Review of King Kong (1933) by Chris W — 10 Sep 2011

78 years later, this still holds up as high-caliber entertaining spectacle.

I'm sure you all know the story by now (you should), but just for giggles, here's the quick synopsis: a film crew travels to the mysterious Skull Island to track down a ythical creature known as Kong in hopes of capturing him and using him to make a profit.

All hell breaks loose though, especially when Kong, who it truns out is a massive ape, breaks free from his chains and goes on a rampage through New York City. Along the way though, the beast fals in love with beauty- the lovely lady who was supposed to star in the film he was captured for.

This film has such an astoundingly long list of films and things it has influenced, that I sometiems forget that it isn't actually on many (if any) lists of the greatest films ever made. It sure should be though. I mean, seriously. Like Citizwn Kane, this film has a great story and featured some really top notch techniques, effects, and filmmaking for its day- all stuff that has led to much imitation and further innovation.

Given the time period, this was cutting edge. That's now no longer the case, but the effets still hold up, and I have much respect for movies made like this, because I know this sort of thing is damn difficult to do, then or now. This film took a lot of work and was unlike anything that had been seen before.

Everything else is top notch too. The story is just a typical adventure romp, but it's fun, well played, and they make the msot of it, adding to it with the pioneering visual and audio effects. The acting is good, the music is excellent, and this is just a really difficult film to not like.

It's got a bit of everything (romance, drama, action, adventure, fantasy, horror), and it's never boring. Again, I'm not sure why this film isn't quite a revered as it should be. I mean, I know it's respected, but, like I said, it deserves to be on one of those "greatest ever" lists. The remakes have both been longer, and not quite as tight and concise as this one, but at least in the case of the 2005 version, it was made with love, respect, and care, and the added material ( which made the film almost twice the length of this one) added greater depth to the story, environment, characters, and relationships.

You really must see this film. It's just one of those essentials.