Carl Denham: "And now, ladies and gentlemen, before I tell you any more, I'm going to show you the greatest thing your eyes have ever beheld. He was a king and a god in the world he knew, but now he comes to civilization merely a captive - a show to gratify your curiosity. Ladies and gentlemen, look at Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World".

King Kong was a true cinema classic that inspired and amazed film lovers out there. The effect's in the movie may be dated to some and I do admit they have aged, but I got to say it's better damn impressive even around the 30's the stop motion animation looks pretty good in some scenes as this movie is 82 years old as I speck.

The movie dose have flaws but the flaws are nothing really big to ruin or stain the movie experience. Like my flaws with the movie is that sometimes I can see some little mistakes with the effect's and yes I know they were just starting on the effect's at the time and it was a good start, but I did notice at little mistakes that a lot of people can easily notice and it was a bit laughable. But all that aside what else can I say that's already been said about this movie go check it out, it's a great movie.

In watching this movie, and I'm talking about actually scrutinizing it intently, I was shocked at the amount and the extremity of the violence that was in the picture. Natives were being bitten, swallowed and purposely stepped upon by Kong. The sailors were chased, trampled and eaten by the dinosaurs and then we have all the New York City violence on top of it all where Kong tosses a woman to her death and bites on a bystander.

Also, for it being an 85+ year old movie, the special effects STILL stand up rather well and STILL look convincingly realistic. In fact, I believe these FX are of a better quality than the 1976 remake and even comes close to the 2005 CGI version.

If you've never seen this classic, mostly because "who would want to watch that old-style claymation" or you can't watch anything not "in Living Color," you really need to give this one a try. For those of you that have seen it, let me urge you to rewatch it, possibly with some newly-opened eyes.

So this is the bar, and this is the reason that people don't like any of the remakes... except the 2005 remake, people don't like that because it stinks.

But this shot for the moon. It promised the audience a giant ape, it gave the audience a giant ape... and a sort of love story that was really cute and relatable that brought it all together.

It reached for the stars visually, it grabbed one, and it told an amazing story along with it.

It was a win on every front.

So, now, when people watch King Kong remakes, they look at them and they don't live up to the effort that this movie put into itself. They all look better, but they don't feel as well crafted as the original, because they aren't. They are all a little lazy in comparison because it's easier to do it now.

In 11 years its going to be 100 years old and people are still going to marvel at the work put into it.

Shown recently by the BBC and wow, how fantastically this has stood the test of time. I can see why there have been so many remakes of this iconic tale of ambition, power and true love but none that shine a candle to this - even after over 80 years. Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray do their bit as the producer and the starlet, but the true stars are lighting, photography and special effects which are masterful as we visit this ancient island divided by a great wall (how on earth did the natives ever manage to build it?) that keeps the prehistoric monsters at bay. This is adventure cinema at it's absolute best; and even the writing is reasonable. If you don't feel sympathy for Kong at the end then where is your heart?

The original "King Kong" is an amazing technical achievement and is a great adventure film. I've never considered it to be horror but after watching it yet again (and never tiring of it) it has much more on-screen violence and death than any of the Universal monster movies of it's day.

"King Kong" remains one of the most influential films of all time. Special effects wizard and the film's "Chief Technician" Willis H. O'Brien inspired generations of filmmakers. The stop-motion techniques he pioneered paved the way for masters like Ray Harryhausen.

Since everyone knows what this movie is about I felt like pointing out some of the details that make this one of my favorite films. I've been a giant monster movie fan since I was a snot-nosed kid and "King Kong" is probably the biggest reason why.

One thing I like about "King Kong" is that there's no analogy no political or philosophical underpinnings to suffer through, unless you consider "it was beauty killed the beast" to be a major morality play. Not that beauty is exactly respected over the course of the movie. Let me quote some of the wonderful statements about women that I noted:

"You're alright [Ann] but women can't help being a bother. They're made that way I guess."

"I've never been on a ship with a woman before. They're a nuisance."

"Do you think I want to haul a woman around? Isn't there any romance or adventure in the world without having a flapper in it?"

Here's a quote I just love because of how dated it is: "Some big hard-boiled egg gets a look at a pretty face and bang, he cracks up and goes sappy."

Anyway once we arrive at Skull Island, the native dance and accompanying music are worth a chuckle or two. I didn't see any horns or strings being played by the natives but I sure heard them. The Skipper speaking to the natives is ridiculous, too. Carl Denham repeats the Skipper, shouting "Bala! Bala!". The way he hold his arms out when he says it is totally corny. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

We don't see Kong until the 45-minute mark. But when we finally see him crashing through the trees, it's an iconic movie moment (this movie is full of those). Ann screams when she sees Kong and the movie doesn't let up until we see "The End" displayed on the screen.

This movie is over 75 years old but the stop-motion animation looks so damn cool. The way the Kong model moves is just amazing. Imagine the patience it took to film the special effects sequences. And this movie has tons of special effects. There is no cost-cuttingt in sight, no perceivable short cuts. I also love the closeups of Kong's face. It's a full-size model head but it isn't done in stop-motion. At first it seems odd, but the closeups do bring some emotion to Kong. The eyes of are very intense and there's even eyebrow and mouth movements that help express Kong's desires. I also like the way Kong's fur moves. I don't know it that was done on purpose or if it's a side effect of re-positioning the model, but it adds some realism to Kong's motion.

There's other beasts on Skull Island besides Kong. Denham, Driscoll and crew first encounter a charging Stegosaurus which they manage to drop with a gas bomb. The Stegosaurus springs back to its feet so they blast it with their rifles. It falls to the ground but as they approach it, Denham notices that its still alive, so he shoots it point-blank in the head. The beast roars and then convulses and finally dies. It's a pretty brutal scene.

Next, Ann's rescue team has to cross a swamp shrouded in fog. They build a raft and are attacked by an amphibious monster. I like that they chose to use models of actual species of dinosaurs. The plesiosaur chomps a few of the crew members and tosses them like the rag dolls that they are. Then, the moment they exit the swamp, a brontosaurus chases them! I never noticed before but the look of the swamp is fantastic. It's a muddy and grimy place. One of the men climbs a tree while trying to escape, but the big brontosaurus plucks him out of it with a mighty chomp. The extended blood-curdling scream of the victim is another moment of movie greatness.

Seconds later, we're already into the legendary "log" scene. This is the point at which Kong rocks a lot of the crew members off of a log that crosses a ravine. They fall off and tumble to the ground. When they hit the ravine floor, the way that they impact, bending and twisting; it's brutal and vicious.

Kong is enraged and ruthless. He is truly a monster at this point in the film and we aren't supposed to like him. I imagine that the original audiences were appalled by the death that Kong causes. At least this is what I'd like to think happened. The first time we feel anything other than fear of Kong is when he's trying to grab Jack, who stabs him with a knife. The music whimpers and Kong examines the wound on his hand. It's a rather awkward moment because just seconds ago, Kong killed about ten men. Now we are supposed to feel some sympathy toward the beast, which I did because he's such an amazing creation.

Now with Kong attacking from above, a big lizard is climbing up a vine along the cliff toward Jack. Jack calmly disposes of the lizard by cutting the vine, sending the lizard to the rocky floor below. Man! Skull Island is just crawling with monsters!

While Jack tries to escape Kong, a Tyrannosaurus Rex spots Ann. Kong notices the T-Rex and engages it in a monster battle for the ages. This is also the moment when the audience starts to care about Kong. He's no longer the savage killer but instead is the protector of Ann. I still can't get over the attention to detail. When the T-Rex first makes it's appearance, it sees Ann, roars and then stops to scratch itself. Willis O'Brien's realism extends way past just posing the monster models. He also adds traits, behaviors and even involuntary actions into the mix. The Kong versus T-Rex battle is lengthy and it concludes with Kong's jaw-snapping win. I can't even begin to guess how many filmmakers were forever influenced by this great scene. Kong also battles a giant salamander and makes easy work of a pterodactyl. Kong chases Ann and Jack back to the wall, storms the native village, and brutally bites, kills, and stomps his way to Ann before succumbing to Denham's gas bombs.

Back in New York, Kong naturally escapes his capture and bashes his way through the city. He bites a few more people, drops a lady from a high rise apartment building, and smashes a train along the way. He eventually finds Ann, makes the climb up the Empire State building, and is shot down by fighter planes. If my ramblings haven't proven that once we see Kong the movie never stops, I don't know what will.

After typing all of this, my adoration for "King Kong" is blatantly obvious. If you've read this far, thanks for you perseverance. Oh and the two-disc Special Edition DVD is filled with extras and is a prize in my collection.