King Kong Lives is a 1986 film that serves as a sequel to the 1976 version of King Kong (1976 film). The film was directed by John Guillermin 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, Spain and Italy under the title "King Kong 2" or "King Kong II" in other places.

Plot summary

King Kong, after being shot down from the World Trade Center, 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 along with 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 soon discover, Kong's artificial heart is beginning to give out. Kong then is successful in saving his mate. After being followed, attacked, and shot by the military, Kong kills the military colonel and dies slowly at a military base. After this event, Lady Kong is back on Kong Island, with their happy, newborn son.

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 down to 3 cents. He has it stapled to the film poster in his house, having never cashed it. Template:Citation needed

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 Nintendo Entertainment System, and King Kong 2: Yomigaeru Densetsu 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, plays from the perspective of Mitchell. This version is a role-playing game.

External links

• King Kong Lives at the Internet Movie Database

• Planet Nintendo's King Kong 2 video game page
• Kongisking.net's first review for King Kong Lives
• Kongisking.net's second review for King Kong Lives