Recently I watched this movie for the very first time, and fittingly on Blu-Ray when Amazon was having a huge sale on Digibooks. Since this film has long been available I knew it was the right time to buy it and watch it. I've seen the Peter Jackson 2005 version and I've only watched parts of the 1976 one with Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange in it. So I kind of knew what to expect, just 1930s-style animation and same story. I did, however, read where the endings are different.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
I do agree with everyone that this movie helped push the boundaries of American cinema. Often I wonder what was D.W. Griffith's reaction to the film (assuming that he saw it) and how movies have progressed since 'Birth of a Nation'. I know, I talked about it a couple blogs ago. This was probably one of the first realistic monster/horror movies there. The animations/special effects didn't even seem obvious, though they would be laughed at today by the younger generation.
The stories are all similar, except this first version is not necessarily a love story. In the later versions mentioned above, the female character becomes emotionally attached to Kong. It seems in the Fay Wray 1933 version, she's hella glad the monster is dead, pretty much. (laughs) Speaking of Wray, she puts in a great performance in this film. Imagine how many screams and many things she had to do. I know there was no way they could film and do the 'coming to America from the island' scene since it was 1933, but it would have been a nice touch.
Do yourself a favor and watch this piece of cinematic history. Later on, I'll eventually review the '76 and '05 versions.
My rating: 7 out of 10
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