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King Kong

King Kong

Adventure · Fantasy · Horror · 1933

Adventurous filmmaker Carl Denham sets out to produce a motion picture unlike anything the world has seen before. Alongside his leading lady Ann Darrow and his first mate Jack Driscoll, they arrive on an island and discover a legendary creature said to be neither beast nor man. Denham captures the monster to be displayed on Broadway as King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world.

Movie details

King Kong

“Beauty conquered the beast!”

1933 Adventure · Fantasy · Horror 1h 40m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.6 / 10

Community rating

Adventurous filmmaker Carl Denham sets out to produce a motion picture unlike anything the world has seen before. Alongside his leading lady Ann Darrow and his first mate Jack Driscoll, they arrive on an island and discover a legendary creature said to be neither beast nor man. Denham captures the monster to be displayed on Broadway as King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over King Kong?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Merian C. Cooper · Ernest B. Schoedsack

Written by

Ruth Rose · James Ashmore Creelman

Robert Armstrong

Robert Armstrong

Carl Denham

Fay Wray

Fay Wray

Ann Darrow

Bruce Cabot

Bruce Cabot

Jack Driscoll

Frank Reicher

Frank Reicher

Captain Englehorn

Victor Wong

Victor Wong

Ship's Cook Charlie

James Flavin

James Flavin

Mate Briggs

Sam Hardy

Sam Hardy

Charles Weston

Court is in session

Put King Kong on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.