King Kong

MarlinBrando shared a tip "King Kong is on the short list of classic fantasy movies. It's easy to see why it was a hit at the time. It was a major visual spectacle. The effects are incredible for the time of the movie's original release. The acting is also very solid for the time, considering where the art was in its development. The script, however, is lacking. This is one of those movies that presents itself as having a lot to say, but that, ultimately, does not. The only real theme to the movie is tied up in Driscoll's talk about beauty and the beast. And this could be taken to have some meaning for the viewer, that finding love takes the bite and fight out of a man. However, this really isn't much of a point, especially when the story includes a romantic subplot. One clever thing about the script is that Driscoll comments that romance is thrown into scripts in order to increase box office returns, seeming to imply that somebody involved in the film's production thought that the romance was unnecessary, and was thrown in to sell tickets. I try to avoid judging books and movies based on the sensibilities of our current time compared to the time at which the work was made. However, the depiction of the black natives of Skull Island as backwards, savage worshipers of Kong, and the depiction of the Chinese cook who struggled with the subjective case did hamper my enjoyment of the film. If these are not issues for you, I will not think that you are a bad person. I will not think that they should be issues for you. They were just hang ups for me, personally, contrary to my own beliefs on how we should judge historical works. All that said, I did ultimately enjoy it for what it was, which is an early blockbuster. However, I do feel that its status as a de facto classic has resulted in it being more fondly remembered than it deserves to be. It is, in my opinion, the Avatar of its day. I give it 7 machine gun equipped biplanes out of 10, but if the effects were a little worse, it'd be 6."

daro_swee shared a tip "Any stop motion animation enthusiast needs to watch this film. The one and only original creature feature film that still holds up today."

selvacava_9 shared a tip "An absolute classic, especially for any fan of the genre...or not if one can truly appreciate the magnitude of what was accomplished in 1933 film as far as effects. Some say it's slow at parts, but I think the pacing works."

jacob_chanza shared a tip "The practical effects always make this movie a fun time! Plot and characters aren't perfect, and the stereotypes are really cringy looking back, but the fun adventurous tone of the film makes it a blast to watch"