King Kong
The Eighth Wonder of the World!
From Merian C. Cooper's 1933 masterpiece.
For me as a kid this was it, you couldn't possibly find a cooler Monster than King Kong, sure I loved them all, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, you name it... but Kong was the King.
And Willis O'Brien's Kong is by far still the best (and for me the only) Kong. Peter Jackson's bombastic remake didn't quite hit that chord I had been hoping it was going to hit.
I recently had a conversation with my good friend John Rozum and we were dissecting what worked, and what didn't in Jackson's epic retelling. And I think I hit upon exactly why Jackson's version didn't have the impact we had all been hoping it would. The problem with his version is that Kong is just a giant ape, sure he's huge, but at the end of the day that's all he is. Where as Willis O'Brien's Kong was an ape MONSTER.
He was much more then just a big monkey.
He was (and always will be) special.
posted by scottra at 10:09 AM
6 Comments:
I agree with you. Kong wasn't just a big ape. His mouth was bigger in proportion than an ape's. He was more like the result of a fifty-foot giant bitten by a lycanthropic gorilla. I've seen this happen a couple times and they all looked like Kong.
On the topic of monsters, you might want to consider one of the cantina denizens from Star Wars. To my young mind these grotesque beings were second cousins to the monsters of movie land. I also nominate the Cyclops from Jason and the Argonauts.
Cantina monsters are forthcoming, keep your eyes peeled!
The cyclops is from "7th Voyage of Sinbad", Phil. What's wrong with you?
Those are all good choices.
I also nominate the Zuni Fetish from "Trilogy of Terror."
Yeah I get all those Viking myths mixed up.
That's okay, Phil, Rob called King Kong a big "monkey" one of my pet peeves. He's an ape. Monkey's have tails.
No banana for you, Rob!
I did not call King Kong a monkey! I insinuated that Jackson's Kong was just a big monkey, which means that he was less then an ape. Meaning that he is inferior to the one true Kong...
or something...
Give me my banana damnit!
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