Forumrxes
Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.
Suman Roberson
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
JohnHowardReid
I regard "King Kong" as the ultimate film noir! And why not? The way I see it, film noir can actually partner any genre, even slapstick comedies like "Abbott and Costello Meet the Ghosts" (1948), as well as horror and "monster" pictures like the prince of them all, "King Kong" (1933). This latter film is now available on an excellent Warner Brothers DVD which even includes Max Steiner's original "overture". To my mind, this music proves rather disappointing, but the restored movie itself holds up beautifully, thanks to solid writing, superb pacing and atmosphere, plus the sharp yet moodily attractive cinematography by Eddie Linden (the main unit) and James O. Taylor (the effects unit). Those of us who have seen the movie will never forget Kong himself. Nor will we overlook Fay Wray. Miss Wray, as we all know, never had a better part and never looked more alluring (though she actually did come close to both on at least three occasions). Wordy but occasionally relevant interviews on the bonus DVD disc confirm what I always suspected, namely that Carl Denham was simply Merian C. Cooper, while Bruce Cabot's Jack Driscoll is, to perhaps a somewhat lesser extent, based on Ernest B. Schoedsack himself.
gea-79784
King Kong is an outstanding film. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. The story follows a director and film crew that goes to a mysterious island to record for an upcoming film. Eventually the crew is scattered in the jungle trying to avoid dinosaurs and monsters that roam skull island. This is where the movie truly shines in my opinion. The crude effects used for the monsters is awesome. It is super entertaining to see King Kong fight all of the monsters on the island. The effects though basic still manage to be entertaining and engaging. Once the crew gets Kong of the island the movie does go into a bit of a lull, but still overall works when Kong eventually gets loose in New York. Definitely my favorite film out of all the Universal studios Monster flicks.
itsgyarmathy
King Kong, a 1933 precode film and the brainchild of Merian C. Cooper was a technological masterpiece of it's time. Following a traditional plot, the movie's exposition takes place as a director searches for a final shooting location. Very much on accident, the film crew ends up on a sort of Jurrasic Park oriented island. Here it's worth noting, King Kong inspired many future films, and as a product of a simpler time, it wouldn't have been such a stretch of the imagination to believe a story such as this one might have some truth to it. No other movies had the technological capacity for special effects of this amplitude. Just to believe in the ability of the film industry to produce an idea of this caliber was extraordinary. Key plot concepts borrow the damsel in distress cliché and blow it to astronomical proportions.
swilliky
The movie that started it all for the giant monkey tramping through New York after being captured from his native island, the 1933 film is a classic with obvious problems way beyond the dated special effects. Still, I could see how at the time viewers were entranced by the exotic location and the tale of a giant monkey with special effect never seen before. The film begins with director Jack Denham (Robert Armstrong) discussing how to get a woman for his film to make it a romance and sell more with Captain Englehorn (Frank Reicher). He discovers Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) stealing a meal and proposes a deal to bring her along.Ann catches the eye of Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) who falls for her quickly. They travel across the ocean to a hidden island where the native people also become obsessed with Ann. They sneak aboard the ship and capture her preparing to sacrifice her to the mysterious monster called Kong. The ceremony brings the stop-motion monkey who snatches Ann and runs often into the jungle pursued by the crew of the ship. The crew of white men encounters dinosaurs and dangers throughout the foliage. They quickly realize they are in over their heads.Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com
