Monday, May 08, 2006

A Tagline With Which I Must Take Issue

OK, this one's been stuck in my head for thirty years, and now that I have a forum for it I'm going to vent. The 1976 remake of King Kong, directed by John Guillermin and produced by Dino De Laurentiis carried the tagline "The Most Exciting Original Motion Picture Event of All Time!"

Now, the film had many problems, not least of which being that it was an embarrassment to giant monsters worldwide. Godzilla weathered it well, but I understand lesser known Kaiju like Yongary and Hedorah didn't work for years as a result. Mothra ended up getting hooked on inhalants and had a number of close calls with a can of Raid, and Rodan fell into Giant Monster Porn (man, you REALLY have to see it) just to make ends meet.

With that in mind, it's easy to see how the tagline issue could be overlooked, but I ask you how can a REMAKE be described in any way as "an ORIGINAL motion picture event?" It's not hyperbole. It's not overstatement. It's flat out incorrect. This has stuck in my craw for more than a quarter century, despite the fact that I don't know where my craw is or even what its function might be. I need to cleanse my craw, and I'm hoping this posting will help.

Wow. I feel better already. Gotta run now. I've got some friends coming over and we've just rented Large Lizards in Lust.

Thanks for listening.

4 comments:

warrenzone said...

I have the poster for this Kong movie!!!, though mine does not say "For Christmas" at the bottom and is from Belgium.

Matt Bradshaw said...

The year the movie came out this poster was everywhere. I remember getting a variation of it for Christmas, showing Kong derailing an elevated train.

Stacie Ponder said...

I've never seen this poster before, and I thought- "How did I miss THAT classic holiday picture?"...I mean, King Kong for Christmas? That's an awesome present.

Matt Bradshaw said...

Yes, definitely the hairiest thing to be found under anyone's Christmas tree that year.

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