Produced by the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group and featuring special effects by Carlo Rambaldi, the film stars Linda Hamilton and Brian Kerwin.
After being shot down from the World Trade Center at the end of the previous movie, Kong is revealed to have been revived from his death and has been kept in a coma for the next ten years at the Atlantic Institute, under the care of surgeon Dr. Amy Franklin.
Meanwhile, adventurer Hank "Mitch" Mitchell, travels to Borneo, theorizing that Kong's home island was once part of the same land mass.
While exploring the jungle, Mitch soon encounters a giant female ape of Kong's species, who is quickly subdued and captured.
To hunt down the apes, a military force is called in, led by the overzealous Lieutenant Colonel Archie Nevitt.
Months later, Lady Kong is kept in captivity by Nevitt, while Mitchell attempts to buy out land in Borneo for a reserve.
As Dr. Franklin and Mitchell watch on, Lady Kong successfully gives birth to an infant ape.
Rescued, Lady Kong and her infant are brought back to the reserve in Borneo, to live out their days in peace.
"[6] The progress of a sequel was complicated by the fact the 1976 film was considered a financial disappointment and there were ongoing legal uncertainties over who owned the rights to King Kong.
"[8] Pressfield and Ron Schusett pitched the idea that Kong has been on a giant respirator for years, and he was brought back to life with an artificial heart.
"[8] John Guillermin had been hoping to direct a version of Tai Pan with Sean Connery but when that project was unable to be financed, he moved on to King Kong Lives!
[10] Pressfield said "The whole thing is a love story with the two apes, but there's also a lot of action and an uplifting ending, although there are some elements of tragedy, as there were in the original.
Also, the 1976 movie had such low prestige and Jessica Lange was ridiculed, but then so was Christopher Reeve for Superman, and look at the subsequent success of those two.
"[11] The film's leading star Linda Hamilton said, "I'm happy that I don't have to get picked up by the monkey and become the object of his desire.
[14] King Kong Lives was released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1987 by Lorimar Home Video, on DVD in 2004 by 20th Century Fox, and on Blu-ray in 2023 by Umbrella Entertainment.
Despite its marketing campaign, King Kong Lives was a box office flop in the United States and Canada,[15] grossing $4,711,220 during its theatrical run.
"[26] DEG sent a notice to Ebert and Gene Siskel notifying the two critics that they were allowed to show snippets of the film on TV in their native Chicago, but were forbidden to show the same snippets on the national scale unless they promised to give positive reviews, which the pair refused to agree to.
[27] Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times opined that "this sequel, directed by John Guillermin (who was also at the helm of the 1976 version) is in good hands as long as Kong is on screen.
(Designer Carlo Rambaldi has done a masterful job of sculpting his mighty ape’s features, giving him heft, surprising agility and, perhaps to age him a bit, a receding hairline.)
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.
"[28] Rambaldi's work was also lauded by Janet Maslin of The New York Times, but she nonetheless remarked that "King Kong Lives, which was directed by John Guillerman, has a dull cast and a plot that's even duller.
"[29] Staff members of Variety remarked that "in portraying an Indiana Jones-type figure, [Brian] Kerwin strains for plausibility and [the] film swiftly begins to lose some early credibility.
Actor Peter Goetz received a residual check of three cents from the film and decided to frame it as a tribute, never cashing it.
There’s no sense of adventure or danger: the bulk of the film takes place in the USA, and the rampage of Kong is played for laughs (being whacked on the head by a golf ball, etc).