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.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 6, 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.

| Aug 19, 2023

At its core, this is about the fragile, complicated relationship between King Kong, a giant ape living on Skull Island, and Ann Darrow...

| Feb 2, 2023

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.

| Nov 10, 2022

It was fun -- the kids will love it.

| Nov 10, 2022

The mechanical monsters are marvels of ingenuity and camera magic. Insofar as a reproduction can, they simulate life, and the combats between them are packed with action.

| Nov 10, 2022

It's an absurd nightmarish idea, but the excellent production, fashioned by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, makes it an absorbing spectacle, even though the fantastic unreality prevents your feelings from becoming involved.

| 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.

| Nov 10, 2022

A fantastic nightmare from America about an island of prehistoric beasts and an ape fifty feet high.

| Nov 10, 2022

King Kong is that rare talkie phenomenon, a production that lives up to its tidal wave of advance ballyhoo.

| Nov 10, 2022

King Kong is, to say the least, a novelty among talking pictures. It is also, if you will allow us to be entirely honest, a little bit silly... Cooper and Schoedsack, we think, should have devoted their talents to some more credible theme.

| Nov 10, 2022

King Kong is certain to be one of the sensational pictures of the year. There has been nothing comparable with it since The Lost World and this far exceeds that classic in clever process photography and dramatic story interest.

| Nov 10, 2022

[King Kong] is a picture in which the producer certainly did not put any curb on his imagination, nor let anything interfere with his desire to evolve a most terrifying series of things and happenings.

| Nov 10, 2022

After you see this picture, you'll say it's unbelievable but will admit that it's one of the grandest thrillers, one of the grandest pictures, you ever saw. And you'll feel thankful to Hollywood for having made it.

| 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.

| Nov 10, 2022

Mr. Cooper and Mr. Schoedsack may take a deserving bow for their latest work. It is a wild-eyed study in delirium tremens and at the same time an expert example of inspired foolishness.

| Nov 10, 2022

There is some fine trick photography in the picture with a thrill in every foot of the celluloid, so that King Kong is a sure-fire box office success, even in these times.

| Nov 10, 2022

It's fantastic, novel and thrilling if you catch its mood.

| Nov 10, 2022

King Kong therefore should be seen just to understand what tricks a few talented picture-takers and picture contrivers can do with their cameras and with their minds.

| Nov 10, 2022

It took Radio two years to make this picture. But what a masterpiece! It's so different that the memory of it will linger with you a long time after seeing it. And you won't so easily forget Kong, the biggest beast in all Animal Kingdom!

| Nov 10, 2022