King Kong: Eighth Wonder of the World

An American film crew, led by entrepreneur Carl Denham, voyages to Skull Island, an uncharted island in the Indian Ocean populated by prehistoric creatures. The natives kidnap Ann Darrow, with plans to sacrifice her to the enormous ape Kong. Denham and company rescue Ann and capture Kong, taking him back to New York City. Then Kong escapes...

One of the most influential films of all time, King Kong is counted among the 50 best films of the 20th century by the American Film Institute. The film stars Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot, and Robert Armstrong. The stunning stop-motion animation was created by Willis O'Brien, and the groundbreaking score was composed by Max Steiner.

Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack were inspired by their real-life wilderness treks, making their names as filmmakers with such documentary subjects as Grass (1925) and Chang (1927).

Related links:
King Kong (1933) on Wikipedia
Kong is King.net
Giant Monster Movies: King Kong and other Giant Apes (Giant Monsters on the Loose)

Planning to cash in on the success of King Kong, released earlier that same year, RKO Radio commissioned producers Willis O'Brien and Ernest B. Schoedsack to slap together a sequel.

Carl Denham, running out on lawsuits following Kong's disastrous escape in New York City, he and partner Captain Englehorn escape to Malaya, where they meet the daughter of a drunken circus-owner. When they run into the sailor who originally sold Denham the map to Skull Island, they head back to the island in search of treasure...

Produced by Toho Studios in Japan, King Kong vs. Godzilla was the first color film to star either of the titular giant monsters. This version of Kong, played my a man in a suit, is also much larger than his previous incarnation -- to match the size of Toho's much larger monsters.

The Dual-Ending Controversy: Many have reported that in the Japanese version of this film, Godzilla emerges as the winner. However, there is only one ending: Kong and Godzilla crash into the ocean, and Kong emerges to swim home.

A Japanese/American co-production from Toho (Japan) and Rankin/Bass (USA), the film starred American actors Rhodes Reason and Linda Miller and Japanese actors Akira Takarada, Mie Hama and Eisei Amamoto). Although Toho also produced King Kong vs. Godzilla, the two films are not related.

Evil genius Dr. Hu creates the robotic Mechani-Kong to dig for the highly radioactive "Element X" -- but when the robot fails, Dr. Hu kidnaps the real Kong along with a submarine crew and hypnotizes him to do his bidding. When Kong escapes and swims for Tokyo, Dr. Hu sends Mechani-Kong after him...

Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, the film stars Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange in her first film role. The haunting score was composed by John Barry.

Made in the energy crisis-era, this version of King Kong finds an oil executive taking an expedition to find oil on previously undiscovered island in the Indian Ocean. When they get to the island, they discover that the oil deposits are unsuitable -- but decide the giant ape would make a great advertising gimmick.

They actually built a giant robot to play Kong -- it was reportedly 40 feet tall, weighed more than six tons, and cost nearly $2 million. However, the mechanism proved too clumsy to work convincingly. As such, it's total appearances in the film add up to about 15 seconds of screen time. In the end, Kong was played for most of the film by Rick Baker in a suit.

This Depression-era remake of the 1933 film stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, and Kyle Chandler. Kong was portrayed by Andy Serkis through performance capture. The film won Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing. The score was composed by James Newton Howard.

Peter Jackson first tried to remake King Kong in 1996. That version was in pre-production about seven months but the studio canceled it. Years later, during his success creating with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Universal asked Jackson to take another try at Kong.

In his remake, Jackson wove in several tributes to earlier versions:

* When Carl Denham (Jack Black) is wondering what actress to hire for his movie, he suggests "Fay." His assistant replies, "She's doing a picture with RKO." Denham mutters, "Cooper, huh? I might have known."

* When Denham calls Bruce Baxter (Kyle Chandler) and Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) to film a scene on the deck of the ship, the dialogue is from a similar scene between Ann and Jack Driscoll in the 1933 version.

* Kong's New York stage appearance is designed to mimic the sacrifice scene of the 1933 film. The music played by the stage orchestra is the original 1933 score by Max Steiner.

* The battle between Kong and the final Tyrannosaurus Rex mirrors the last half of the fight between Kong and the T. Rex in the original film -- including the end when Kong plays with the dinosaur's broken jaw and then beats his chest and roars victoriously.

* In the original, co-directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack appear as the pilot and rear-gunner who shoot Kong. In the 2005 film, Jackson plays one of the gunners; Rick Baker, who played Kong (in a suit) in the 1976 remake, is the pilot.