King Kong - The Eighth Wonder Of The World
1933
A cinematic masterpiece and one of the top moneymakers of the 1930s. Fortune-hunters travel to Skull Island in search of the fabled giant ape King Kong. Enticing him with the lovely Fay Wray, they capture the savage beast and bring him back to New York where he escapes and ransacks the city searching for the woman he loves. .. Read more
| Starring | Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot, Robert Armstrong, James Flavin |
|---|---|
| Director | Merion C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Horror |
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Critics' reviews
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If this glorious pile of horror-fantasy hokum has lost none of its power to move, excite and sadden, it is in no small... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful members' reviews (3)
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
The eighth wonder of the world
This cinematic classic is my all time personal favourite with ground breaking special effects for the time and new processes to bring Kong to life.
It was one of the first films to have a fully integrated soundtrack where music is fundamental to the action. The sound effects are also very advanced for the time with a great many sounds being mixed in.
This film gets a very deserving 4 stars in Halliwells guide. Was way ahead of its time in 1932 when it was made. -
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Go Ape
I haven't seen this for a long time - but rented it having read about Peter Jackson's remake. And you know what it was interesting; it was certainly good, very unrelenting, but also brutal and quite moronic on one level; "look a dinosaur - they haven't been around for millions of years, quick shoot it" and I don't think Kong is played for sympathy but you are sympathetic to him almost from the off.
Then you can read into it lots of psycho sexual / racial undertones if you so desire. But at the end of the day after a few minutes you do buy into story that this stop frame animated gorilla is actually 50 foot high and a film made more than 70 years ago does still resonate. -
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful
A masterpiece of early special effects
'King Kong' was the first and only film my grandfather ever saw. After coming out of the theatre he said 'if you believe that, you'll believe anything', and never went to see another movie. You could say that he missed the point of cinema somewhat, or perhaps it was the genuine shortcomings of the movie that did it for him. But watching it now, I'd have to say he definitely missed something.
The stop-motion techniques used in this movie, created by Willis O'Brien, were so far ahead of their time that they were used for decades afterwards. There are so many memorable scenes, including the fight with the dinosaur and the final battle on the empire state building, that are of course spectacular, but it's the little touches that make it great. Kong's facial expressions for instance, and his scenes alone with Fay Wray -- it's details like that which give him his personality.
But aside from the special effects the movie doesn't have a whole lot going for it. The acting is generally pretty bad even for it's time, and most of the cast come across as silent film stars struggling to deal with a 'talkie' role. You could also argue that the gender and racial stereotypes here are actually MUCH scarier than the big monkey. A chinese guy on the ship is simply there for comic relief, and the primitive black tribe is pretty much what you'd expect. Fay Wray (what a great name) doesn't have much to do except scream, faint and get rescued, whether by Kong or by her rugged human hero.
But as long as you can sit through the boring opening segment, this is still an entertaining spectacle. Once Kong shows himself, the action is pretty much non-stop, and that's when things start to get interesting. -
Most recent members' reviews (2)
View all -
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Colourised version - great too
Having already bought the main feature, I opted just for the colourised version to see how it had been done. I must say that I think they did a great job. I just wish they did colourised versions of the universal monster films and nosferatu!
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
King Kong
The original is laughable now, but still a good watch.
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
The eighth wonder of the world
This cinematic classic is my all time personal favourite with ground breaking special effects for the time and new processes to bring Kong to life.
It was one of the first films to have a fully integrated soundtrack where music is fundamental to the action. The sound effects are also very advanced for the time with a great many sounds being mixed in.
This film gets a very deserving 4 stars in Halliwells guide. Was way ahead of its time in 1932 when it was made. -
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Go Ape
I haven't seen this for a long time - but rented it having read about Peter Jackson's remake. And you know what it was interesting; it was certainly good, very unrelenting, but also brutal and quite moronic on one level; "look a dinosaur - they haven't been around for millions of years, quick shoot it" and I don't think Kong is played for sympathy but you are sympathetic to him almost from the off.
Then you can read into it lots of psycho sexual / racial undertones if you so desire. But at the end of the day after a few minutes you do buy into story that this stop frame animated gorilla is actually 50 foot high and a film made more than 70 years ago does still resonate. -
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful
A masterpiece of early special effects
'King Kong' was the first and only film my grandfather ever saw. After coming out of the theatre he said 'if you believe that, you'll believe anything', and never went to see another movie. You could say that he missed the point of cinema somewhat, or perhaps it was the genuine shortcomings of the movie that did it for him. But watching it now, I'd have to say he definitely missed something.
The stop-motion techniques used in this movie, created by Willis O'Brien, were so far ahead of their time that they were used for decades afterwards. There are so many memorable scenes, including the fight with the dinosaur and the final battle on the empire state building, that are of course spectacular, but it's the little touches that make it great. Kong's facial expressions for instance, and his scenes alone with Fay Wray -- it's details like that which give him his personality.
But aside from the special effects the movie doesn't have a whole lot going for it. The acting is generally pretty bad even for it's time, and most of the cast come across as silent film stars struggling to deal with a 'talkie' role. You could also argue that the gender and racial stereotypes here are actually MUCH scarier than the big monkey. A chinese guy on the ship is simply there for comic relief, and the primitive black tribe is pretty much what you'd expect. Fay Wray (what a great name) doesn't have much to do except scream, faint and get rescued, whether by Kong or by her rugged human hero.
But as long as you can sit through the boring opening segment, this is still an entertaining spectacle. Once Kong shows himself, the action is pretty much non-stop, and that's when things start to get interesting. -
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Hmmm
Tricky one this: an undeniable classic and one of the originators of many staples/cliches of film but it left me a bit cold frankly.
You can't write off the performances as being part of a different style/era, they're just poor. The story is time-worn & workable but of course the main draw is the monkey, who, well... is impressive for the day undoubtedly, and a milestone in film and special effects. But that's the best you can say. I didn't feel the emapthy everyone else allegedly feels for the monster, in fact I spent the latter half of the film remembering the Chewits ads and getting excited about the upcoming Peter Jackson version....
DVD is watchable, a serious candidate for restoration though surely. Decent 'Making of doc'. -
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Creaky...but still effective
Its a bit creaky around the edges, and sadly even the special effects have dated somewhat, but considering the fact that this was made in the 30's this film still holds up remarkably well. The early scenes are a bit awkward, but once the characters get to Skull Island the action picks up, with King Kong being the forerunner to the sort of special effets heavy non-stop action blockbusters of today. Certainly not deep, but for a shallow action flick this holds up well.
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Colourised version - great too
Having already bought the main feature, I opted just for the colourised version to see how it had been done. I must say that I think they did a great job. I just wish they did colourised versions of the universal monster films and nosferatu!
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
King Kong
The original is laughable now, but still a good watch.
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FANTASTIC
This film is a true classic. The story is brilliant and you can't turn your head away once. The graphics (for the time) are great.
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not as good as when i was a child
but still very watchable. the sequence of hurdles our heroes face in the film now seems quite contrived, which i never noticed when i was young. on the other hand (the positive one), i never before noticed how stunning fay wray was. so, you win some, you lose some. it's a ridiculous movie, but not without its charms.
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The mother of all monster movies
The film that set a trend, and the start of the career of Willis O'Brien as the master of stop-go animation. Without this film there would have been no Harryhausen and none of his excellent monsters either...
Critics' reviews
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If this glorious pile of horror-fantasy hokum has lost none of its power to move, excite and sadden, it is in no small... read more on Time Out
Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop
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King Kong - The Eighth Wonder Of The World
A cinematic masterpiece and one of the top moneymakers of the 1930s. Fortune-hunters travel to Skull Island in search of the fabled giant ape King Kong. Enticing him with the lovely Fay Wray, they capture the savage beast and bring him back to New York where he escapes and ransacks the city ...
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