Best "King Kong" Film

[Vakanai]

I actually bought the Criterion collection of Godzilla specifically because it came with the original Japanese version of Kong vs Godzilla. It's a terrifically bad movie and enjoyable on so many levels.

I heard an interesting bit of trivia that there were a couple of Japanese movies made that featured King Kong when a studio briefly held the rights back in the late 30's. However, these films can never be seen again, as they were stored in a warehouse... in Hiroshima.

I just heard the rumor that they were lost in some bombings, not that bombing. There's actually some debate about whether those films were really lost because of the war, bad film storing/preserving practices, or both. But they did once exist, and are now lost forever yes.

[Riv86672]

Growing up I watched the 1933 version every Thanksgiving for as far back as I can remember.

I still voted for the 2005 version, though.
Started hearing about it during one of my Iraqi deployments and it just became one of those things I focused on until I got home. I gotta say I was not disappointed. The movie took everything I liked about the original and added even more.

[BeastieRunner]

Am I the only one who actually likes the 76 film? All I've ever read is people putting this one down...

I was a kid when it came out and I enjoyed. Still do. I was partially hoping Skull Island was going to be a remake of that and that they just saved his death for another film.

King Kong Lives on the other hand ... yeeeeesh ...

[Robotman]

Easy choice. The 1933 Kong is an all time classic. It’s still absolutely mind blowing the amount of detail and time that went into creating the creatures of Skull Island, considering what they had to work with back then.

[choptop]

Was there some 60's or 70's very schlocky movies that used to be on TV I think?

So you were unaware of any other Kong movies besides the 2017?

[Kirby101]

Kong Skull Island isn't a direct remake of the original King Kong film unlike the ones from 1976 and 2005.

Makes sense.

[Gaius]

2005, though Skull Island would probably be my choice if it was an option.

[Timothy Hunter]

Am I the only one who actually likes the 76 film? All I've ever read is people putting this one down...

For me, the 76 King Kong would be one of my favorite movies if the were wasn't such an overabundance of poorly done green screen.

I mean you have The Dude looking just like a younger version of himself in the Big Lebowski, Jessica Lange's character is so charmingly ditsy, and the depiction of the tribe is my favorite out of all the renditions of King Kong. It's just that the awful green screen kills it for me. They never should've had King Kong and Jessica Lange in the same shot together.

Is King Kong Lives really that bad? It's by the same director as the 76 movie and I thought he did a splendid job aside some vfx work that dates the film.

[sunofdarkchild]

The 2005 film for me. I always found the original to be interesting only for its special effects, which are astounding for 1933. But the characters all felt very 1-note and like stock 30s characters to me. The Peter Jackson version is the one I saw in theaters as a kid and it blew me away. Kong himself, the action , the characters, the music, it was all much better to me.

[thwhtGuardian]

Kong Skull Island isn't a direct remake of the original King Kong film unlike the ones from 1976 and 2005.

Other than directly tieing it into the Legendary Godzilla films with Monarch being behind the discovery of Skull Island and there isn't a New York segment I don't think the premise is all that different.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The 1933 version for me. It's what I grew up with, was the very first monster movie I ever watched as a kid and made a strong and lasting impact on me in ways the 1976 or 2005 versions didn't, and never will.

[BeastieRunner]

I had no idea that footage still existed. I thought it was lost, and all that remained was still photos.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the 1933 version when I watched it. I loved how expressive Kong's face was.

I know I must have seen Kong 76 on tv at some point, but I have no real clear memory of it.

I liked Kong 2005 well enough when it came out, but watching it now you really feel how indulgent Peter Jackson was. He wanted to fit every single bit of Kong lore into one film, and at times it just dragged on.

I think the only portions of the footage that survived were the lizard crawling down to the pit and a panning shot up from the pit. IIRC.

[AnakinFlair]

I think the only portions of the footage that survived were the lizard crawling down to the pit and a panning shot up from the pit. IIRC.

I missed that the footage was a recreation done by Peter Jackson. It fooled me, it matched so well.

[Powerboy]

For all of its social faults, I'd say the original. The 1976 version was really bad. The Peter Jackson version took everything that might have been implied in the original and made a long production number out of it. Also, the 1933 version contained special effects that were innovative and incredible in their day. Todd Browning created stop motion animation for the original 1922 "The Lost World" and had it down by "King Kong". That grainy black and white jerky motion has an eeriness that even CGI cannot capture.

Having watched that clip, I wouldn't even describe Kong's movements as "jerky" Considering it was made in 1933, it is incredible, more impressive for its time than the other versions.

[choptop]

I don't really get the dislike for the 1976 one at least it didn't take forever and have jack black suviing a stamped with a tripod etc