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King Kong

Play trailer 1:31 Poster for King Kong 1933,  1h 40m,  Adventure/ Fantasy/ Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
King Kong: Trailer 1 King Kong: Trailer 1 Now Playing View more videos
Stream Now Watchlist 97% 116 Reviews Tomatometer 86% 50,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
97% Tomatometer 116 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Actress Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) travel to the Indian Ocean to do location shoots for Denham's new jungle picture. Along the way, the actress meets and falls for rugged First Mate John Driscoll (Bruce Cabot). Upon arriving at a mysterious island, Ann is taken hostage by natives who prepare her as a sacrifice to the enormous ape Kong who rules over their jungle. But when Ann is rescued and Kong is captured, the real trouble begins.
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Critics Consensus

King Kong explores the soul of a monster -- making audiences scream and cry throughout the film -- in large part due to Kong's breakthrough special effects.

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Critics Reviews

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Mae Tinée Chicago Tribune Nov 10, 2022
King Kong is one of the most original, thrilling and mammoth novelties to emerge from a movie studio. A great show! But don't take nervous children to see it. Go to Full Review
Len G. Shaw Detroit Free Press Nov 10, 2022
Trickery? Nothing else, of course. But it is so ingenious, and on such a stupendous scale as the studios seldom if ever before yielded. It doesn't matter how the "shots" were made. You will be too busy wondering what is to happen next to Fay Wray. Go to Full Review
Edwin Schallert Los Angeles Times Nov 10, 2022
This is a great circus show. And it outdoes circuses, because it has its own menagerie. The kind that a paleontologist would rave about, and the sort that will make you believe that the screen has grown up overnight scientifically. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Jan 7, 2026
4/4
In much the same manner as The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life, this masterpiece long ago entered into the national consciousness as an enduring part of our heritage. Go to Full Review
Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies Sep 6, 2023
5/5
King Kong might seem dated because of the 1930s visual effects but the pioneering effects are a primary reason why this film is a classic and still discussed today. Go to Full Review
Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand Aug 19, 2023
In the days of modern special effects, the stop-motion giant gorilla Kong may not be realistic to contemporary eyes, but he is a fully realized character in his own right, brought to life with personality and passion. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Leia G Mar 22, 2019 Epic tragic classic that stands to this day
Mar 6, 2019 Despite this filmï¿ 1/2 1/2(TM)s age, it is a visual marvel that gives it its own look and feel.
Hagrid S Mar 4, 2019 Amazing in every way possible.
Rey G Jan 23, 2019 Undeniably an historically important and viscerally entertaining jungle adventure flick, the special effects that make KING KONG the beast of a blockbuster that it is still impress today, and once the movie gives the King the reins, and so gives up on the paltry human stories and stiff performances, the cinematic thrills never let up. Audiences at the time, of course, had never seen anything quite like Kong before, and no doubt the exoticness of the film---from its bleeding edge special effects to its depiction of unfamiliar creatures and peoples---is one reason the film so resonated with viewers, exciting and terrifying in equal measure. Yet despite the archetypal simplicity of the story and shallowness of its characters that make it such undemanding popcorn fair, Kong is in truth a rather complicated figure, an amalgamation of alterity and metonym for the foreign---no doubt one reason audiences then and now still are enthralled by the movie. From something of a Lacanian perspective, Kong is a legion of Others. On the level of the Imaginary, a brutish monster uncannily (and so nightmarishly) similar to us. In terms of the Symbolic, a deeply racist allegory for wanton African savages invading modern society and threatening white matrimony. As a matter of the Real, an achievement of and synecdoche for modern technology, like a furry Frankenstein's monster. Even beyond Kong, otherness throughout is treated as a horrifying thing deserving of disciplinary violence, from the alien islanders to the film's abject misogyny, which simultaneously places (the wonderful) Fay Wray in peril, only to blame her for her own victimhood. Like BIRTH OF A NATION before it, I can't help but think that one reason for this movie's enormous success was its fundamental intolerance; yet unlike the former film, one reason for KONG's lasting impact is that the film, thanks to its special effects, learned how to hide its seams and themes, sublimating its bigotry so that audiences enjoy the rush without the guilt. See more
Jan 11, 2019 This movie is older than WWII, not for me.
Hagrid W Jan 3, 2019 It's King Kong, enough said!
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King Kong

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Movie Info

Synopsis Actress Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) travel to the Indian Ocean to do location shoots for Denham's new jungle picture. Along the way, the actress meets and falls for rugged First Mate John Driscoll (Bruce Cabot). Upon arriving at a mysterious island, Ann is taken hostage by natives who prepare her as a sacrifice to the enormous ape Kong who rules over their jungle. But when Ann is rescued and Kong is captured, the real trouble begins.
Director
Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
Producer
Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
Screenwriter
James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose
Distributor
RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre
Adventure, Fantasy, Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 2, 1933, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 28, 2008
Runtime
1h 40m
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