociopathic attitude) soon discover, Kong's artificial heart is beginning to give out.

[edit] Cast

  • Linda Hamilton .... Dr. Amy Franklin
  • Brian Kerwin .... Hank Mitchell
  • Peter Elliott .... King Kong
  • John Ashton .... Colonel Archie Nevitt
  • George Yiasoumi .... Lady Kong
  • Frank Maraden .... Dr. Benson Hughes
  • Peter Michael Goetz .... Dr. Andrew Ingersoll
  • Jimmie Ray Weeks .... Major Peete
  • Jimmy Wiggins .... Boyfriend
  • Mary Swafford .... Girlfriend
  • Michael Forest .... Vance
  • Leon Rippy .... Will
  • Herschel Sparber .... Jay
  • Wallace Merck .... Hunter #3
  • Dean Whitworth .... Hunter #4

[edit] Development

At one point, the film makers considered an early scene with Kong's body being removed from the World Trade Center on a flatbed truck. Another early idea was to have Dwan return and try to reconnect with Kong who promptly eats her. Both ideas were ultimately rejected.

[edit] Reaction

King Kong Lives received almost universally negative reviews. Roger Ebert stated that "The problem with everyone in King Kong Lives is that they're in a boring movie, and they know they're in a boring movie, and they just can't stir themselves to make an effort." [1]

Despite its marketing campaign, King Kong Lives was a box office flop, grossing $4.7 million during its theatrical run.[2] Actor Peter Michael Goetz received a cheque for post release royalties that came to 3 cents. He has it stapled to the film poster in his house, having never cashed it.[citation needed]

[edit] Video Games

Two official video games based on the movie were developed and released only in Japan by Konami and titled King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton Punch for the Famicom, and King Kong 2 for the MSX. The Famicom game totally discarded the human aspect of the story and players played as King Kong who has to travel around the globe fighting giant robots and certain military forces in order to save the female Kong. The game was designed as an action adventure game with some science fiction concepts. The MSX version, on the other hand, play from the perspective of Mitchell. This version is an action/adventure game in the vein of the The Legend of Zelda series.

[edit] External links


King Kong films
King Kong (1933) • The Son of Kong (1933) • King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) • King Kong Escapes (1967) • King Kong (1976) • King Kong Lives (1986) • King Kong (2005)
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