Scorned on its release, director John Guillermin's 1976
King Kong remake has been somewhat rehabilitated in recent
years and compares favourably to Peter Jackson's bloated mess from 2005. The
movie starred Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin, and gave
Jessica Lange her big break. Carlo Rambaldi, Glen Robinson and Frank Van der Veer's
Visual Effects work snagged an Oscar.
King Kong has been freshly restored in 4K for a November
23rd UK release on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital courtesy of Studiocanal.
Bonus features include the extended TV broadcast cut (unrestored); commentaries by film historian Ray Morton and actor and makeup artist Rick Baker; interviews with
Barry Nolan, Bill Kronick, Scott Thaler, Jeffrey Chernov, Jack O'Halloran, Steve Varner, David McGiffert and Brian E. Frankish; deleted scenes and
the original trailer.
Check out Studiocanal's new trailer and artwork below.
The official synopsis reads:
Fred Wilson (Charles Grodin), an employee of a large American oil company, has been charged with a mission to find new oil wells. With a chartered boat, he sets off on a journey to an uninhabited island in the South Pacific. On board is also a stowaway: the palaeontologist Jack Prescott (Jeff Bridges) has smuggled himself onto the ship, as he hopes to examine a rare species of monkey on this island. On the way, after a violent storm, the expedition also takes on board the shipwrecked Dawn (Jessica Lange), who is floating in a lifeboat at sea. When the ship anchors off the island, however, it turns out not to be as uninhabited as everyone once thought. The natives of the island perform a strange ritual to worship a larger-than-life ape named "Kong". As soon as they catch sight of the blonde Dawn, they decide they have found their perfect offering.
