King Kong Lives (1986), starring Brian Kerwin, Linda Hamilton
Synopsis of King Kong Lives
King Kong Lives is a sequel to the 1976 remake of King Kong with a lot of heart – or at least … a heart transplant? Kong has survived his fall from the twin towers, gets an artificial heart, and goes to rescue a “female Kong” that has been captured and taken to civilization.
Review of King Kong Lives
This will be damning with faint praise, but King Kong Lives wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Good acting lifts it above its poor plot, special effects, and cliches. That doesn’t make it a good movie; but enjoyable for a rainy afternoon.
About that poor plot. King Kong Lives is a sequel to the 1976 remake, where King Kong dies falling from the Twin Towers. Except, here, Kong wasn’t dead; just gravely wounded. So, a university takes custody of the giant ape, and keeps it alive for a decade. While developing a giant artificial heart for the ape. Not to advance the science of artificial hearts, but for grant money. For keeping alive the giant creature that killed hundreds of people and millions of dollars in damages.
As I say, the plot is, at best, far-fetched. As is finding a female Kong, after 10 years, to provide the blood needed for the operation. And the special effects of Lady Kong (or Mrs. Kong) sweeping arm is simply silly, and laughable. And there’s a lot of cliches as the movie rolls on. But, there’s also moments of comedy that relieve the tension, without becoming silly.
Cast of characters
- Brian Kerwin … Hank Mitchell
- Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) … Amy Franklin
- John Ashton … Lt. Col. R.T. Nevitt
- Peter Michael Goetz … Dr. Andrew Ingersoll
- Frank Maraden (Glory) … Dr. Benson Hughes
Editorial review of King Kong Lives
Kong falls from the twin towers and he appears to be alive. However, his heart is failing, so it’s replaced with an artificial one. All is well until he senses that there’s a female Kong somewhere out there and escapes wreaking havoc.