1933 Directed by Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
An adventure film about a film crew in search of a monster on a remote island. The crew finds King Kong and decides to take him back to New York as a money making spectacle. The film is a masterpiece of Stop-Motion in filmmaking history and inspired a line of King Kong films.
"The Eighth Wonder of the World"
Often times I wonder what it was like to see classics up on the big screen when they were first released. At that point, they had no idea how much of the entire landscape of the medium would be changed within a mere hundred minutes.
Think about how lucky we must be to witness some of our own, soon to be, hopefully, classics. The ones that shape our decade, or create an entirely new means of showcasing the medium. But at these points, we don't know. We have no idea what will go down in film history and what will simply be dust in the wind.
This is not what we get here.
This…
94/100
King Kong was and always will be a rip-roaring, dynamic, and stunning adventure film, overloaded with spectacular set-pieces and a classical sense of tragedy. The magical stop-motion effects still are unmistakably brilliant, and combined with the marvelous matte work, this 1933 classic is unrelentingly vital, never stopping and always providing a genuine aura of spectacle.
Do you hate monkeys? Then don't watch this movie. It's got one of the biggest monkeys I've ever seen.
I watched this in a class when I was super young but I barely remember it so I figured I’d rewatch.
Such an entertaining time. Something about the shaky stop-motion still holds up really well and adds a lot to it. Oh but it is also very sexist AND racist.
“I love you”
“But Jack, I thought you hated women”
“You aren’t women”
L M F A O
(Criterion Laser Disc Collection)
The original version of one of the greatest monsters in movie history.
Some how I had never seen this movie, and I had a blast watching it with my 6 and 4 year old sons. The beginning did test their patience some with how it slowly it gets going with filmmaker Carl Denham looking for a leading lady to take with him to Skull Island.
But once they make it to the island and Kong shows up they were glued to the screen, loving ever moment of the whirlwind of action that drives the story to its climax with Kong climbing the Empire State Building. I have always heard the special effects in this movie were…
Film #10 of Project 30
” He was a king and a god in the world he knew, but now he comes to civilization, merely a captive, a show to gratify your curiosity. Ladies and gentlemen, look at Kong: the Eighth Wonder of the World!”
This is as amazing as it can get. A wonderful and staggering action-adventure which after all these years is still breathtaking and pleasing. The most astonishing thing about this top-notch thriller from 1933 is that it hasn't aged at all, of course Kong looks quite strange with the stop-motion animation but surprisingly the film’s action scenes and the overall visuals still look marvelous. Kong’s fight with the giant T-Rex, his madness in the streets of…
An upsetting metaphor for slave trade. Great action sequences and it’s influence was revolutionary.
From stunning Stop Motion, to the Brutality of Kong's vicious attacks, this film has it all.
Funnily enough, I thought it was a teenage-friendly film but soon realised why it has a much more mature certiifcate.
Cant believe it has taken until the age of 37 to watch this Classic... And it was phenomenal
Rewatched it with Ronald Haver's commentary track. Some thoughts:
-Merian C. Cooper was essentially the most interesting man in the world before Dos Equis was ever cool.
-I never knew King Kong borrowed sets from The Most Dangerous Game; it makes me appreciate the latter film more, but not much.
-Listening to Ronald go from dry lecturer to an excited kid over the T. Rex v. Kong fight is one of the purest things I've had seen/heard all year.
-Finally, condoms... who knew?
The humans are annoying, but Kong is a good tragic character. And the effects get made fun of a lot, but they’re really pretty impressive for an 85 year old movie.
Watched on Filmstruck with commentary and learned he was an adventurer and made 2 documentaries I want to see
Repetitive and charming, but way too slow for my taste. Gets by on some very well executed sequences.
Basically, it’s better than Skull Island but not as good as the Peter Jackson one
6/10
Première revue sur Letterboxd, alors je me lance.
King Kong est le genre de film dont tout le monde connait sans l’avoir vraiment vu, même dans les études académiques. Avant de le voir, j’aurais déjà pu parler de l’allégorie de «La belle et la bête», de la théorie populaire que le film est une allégorie pour l’esclavage par les blancs et, bien sûr, de l’innovation technique qu'il a apporté dans le monde des effets spéciaux. C’est fou comment il y a une différence entre étudier quelque chose et vraiment le voir.
J’ai été surpris (en même temps c’était logique) du peu de contenu que le film possède. Les personnages sont vraiment fades et très archétypes, l’allégorie de «la belle et…
This is from an article that I wrote for Taste of Cinema.
King Kong has been a staple in American pop culture since it first appeared. Countless remakes later and there still hasn’t been a better King Kong film than the original 1933 version of King Kong, but Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of King Kong got the close. The reason is because Jackson understood that the continual fascination in King Kong lies in both the horrific nature of Kong and the mystery of Kong’s origins. This is what the original captures so well. It doesn’t take too long or make Kong too complex which is the downfall of Jackson’s Kong. Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack crafted an adventure…
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