King Kong (1933) [Special Edition] [DVD]

I've just read the previous reviewers comments that this film is outdated. That may be because its SEVENTY TWO YEARS OLD! This film would have been terrifying at the time, the stop action animation was state of the art and the audience would have bought it. The story is an absolute classic and still stands up today although film structures have changed and it may seem rushed. I would recommend anyone to see it before the Peter Jackson film just to get an idea of how some elements of films have changed but the important ones have stayed the same.

As a budding movie historian and lover of all films, King Kong was unmissable. I collect all kinds of classic films but this is one that I think all movie fans should enjoy. The picture is in itself an historical landmark in the history of celluloid, featuring groundbreaking special effects, a star performance that would become a household name and one of the iconic images of American popular culture and the definitive 'damsel in distress'. This film gave a deafening roar that echoes today. But as a work of art, it is not to be missed. Being that we have all been reared in the post-Kong days of cinema, the idea of a giant ape stalking his prey is hardly shocking, we say 'oh that's just King Kong', but the first shot of the beast is still utterly gripping. Political correctness and liberalism tell us to look at Fay Wraye's performance as a symbol of the dark days when women were treated as dolls and weak creatures, but she portrays a classic role to perfection, and political incorrectness was never this good. Kong and his prehistoric pals are brought to life by stop-motion animation, some of the movements are rather jerky and the effects themselves are primitive by today's standards, but the effect that they generate has never been lost. Kong was in reality a metal skeleton with sponge-rubber muscles covered in rabbit fur, but 30s audiences and the 30s cast found it realistic, and that movement provides one with a feeling it would take more than a computer to beat this. The famous wall and door, behind which Kong resides was first used in Cecil B. De Mille's King of Kings, and was later used as a burning backdrop in the doomed city of Atlanta in Gone With The Wind. This film is packed to bursting point with breathtaking action and wonderful work all round, as a landmark and as a film, this one is truly special.

Without a doubt the first, the greatest and the best action film of all time. Nothing keeps you on the edge of your seat as much as the scene of the brontosaurus in the swamp chasing the sailors into the jungle to only meet Kong who shakes them from the log bridge to their deaths.

Truly a masterpiece! I agree that today's special effects are without a doubt great but Kong tops them all. The techniques used were so visionary for the time.

If you are a true film collector, you must have this dvd.