Want more recommendations for your family?
Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration
King Kong (1933)
By Charles Cassady Jr.,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Violent but beloved old-school monster movie.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
King Kong (1933)
Community Reviews
What's the Story?
In KING KONG, 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, this classic monster movie moves at a lightning pace. While the stop-motion animation seems primitive, the 1933 version of King Kong 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.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how later generations of admirers read a lot of messages into King Kong 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.
Movie Details
- In theaters: April 7, 1933
- On DVD or streaming: November 22, 2000
- Cast: Bruce Cabot , Fay Wray , Robert Armstrong
- Director: Merian C. Cooper
- Studio: Turner Entertainment
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Run time: 100 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: August 26, 2023
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Watch
Our Editors Recommend
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate