🐵👍🐵👍🐵👍Greetings Chad and Brett! Am so happy to find you here and can't gush enough about this FANTASTIC look at our beloved 'King Kong' from 1976! Much like I did as an 10 year old movie goer when I saw it in the theater, I was glued to my KZfaq screen relishing in every minute of this loving look back in time. It truly never gets old for me seeing folks posting about their love for KK '76. I myself have some Kismet-ish connections with this film you might find of interest. While I'll always be a steadfast devotee to my leading lady Fay Wray, (who I worked with on her last film, 'Broadway: The Golden Age By The Legends Who Were There, 2004') King Kong '76 serves as a colossal benchmark in the evolution of cinematic special effects - thanks in no small part to Carlo Rambaldi and his tremendous efforts which garnered him and Kong a Special Achievement Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1977. Credit must be paid to the jaw dropping craftsmanship that went into creating Kong's huge automatronic arms and fingers which dramatically pluck Jessica Lange from that Skull Mountain sacrificial alter. Sure that behemoth Robo-kong gets a lot of flack, but so what if it's not identical to Rick Baker's suit and make up! It STILL remains one of the best looking, full sized Robot Apes that's ever been created to this very day. It's truly laughable how hyper critical these insipid viewers (and industry types) can be, completely missing the tremendous amount of work and tireless man hours spent to create it. Rick Baker's masterful prosthetic Gorilla make-up is incredibly emotive, and took make up effects to new heights of brilliance. Of course the 'Environmental Rape By Petrox Oil' theme and the obvious parallels with kidnapping Kong from his native habitat are still as powerful today, as during the psychedelic 70's. Acknowledgment must also be given to John Barry's haunting, brilliant orchestral score which is second to none. (I literally wore out my first copy of my LP album and had to get a 2nd one) Was so great to hear you both giving kudos to ALL these contributors. Finally, where would we be without the brilliant cast of characters, including Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin and a completely unknown Jessica Lange, King Kong '76 also happened to be an enormous (if not critically lambasted) hit at the box office. Time has shown however that the critical reaction was more in part to Dino DeLaurentis's sheer audacious tenacity than the quality of the film itself. Having worked closely with 'BGA' director Rick McKay I saw first hand how desperate PJ was to nab Fay for his 2004 remake, (thank GOD she said no!) You both also need to be aware how much Peter Jackson and his tribe have hurled nothing but ugly, BS hostility towards this film from day one, and he needs to be called out on it big time! It also must be stated loudly that the egregiously LAME Academy Awards flat-out omitted mentioning John Guillerman in their 'In Memoriam' section the year he passed. Were you aware of that? Having had the good fortune to speak with Mary a few times over the last couple of years also, you can rest assured she was extremely hurt by this disgusting omission by the Oscars. Absolutely inexcusable on all fronts and more proof why the Oscars Executive Board have tanked in every conceivable way. Sack the entire bloody lot of em and Boycott The Oscars! John's wife Mary has remained classy, kind and diligent in furthering her husband's incredible cinematic legacy. In short, King Kong '76 has influenced myself and millions of other aspiring artists, actors and filmmakers and technicians more than we'll probably ever know. Words seem inadequate. Between it and the never-to-be-topped 1933 original, these two are hands down the best of the bunch. I'd love to share some materials from the still unreleased Fay Wray Documentary I worked on with Rick & Fay after 'BGA' which remains unseen due to his abrupt passing, but KZfaq gets weird when you try to add links here in the comments. If you just Google my full name, (Michael Lee Stever) you'll find my site and please reach out via email so I can send you some things regarding Fay you might enjoy. Cheers and congratulations again, apologies for this long winded epistle but my gut says like myself, you both know there is strength in numbers and (unlike Jackson's agonizingly long, drowning in CGI onslaught) us lovers of KK '76 are growing by the thousands every year!

I LOVE the deep dive into the 1976 KING KONG! Thank you for all the film's edits and music, as you talked about it. I saw this one as a kid with my older brother and my Dad, and it stuck with me-not as much as it stuck with the two of you. I can't wait to see what's next! Great job, Chad and Brett! 🍿🍿🍿🐒

Excellent podcast Brett and Chad; amazing dive into 76 KK! Love the music, film footage and insight! Can’t wait for the new episodes and the next Close ups!

Nice and thorough review. I still have my keyring with some of the hair from the largest Kong model inside.

This had to be Jack Blacks worst role. I couldn't stand him in this. Agree with the less is more. The whole point about King Kong and the T rex, it was the best apex predator against Kong. When 05 Kong defeated 3, big deal. They weren't any competition, so imagine how much easier if it had just been 1 of them. The entire Jackson Kong was an embarrassing cartoon. From the stampede of sauropods, and you can't leave out Raptors, cause 20 herbivorous dinosaurs weren't enough🙄, too shutting bugs off someone's back with a Tommy gun. 🙄 Oh yeah, the 1930's taxi accelerating and taking corners ON SNOW AND ICE, that drives like an F1 racer on a perfect racetrack. 🙄