SummaryKong 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.
Directed By:John Guillermin, Charles McCracken
Written By:Ronald Shusett, Steven Pressfield, Merian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace
King Kong Lives
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
32
User score
Generally Unfavorable
2.9
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
11% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
33% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
56% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
63
An amiable adventure illuminated at odd moments by some genuine inventiveness. [21 Dec 1986, p.12C]
50
The film makers haven't been able to improve on the original story. It's still Kong vs. Civilization, with a lot of high-firepower action and wackily implausible plot twists thrown in to keep the Big Guy busy. [22 Dec 1986, p.10]
User score
Generally Unfavorable
0% Positive
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
38% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
63% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
Jul 8, 2025
5
This is an interesting King Kong movie with a story totally unlike the others. The elements are unfamiliar which makes it feel different. It’s still a story about a giant ape though with some human elements thrown in. The giant apes keep escaping, you’d think they’d have learnt and be able to keep them captive by now. Anyway it’s good that Kong is in it from the start, you don’t have to wait an hour to see the star. The cast do a great job even if Linda Hamilton’s character is very one-dimensional. The scale of King Kong is excellent, you really get a sense of how big he is. All of the practical effects are very enjoyable and have a better, albeit slightly comedic, feel to them compared to the CGI weightless beasts. Overall it’s an okay movie, a bit different which is refreshing considering how many kaiju movies I’ve seen recently.
May 14, 2020
3
When I first saw this as a kid at 6 y/o I remember liking it. Almost 35 years later I've gone out of my way to get a copy because its been discontinued. So I spent a decent amount. Boy what a mistake because this movie is the pits. Picking up after the events of the not so great 70s version. Kong is given an artificial heart transplant and they've captured a female. When he finally awakes he goes on a little rampage because he senses her. They get together and act all cute while a scientist and an explorer. One of them played by a usually great Linda Hamilton (Terminator) whose just not very good here. And then you know the rest military goes after them, big showdown yada, yada, yada. The effects are okay but look goofy. The movie is dragging and a boring which is surprising considering the amount of action
It's really just quite bad. Budget: $18m
Box Office: $4.7m 3/10
40
King Kong Lives, which was directed by John Guillerman, has a dull cast and a plot that's even duller, but the ape himself is in good form.
38
Director Guillermin has got a film that's alternately cloying and crude, sometimes needlessly violent (Kong still kills in self- defence, but now he breaks human victims in half). It's even less suitable for kids than for adults. [24 Dec 1986, p.D5]
25
In all fairness, there is a lot of camp value here. Fans of truly bad cinema couldn't ask for a sillier big-budget production--envisioned with the utmost seriousness.
25
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.
16
King Kong Lives is a terrible film, alternately boring and fascinatingly misguided. But it’s ragingly inessential more than anything else.
May 16, 2023
1
another forgettable story of King Kong that has no purpose whatsoever and yeah
