 |  | King Kong (1933) - Still Modern Classic |  |
Perhaps no other film have entered the common conscience of people throughout the world as this classic sci-fi horror from 1933. At the time, things like computer animation were unheard of and now, when many of us have "been everywhere seen everything", it gets quite hard to imagine how amazed must have been the viewers who saw the unprecendented special effects. The filmmakers had to work with the big model of Kong and the final stages of the movie, when the ape is brought to present his powers in front of the sensation-hungry American public, will forever stay in the film books. The modernized tale about beauty and the beast boasts surprisingly crisp dialogues, haunting music and -- besides granting King Kong flashes of personality -- all too well captures the human sense of adventure and lust for power and glory. The crucial part of transporting Kong through half the world is missing from the story, however, is never shown, which may inspire fault-finders. Nevermind. Indeed, King Kong has been bettered in many technical aspects, however, its being first monster hit of a monster movie will never-ever be taken away. That's why it belongs to history books.
July 25, 2008 | | Just what I expected, from Amazon! | |
My mom had been looking for the Original King Kong and I told her I could find it on Amazon. Amazon has everything you could ask for.
July 12, 2008Can you imagine being a teenage kid, or even an adult, back in 1933 when this classic first hit the movie theaters; sitting there staring up at the big screen and watching this wonderful movie, which I'm sure more than a few people in the audience proclaimed as being the greatest adventure story they've ever seen in their lives.
Little did those people know that 75 years later KING KONG would still be unmatched in its cinematic greatness, or in it's ability to enthrall and delight the observer.
KING KONG is non-stop action from beginning to end, featuring great acting, great writing, great theater, and great special effects.
It also features the greatest heavyweight fight in cinematic history, when Kong and the T-Rex go at it for one round.
Also, there's just something about the Black and White format in which this picture was shot, and I believe that that in itself lends a lot to this movies timeless appeal.
Carl Denham: the guy who is always behind the camera in the movie, also utters one of the classic--and overlooked lines--in Hollywood history, when he refuses the African Chieftans offer to trade 6 native girls for 'the golden woman', stating under his breath that "Blonds are scarce around here." That line cracks me up every time I hear it, and I've heard it a hundred times.
KING KONG is truly a delight to watch, and any parent who wants to share a truly memorable movie watching experience with their movie loving offspring, owes it to their child to turn them on to this movie.
Yes, it was "Beauty killed the beast," but this movie will live forever.
The King is dead... yet he'll outlive us all. Long live the King of all adventure movies.
June 3, 2008Most classic movie of all. Movie maker Robert Armstrong hires Fay Wray to be his star. They sail to Skull Island in Indonesia where evolution has gone awry. Dinosaurs roam, and a gigantic ape rules. Natives have built a wall to contain King Kong. They capture Wray and offer her as a sacrifice. Armstrong and his crew rescue her and transport Kong to Manhattan's Great White Way as a headliner. He breaks loose and terrorizes yet another island. He climbs the Empire State Building with Wray and is riddled with bullets from planes. He falls to his death. King Kong is a film which touches modern consciousness. It shows man clashing with the nature of which he is a part. There are interracial overtones. Armstrong declares, "It was beauty killed the beast." Fay Wray lived with the film and finally accepted it as a classic.
February 22, 2008| | | LET'S TALK ABOUT ALL KING KONGS | |
First there was KING KONG 1933. This is the unsurpassed classic fantasy, but I'll get back to that in a bit. Then there was KING KONG APPEARS IN EDO (Japanese) 1938. Unfortunately it's been reported that the film has been lost or destroyed. Maybe a copy will surface someday. Then there was KING KONG vs GODZILLA 1962. This was honestly meant to be a tribute to the original classic for inspiring the Godzilla franchise. Why King Kong looked the way he did I'll never know. He looked pretty bad. But I still love that film. Then there was a King Kong cartoon called THE KING KONG SHOW 1966 where Kong is a friendly hero which inspired the live action movie KING KONG ESCAPES 1967. Which had by far the worst looking Kong suit, but for some reason I always enjoy that one too. Maybe because of Dr. Who voiced by Paul Frees (American dub) and Robot Kong. Now he looked awesome. Basic, but awesome. Speaking of Robot Kongs this leads to KING KONG 1976. If you were alive and aware of your own existance in the 70s You couldn't help but hear the hype of a brand new King Kong movie that was going to use a full sized mechanical Kong to star in this movie. But that just wasn't the case. The robotic Kong looked so terribly unconvincing they had to hire a man to design and wear a suit. At the time seemed to look convincing, but doesn't compare to the very realistic looking Peter Jackson's KING KONG 2005. More of that in a moment. Then of course there was the forgettable KING KONG LIVES. Year of release also forgettable. KING KONG 2005 had the potential to be a fierce competitor to the original 1933 classic, but dropped the ball big time by overdoing unecessary human character development and wasteful silly Kong moments. My personal edited version is really cool. It runs 2 hrs and 15 mins and makes perfect sense. The one thing that really stands out in my mind is; The natives in the 2005 version were truly horrible nasty people. If anyone should have been "Kong stomped", it was definately them. Women and children included. I now return to the 1933 masterpiece. Regardless as to the faults that people point out, this movie is perfection unto itself. The pacing is perfect. The matte shots are breathtaking. The acting is as it should be. Every moment counts. A terrified screaming female makes the most sense. Let's face it, no girl is going to fall in love with a 25 foot gorilla that kills innocent people no matter how sweet the music soundtrack is. The puppet animation in this movie set the standard for many generations to come and has never really been improved upon. I'm not referring to CGI, only Stop Motion filming. I remember one time they showed a heavily edited version of this on Channel 9 New York, five days in a row at 1 pm. I believe it was during the winter recess in the late 1960s. (Please chime in if you remember this or have factual information). No matter how you slice it Kong had to be killed off. He was a brutal vicious murderous beast, even in the sappy versions. Even with the technology of today if anyone attempted to duplicte this movie exactly as it is. They would fail miserably because magic can't be duplicated. Thank goodness for this DVD.
February 11, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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