King Kong (1933) - A

Quick Hit: Revolutionary, exciting, and technically astounding, King Kong is a must watch monster movie.

There are really few movies that have technologically advanced movies in the same way that King Kong has. In the same way that we now currently abound in a world full of CGI and green screens, King Kong first brought the world of rear projection to the screen. It also revolutionized the way stop motion (still my favorite) animation took place. Creature features (which inadvertently gave us our name here at DFP) probably wouldn’t have been a thing without King Kong.

But something that a lot of people tend to forget, even if they know about how revolutionary the movie is, is just how good the movie actually is overall. The cast is extremely solid, with Faye Wray introducing us to how good a scream can really sound. Robert Armstrong provides Carl Denham with a solid air of confidence, and Bruce Cabot proves an adequate leading man. Together, their actions, coupled with the effects, produce a show that is worth watching, as we move from the beautiful, hand-created world of Skull Island to the more familiar urban setting of New York.

There’s also quite a few moments that are astonishing considering the fact the film was released in 1933, and to be fair, a number of different things were removed in later cuts, before later being restored for current DVD releases. One of them is the infamous scene where Kong slowly pulls off Ann’s clothes – the other is numerous times that Kong actually CHEWS ON PEOPLE. The fact that these type of things made it into the movie are extremely entertaining now, but at the time, people would have been mesmerized because there was never anything like it on screen before.

To touch on something I glazed over earlier, Kong is amazing for its sets alone. Often hand-painted and hand crafted, there is so much going on in the background behind the monster that it often takes your eye away from the monsters. This is insane to think about, especially when you consider that the monsters, dinosaurs, and Kong’s movements often represented hundreds of hours of camera reels only for a few moments of screen time. The dedication shows through, and ended up serving as the inspiration to many a filmmaker to follow.

I don’t really think there is much to say about this movie besides how great it is. Even after nearly 85 years, King Kong still serves as an entertaining movie night in. If you haven’t checked it out, watch it! I’m giving it an “A”.

For more on this film, check out IMDB.