King Kong (1933)

Strong and Moving!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Still one of the greatest movies of all time, this is totally enjoyable from it's opening scene to it's last. Be honest, who doesn't feel bad for Kong? What was he doing that was so terrible? The real villain in this movie is greedy Carl Denham. He couldn't be happy just shooting film of Kong, no he had to wrench the poor beast from the only home he'd ever known. The SFX, by the late, great Willis O'Brien still stand up today and this film is even decades later, still worth watching. Sheer brilliance, it should never be remade again.

This is a monumental achievement. The level they took it to back in 1933 is so impressive. And for me, it still holds up today. And Fay Wray...my goodness. One a beauty. And what a scream queen. This movie has it all: action, adventure, horror, suspense, comedy, and a tragic love story. 10/10 easy.

I am a huge fan of thrillers and the original KING KONG is one of the classic greats in my opinion. So much suspense and build up in this movie. And sure it may not have the greatest actors or special effects ever used but I feel like it didn't need to in order to still create the amazing suspense that it did and keep you on edge the whole time. Whenever I think of this movie I think about the truly incredible build up to the actual reveal of the gorilla himself. You're wondering whats going to be on the island and then you're wondering whats behind the wall and so on and its just a really well done build up. This reminds me of many of Alfred Hitchcock's movies since they always seemed to take their time with the build up to enhance that suspenseful feeling. Overall I feel this is one of the better and easily most classic KING KONG movies ever made and maybe even one of my favorite thrillers made especially for the time period and the effects they had to work with.

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