The time paid off: Kong is absolutely stunning to behold, and undeniably the greatest execution to date. Never afraid of overstating things, De Laurentiis maintained that King Kong deserved an Oscar for his performance – which, funnily enough, is exactly what he got. Actually creating that beast fell to a team of technicians and artists led by Carlo Rambaldi, the ingenious Italian effects designer who would later work on Alien and E.T. In his autobigoraphy, Grodin wrote, “In the rush to begin production, two huge right hands were made by mistake, and the picture had to be delayed because neither worked…”. Rambaldi’s assignment on King Kong – to create a moving, mechanical prop as tall as a three-story building – was unlike anything he nor anyone else had attempted before. What they find are terrified natives who live in the shadow of the towering Kong…. A giant hand was also constructed with fingers that closed around lead actress Fay Wray, and then was raised 10 feet into the air with a crane. “But that’s also the fun of working with Dino. For his part, Baker was displeased with the way the effects turned out; he’d pressed for a beast that walked on all fours like a real ape. Il fallait donc toute la confiance en soi du réalisateur de The hairy foot came down – and missed him. Ce fut un choix de l'animateur Willis O'Brien, pionnier des effets spéciaux et de l'animation en volume, qui voulait en faire un « homme-singe » plus qu'un véritable gorille. Pour les plus cinéphiles, une version un peu kitsch de "King Kong" qui relève de la curiosité : King Kong (1976). 2021 - 1933 and 1976 movies. All told, the mechanical Kong would cost around $1.7 million to build, with some putting the price as high as $2 million. Un film qui confrontait grand spectacle populaire (Shoedsack et Cooper avaient un goût prononcé pour […] But De Laurentiis, who died in 2010, was as much a gambler as an avid lover of film. Genre: Action et aventure Date de sortie: 1976-12-17 Age:-10 Durée: 2h 14min Réalisateur: John Guillermin Société de production: Universal Pictures Pays de production: New Zealand, United States of America, Germany Prix iTunes: EUR 7.99 iTunes prix récent: EUR 3.99 Yet King Kong was, in a strange way, something of a pioneer in blockbuster terms. The robot was meant to be the centerpiece of the film but it was barely used because of technical issues, so Baker’s monkey suit filled in. On this latter point, both Grodin and Bahrenburg agree: getting the hand to work was fraught with problems. Parallèlement, un réalisateur ambitieux et mafieux, Carl Denham envisage de tourner un film d'aventure sur une île légendaire située dans l'océan Indien, après être entré en possession d'une carte mentionnant son existence. According to a 1976 piece published in New York Magazine, Sheinberg in turn mentioned the idea to his friend Barry Diller, who happened to be the president of Paramount Pictures. Two hours went by as the technicians continued to work frantically on the leg, their exclamations of Italian profanity piercing the night air.”. For his dramatic final scene, Grodin was to run from Kong, trip, and then scream as a huge hairy foot descended on him from above. And you can’t ignore the 20-foot high head that had three men inside operating levers to change Kong’s facial expressions. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! As well as the mechanical Kong, Rambaldi had to devise separate mechanical hands with working fingers, which could be used to scoop up Dwan in close-ups, and a man-sized ape suit for long shots. The movie’s closing credits state that “Kong was built by Carlo Rambaldi, with some contributions by Rick Baker” – which hardly reflects the number of sequences Baker acted in. C'est maintenant chose faite grâce à la société Industrial Light & Magic (qui s’est occupée des effets spéciaux de Kong : Skull Island). Movie News, Movie Reviews, and Features With Your Time in Mind. “Once, Kong cracked her on the head with a huge finger bigger than all of Jessica when he just meant to fool around with her dress a little.”, Further: “Jessica emerged from 10 months of shooting significantly bruised from Kong, who, squeezing too hard on occasion, caused her to cry out for help.”. It won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects (shared with Logan’s Run), along with nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. Later in 1975, De Laurentiis had adverts published with the petulant headline, “There Still is Only One King Kong.”, Another advert cheekily billed King Kong as “The Most Exciting Original Motion Picture Event of All Time.”. It’s also funny to see Kong’s muzzle bounce-back into place each time Dwan (Jessica Lange) hits him. The new King Kong would be a multi-million dollar production comparable to De Laurentiis’ hugely expensive War and Peace. Directed by Peter Jackson, it too cost a fortune – an extraordinary $207 million – but this time, its effects designers avoided the temptation to build a six-ton mechanical Kong. La compagnie pétrolière "Petrox" monte une expédition à la recherche de nouvelles nappes. For the ape suit, Rambaldi collaborated with Rick Baker, the 25-year-old make-up effects artist who’d recently scored a major credit as an assistant to Dick Smith on The Exorcist. There were some attempts to forge a deal between the studios in January 1976, where the pair would collaborate over one King Kong movie and share its profits, but these fell apart when De Laurentiis refused Universal’s terms (Universal wanted to use its own script and retain control of merchandising rights).