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King Kong (1933)
- Review Date: January 4, 2006
- NR
- Genre: Science Fiction
- 1933
Common Sense Media says
Violent but beloved old-school monster movie.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know about abundant violence, not only monster-on-monster fights (inevitably ending in death for one of the combatants), and also that many innocent bystanders are brutally killed, both in the jungle and in New York City. The natives (who are black) are portrayed as face-painted, bone-wearing tribesmen.
What's the story?
In this classic monster movie, showman Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) goes on a South Seas expedition to find the rumored beast "Kong," get it on film, and make a fortune. Along for the ride is actress Anne Darrow (Fay Wray), the pretty girl for his film. On Skull Island, they find natives protected by a huge wall from prehistoric monsters including Kong, a 50-foot-tall gorilla. The tribe kidnaps Anne and offers her as a sacrifice to Kong, who is smitten by the gorgeous blonde and runs off with her. After a long, action-packed chase, sailor (Bruce Cabot) and the ship's crew get Anne back safely to the ship. Denham manages to knock the monster unconscious with gas bombs and brings Kong, in chains, back to New York City. He exhibits "King" Kong in a Broadway-style setting, but Kong breaks loose and, following his jungle instinct, takes his beloved Anne to the highest ground in the metropolis -- the Empire State Building, for a classic climax with WWI-style fighter-biplanes.
Is it any good?
Though it was remade in 2005 by director Peter Jackson with all the modern talent and special effects of the 21st century, the 1933 King Kong moves at a lightning pace. While the stop-motion animation seems primitive, it's still very watchable. The savage Kong has a primal fury about him that makes him a real threat, even if his lovelorn looks to Anne turn him into a slightly more sympathetic monster.
The human characters are fairly one-dimensional by comparison. Anne screams a lot, famously so, faints, and that's about it for her womanly survival skills. Denham doesn't seem to have learned any lessons in the end. Modern black activists have denounced the old-school portrayal of face-painted, bone-wearing tribesmen, though Skull Island natives fight back against the rampaging gorilla-god, and a black baby is one of the few characters of any color snatched safely from beneath the primate's trampling feet.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about how later generations of admirers read a lot of messages into this movie about civilization vs. the primal jungle, about the poignancy of the tropical ape-giant brought captive to modern Manhattan.
The old-fashioned point-of-view here doesn't seem to make any obvious
objections to the brash white-hunter heroes and their
not-very-scientific mission. You can ask kids if they think Kong is a
sympathetic character who should have been left alone or a raging
monster who had to be destroyed, and compare Kong to the
genetically-engineered dinosaurs of the "Jurassic Park" series.
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Kid, 12 years old
March 27, 2009
AGE
king kong review by critic07
A classic, really good. but boring for kids who like just action movies. It is one of my favorite movies now.
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AGE
A Great Old Movie!
King Kong is a true classic, and one of the best adventure movies ever made. I prefer the 2005 version because it's a lot more intense, but the original must have been completely amazing back in 1933. Even by today's standards it's fairly fun and exciting.
And as far as content goes, this is a great family movie. There's some violence. Kong breaks a T-Rex's jaw and then smashes in its skull (just like in the 2005 version), Kong snacks on people like popcorn and smashes them into the ground, and Kong destroys things and eats people in New York. This all would be very disturbing if Kong and the dinosaurs looked real, but it's not, you can tell they're puppets easily.
Good for kids 7+
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AGE
The King of all Monster Flicks
This film right here is a MASTERPIECE! It is almost completely flawless, and is just one of the greatest motion pictures around. Actors Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong played their roles beautifully, and who can forget the wonderful scene in which Robert Armstrong directs Fay Wray in a screen test which ends in a horrifying scream that let's us know there destination, Skull Island, will be nothing close to a happy vacation! Also, I thought the stop-motion people did great with Kong and the other prehistoric creatures, especially Kong because they actually gave a lump of clay and hair genuine emotions, which makes us root for him while he famously swats at horrible bi-planes atop the Empire State Building. A spectacular piece of film history, this is one movie you will forever remember and love.
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AGE
Beauty and the Beast
I was blown away by this small yet enormous tale about the enormous gorilla Kong, which this groupn of film makers find on an island they had no business being on, but it was for the sake of making a movie. After a dozen deaths, they gas and ship Kong to Broadway where he breaks free, and the rest is history. This movie is so gripping even after being 75+ years old and because of that fact I think it is one of the finest films of all time.
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AGE
A little scary for tweens; teens can most definitely handle--come on, it's a 1930's movie!
My rating: PG for scary images involving monster violence.
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AGE
The Landmark in Monster movie history
I remember seeing this movie A long time ago. I remeber it was a cold friday night, happy that I did not have to go to pre-school the next day. I remember my dad watching a B&W movie. I thought it was boring till' the mighty Kong appeared. To my eyes the great beast looked so real and so animal like. I was glued to tv screen untill my mom sent me to bed. I remember hearing the movie. My mind running wild about what was going on. I had many dreams about the big ape. So one day a few weeks later at the local Blockbuster. I saw a VHS of the movie. I looked at the box so happy. I was 4 and did not know how to read but I knew the big ape from the next guy. So I begged my folks to rent it for me and they did. I was in such awe when I saw the Kong running around the city tearing up trains and building. I loved it. I did not see the movie again untill it showed on AMC the week before the big budgt remake. And at 7 i still loved it. I went to see the remake on Kong the week after its release. I loved it just as much. I did not learn how the special effect where done untill recently and now know what a landmark it was for movie FX. I am 14 and older. I watch horror movies all the time. But I love the classics the most: The Thing(1951), It came from beneath the sea(1955) and Dracula(1931). But when I think of monster movies I think of one of the first and best monsters: King Kong
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AGE
Highly overrated.
A stupid and overly acclaimed film that may have been scary/effective around 80 years ago, but is little more than crappy trash these days. I couldn't give it a zero stars rating. Unfortunately that doesn't work.
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AGE
Great classic movie
THis movie was really a monumental leap in filmaking considering it was one of the first films to use sound and everything made in the film is stopmotion and made by hand.
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| Studio: | Turner Entertainment |
| Director: | Merian C. Cooper |
| Cast: | Bruce Cabot, Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong |
| Genre: | Science Fiction |
| Run time: | 100 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | April 7, 1933 |
| DVD release date: | November 22, 2000 |
| MPAA rating: | NR |
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