1976 King Kong Suitmation?

I always found the animatronics of the '76 Kong suit to completely rival the Godzilla and Gamera work of the 1990s, but agree the miniatures never matched up. They far more hollow, less detailed and didn't quite crumble like the Toho and Daiei miniatures.

SPARKZILLA14 - What an interesting topic! I am definately in agreement with you and GMAN2887; the '76 King Kong suit was a marvel of movie wizardry - no mistake! :)

The 1976 King Kong suit just makes me wish Toho had used a suit of comparable quality for their two Kong films instead of the ratty cheap-looking suits they did use. I've always thought the 1976 King Kong was an underrated film, but after re-watching it I can see that the miniatures were quite sub-par.

I think the only good miniatures was the wodden gate that he busts into. I always wanted to see the 76' Kong suit and the 91' G suit on film together haha

*wooden

I think the subway scene was one of the best scenes! The explosions and stuff made him look even more fierce! And when he bares back his teeth, it's absolutly terrifying! 

Of course its suitmation!  The animatronic/suit effects for Kong '76 and even its sequel are quite excelent, the best suitmation for American monster films of the period.  Rick Baker, multi-Academy Award winning make-up effects wizzard responsible for such classics as  An American Werewolf in London, MIB, and the Tim Burton Planet of the Apes (among MANY other credits) both designed and acted in the suit in the '76 film, which is likely the reason it went over so well.  I'm not the biggest fan of either of the De Laurentiis films, but I do enjoy them quite a lot, and they do stand as one of the few big budget Hollywood series' that employ suitmation in a serious and convincing maner.

I love the film, i consider it my favorite version of King Kong. I think the suit is what made me like it so much and well Mr. Lebowski being thrown in as well lol. 

The movie was on TV quite a bit on weekends in the 90's, probably why I love it so much.