King Kong (1976/Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD)

 

Sound: B     Music: B

 

 

With a second remake of the 1933 classic King Kong around the corner, the 1976 John Guillermin version will be revived somewhat.  To say the film had issues is nothing as compared to the ever wacky history it has had pop culture wise.  In its time, the film did more business than people might remember, including tie-in toys from Mego increasingly worth more money all the time and even a Reese’s cup knock-off called “King Kong Cups” that actually tasted pretty good.

 

As you may know, instead of climbing the Empire State Building, the big Dino DeLaurentiis production has Kong looking for the new height of New York at the time, The World Trade Center Twin Towers.  Well realized in the film, they were almost a co-star in the climax and figure prominently in the poster art and cover of this soundtrack.  There may have been controversy over whether the mechanical Kong or ape-suited version was ultimately more effective, but after hearing John Barry’s entire score for the first time since 1976, there is no doubt it helped the film immensely.

 

Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, John Randolph and Rene Auberjonois were not awful, while critics really went after Jessica Lange.  She later recovered, of course, but the film’s reputation did not.  It is considered a mixed remake pre-9/11/01 and ignored too much of what made the original such a classic.  Barry was on a big break from his work on the James Bond films, having finished The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) when it bombed and put the series on hiatus until Albert “Cubby” Broccoli could revive it.  Barry would not be back until Moonraker (1979) and the remake producers made sure they got a top-notch talent to do the score.  They lucked out.

 

Though the film has a flat 1970s look which seems natural and to date at the time, the music Barry came up with is much more interesting, with its usual combination of big orchestration and simpler, beautiful melodic moments that help drive the narrative.  Even today, few composers do it this well.  He has a true knack for it.  Lange’s character becomes the center of the music in this way, though the film treated her strictly as a 1970s sex object, very natural and plain.  That would at least make some sense for Kong’s motivations, but Guillermin and the usually solid writer Lorenzo Semple, Jr. did not know how to make that work and Barry did.

 

Anything about corporate greed or corruption and exploitation of people or Kong quickly evaporates into the gaudiness of the film, but the score plays it straight throughout.  It should also be noted that this was one of Hollywood’s last big budget blockbuster projects before Star Wars changed the rules, a film that arrived only six months after this one.  This is not my favorite Barry score, but it is a solid one and when that new version rolls around, more and more people are going to realize how vital it was to the success of this version.  That is why it is great Film Score Monthly’s FSM label has issued it in its first-ever official CD edition.

 

The film is now on DVD in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix where the sound only really kicks in during battles or Kong appearances.  The film was one of the few issued in the bass-heavy Sensurround format.  This CD does not have anything like that to offer, though it does have narrative sound samples in some of the tracks.  This version is off of a ¼” soundmaster used for the previous vinyl release, instead of the multi-channel master due to mixed rights issues.  As it stands, the PCM 2.0 16Bit/44.1kHz playback is decent, though you can hear a depth limit due to the soundmaster being a mixdown.  Still, it sounds a bit richer than the DVD’s mix.  It also has the usually informative booklet and has the original track order from its 1976 vinyl release.  You can order it from www.filmscoremonthly.com along with dozens of limited edition CD scores.  This is one of the rare FSM titles that is not a limited edition, but it is bound to be more and more popular and is recommended.  Also at the site, you can find more information about this and other CD scores, as well as download sound samples from any of the CDs.  Now to see if that next Kong film will be any good.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo