Review of King Kong (1933) by Sean N — 31 May 2010

A cinematic masterpiece. No doubt about it, one of the best films of all time. You would think that films from the 1930's wouldn't be as good compared to today's films. But, if you are one who thinks that, you are wrong. What about the Wizard of Oz, huh? That was from the 30's. That was a cinematic treasure as much as this film.

King Kong tells the story of beauty and the beast. The film focuses on filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) as he is set to take a voyage by ship to the mysterious Skull Island to film his next film there. However, he is about to set sail without a leading actress for the film. Denham finds one in the beautiful Ann Darrow (Fay Wray), who is among New York's unemployed (remember, this is set during the Depression) and is reduced to stealing.

When Denham and his crew reach Skull Island, Ann is taken captive by the natives of the Island and 'sacrificed' to the island's main creature, Kong, a gigantic gorilla. However, things don't turn out all that well as one might think happens.

This version of King Kong are among the movies that work well in the black and white format. According to AVGN, a color version of the film didn't look that great. This movie really works in the black and white format.

What this film is known for is the effects on Kong. From afar, he is animated by stop motion. It may look a bit artificial, but it always looks cool, like the Terminator in robot form in the original Terminator and ED-209 and Robocop 2 from the Robocop series.

But, that's not the only thing that makes this film great. We have great performances by Wray, Bruce Cabot (who plays Darrow's love interest, First Mate Jack Driscoll), and Armstrong. Like the remake, you do feel sorry for Kong when he meets his end.

Even as this film was released in the 30's, it remains as one of the best films of all time. If you don't watch nostalgic movies that much, you should watch this one.