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King Kong

  • 2005
  • PG-13
  • 3h 7m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
462K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,323
117
Andy Serkis and Naomi Watts in King Kong (2005)
A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.
Play trailer2:56
3 Videos
99+ Photos
Action EpicAdventure EpicDark RomanceDinosaur AdventureEpicGlobetrotting AdventureJungle AdventurePeriod DramaRomantic EpicTragedy

A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.

  • Director
    • Peter Jackson
  • Writers
    • Fran Walsh
    • Philippa Boyens
    • Peter Jackson
  • Stars
    • Naomi Watts
    • Jack Black
    • Adrien Brody
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    462K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,323
    117
    • Director
      • Peter Jackson
    • Writers
      • Fran Walsh
      • Philippa Boyens
      • Peter Jackson
    • Stars
      • Naomi Watts
      • Jack Black
      • Adrien Brody
    • 2.8KUser reviews
    • 251Critic reviews
    • 81Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 3 Oscars
      • 47 wins & 104 nominations total

    Videos3

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:56
    Official Trailer
    A Guide to the Films of Peter Jackson
    Clip 1:33
    A Guide to the Films of Peter Jackson
    A Guide to the Films of Peter Jackson
    Clip 1:33
    A Guide to the Films of Peter Jackson
    What Roles Was Jack Black Considered For?
    Video 2:37
    What Roles Was Jack Black Considered For?

    Photos361

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    + 355
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    Top cast99+

    Edit
    Naomi Watts
    Naomi Watts
    • Ann Darrow
    Jack Black
    Jack Black
    • Carl Denham
    Adrien Brody
    Adrien Brody
    • Jack Driscoll
    Thomas Kretschmann
    Thomas Kretschmann
    • Captain Englehorn
    Colin Hanks
    Colin Hanks
    • Preston
    Andy Serkis
    Andy Serkis
    • Kong…
    Evan Parke
    Evan Parke
    • Hayes
    Jamie Bell
    Jamie Bell
    • Jimmy
    Lobo Chan
    Lobo Chan
    • Choy
    John Sumner
    John Sumner
    • Herb
    Craig Hall
    Craig Hall
    • Mike
    Kyle Chandler
    Kyle Chandler
    • Bruce Baxter
    William Johnson
    • Manny
    Mark Hadlow
    Mark Hadlow
    • Harry
    Geraldine Brophy
    Geraldine Brophy
    • Maude
    David Dennis
    • Taps
    • (as David Denis)
    David Pittu
    David Pittu
    • Weston
    Pip Mushin
    • Zelman
    • Director
      • Peter Jackson
    • Writers
      • Fran Walsh
      • Philippa Boyens
      • Peter Jackson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews2.8K

    7.2462.1K
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    Featured reviews

    9GiraffeDoor

    Agreed, Ann: beautiful.

    Maybe I'm blinded by nostalgia but I adore this movie.

    It's one of the few movies for me that is truly and action movie and not just a movie with some gun fire and general badassdom. The action sequences are captivating, electrifying and operatic in their scale and execution.

    On top of this, the sense of adventure as we travel from a vivid (and probably fake) evocation of 1930s New York to the eerie island forgotten by time is realized with an artisanal attention to detail and an artist's spark and passion (though of course all movies are art).

    A lot of people felt it took a while to get going. But I like local color and characters that make this feel all the more vivid. They do it with verve when so many other monster movies spend too much time on humans when they only know how to write the monsters.

    The love story angle part might have been a tad much but I like Ann, I like Jack, I love to look down my nose at Carl and Hayes and the boy are a sweet addition too.

    You will fear and in time come to love this endling ape who reigns as king of the forgotten world but but rules it alone. When Naomi Watts described it as a love story I dare say it might have been the most inciteful thing an actor has ever said about one of their movies that they didn't write in an interview. It's no an erotic love but in the bleak world of giant sabre toothed leach eat giant sabre toothed leach, sometimes moments of tenderness between the most unlikely pairs becomes possible.

    And then we get back to New York and words do not do it justice. They kind of slapped a Christmas/Winter aesthetic in the final act because this movie released in December and I am so happy to go along with it, maybe because of that score.

    Overall, one of the few remakes of a good movie that is justified since it managed to recreate for modern audiences what the original would have been at its time.
    pastormark

    Makes Jurassic Park look like Barney's playground!

    Don't get me wrong, I still love Jurassic Park, but the technology there is now twelve years old. Peter Jackson's KING KONG is the experience for which movies were invented. The CGI was incredible, the casting appropriate (this wasn't supposed to be an actor-driven, big-star film, after all), and the flow was satisfying. Even the somewhat slow build-up had a huge payoff once you see Kong running through the jungle with Ann in his giant hand. Is it a flawless movie? Probably not. But it Is a perfect example of why we go to movies in the first place-- to see things that we will never see in our real lives. When I walked out of the theater and was making my way through the deserted lobby, I had an odd feeling. Every poster I saw for an upcoming film kind of made me feel like all those movies were probably just going to be a waste of film next to KING KONG.
    10pugheaven

    Not the recognition it deserves!!!

    Typical Peter Jackson, however gonna watch the even longer extended 3 hours 20 minutes edition in 4k, not watched in years but the picture is epic apart from it being too warm for my liking. The sound is the unusual DTS-X high def sound and already is gorgeous!

    However enough of the technical borefest hahaha... this film for me is stunningly shot... some of the shots of the city are incredible. It really is a grand film and for me better than his LOTR trilogy which I may well resist soon.

    However its the cinematography and sets that set this film apart from most films... integrated so well with XGI which even in 4k is holding up well... stunning is all I can say, actually old school filming with modern techniques!

    Classic tale and story that recreates the original for the modern era. Even Jack Black is watchable but the stunning Naomi Watts is very very watchable hahaha.

    This film doesn't get the recognition it deserves!!! As an achievement in cinema alone its a 10/10. You want blockbusters that have a story and a smidge of empathy with the characters with possibly the greatest ending of all monster films ever... this is how you do it.

    Marvel and DC and all the other nonsense need to take a step back!!! This is how you combine live action, real sets and CGI into an epic tale...
    7Mysterygeneration

    Peter Jackson strikes again

    If a movie is three hours or longer, that usually means it already has two negative points against it. But even as the three hours and seven minutes passed, I didn't take my eyes off the television. If the "Rings" trilogies weren't enough to persuade you, now is the time for everyone to agree that Peter Jackson is one of the most imaginative individuals to ever hold the director's chair. This movie belongs to a unique class. Everyone who attempts to replicate "King Kong" should be imprisoned in a rubber room.

    Then, you cram this classic remake with moving humanity, astounding amazing effects, and a ton of unforgettable imagery, and you do it all so flawlessly that it's bound to become a classic as well. In a word, Jackson's "King Kong" is amazing, fantastic, beautiful, and spectacular. I'm afraid I can't put it into one word.
    BigHardcoreRed

    Truly A Masterpiece!

    Let me just say that with all of the remakes that have been coming out, King Kong may have been the most deserving and the most in need of being remade. I could not think of a better director for this type of film than Peter Jackson.

    King Kong stays pretty true to the original. Naomi Watts plays Fay Wray's Ann Darrow perfectly. Right down to her emotional connection with Kong, which is helped by the fact that Kong is pretty darn lovable when he is not ripping apart dinosaurs.

    Adrien Brody plays a great Jack Driscoll as well. Brody is truly a gifted actor and plays a good hero.

    Even Jack Black did a good job as the rebellious director Carl Denham. Usually I am annoyed by Black's performances, even though they are mostly in comedies. Surprisingly, Black kept his character serious and the movie is better for it. I though for sure he would be the one to ruin this movie for me but, again, I stand corrected. The comedy seemed to be reserved for Kong, himself, and did a wonderful job.

    I can not express how much more I enjoyed this movie without the "guy in the suit" special effects. Kong was very appealing visually, as well as the other dinosaurs. I do not say this too much in reviews. In fact, I doubt I have ever said it but King Kong has turned out to be a masterpiece which will raise the bar for many years to come. 10/10

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      It took 18 months to craft the CGI version of the Empire State Building. The real thing was built in 14 months.
    • Goofs
      (at around 1h 15 minutes) At the end of the sequence where Kong carries Ann through the forest, there is a very brief scene where Ann is wearing pantyhose (not invented until 1959, twenty-six years after the story took place). However, Ann's legs and feet are bare in all other scenes on the island.
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Carl Denham: It wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast.

    • Crazy credits
      The end credits are set against an art deco backdrop rather than the traditional black screen. The backdrop is an exact replica, in Technicolor, of the same backdrop that was used for the opening credits in the 1933 version of "King Kong".
    • Alternate versions
      On November 14, 2006, an extended edition DVD was released with 13 minutes of additional scenes edited back into the film. Denham's party is attacked both by a Ceratops immediately upon entering the jungle to rescue Ann and by a giant fish while on rafts on a river, after which they kill a giant bird while firing blindly into the jungle (the longest addition by far). Baxter's rescue of the party is extended and finishes with Jimmy's farewell to Hayes. Kong's pursuit of the party on Skull Island and his pursuit of Driscoll in NYC are slightly extended, and there are two brief additional encounters between Kong and the military in NYC. A complete breakdown is at http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=3550.
    • Connections
      Edited into It's All Gone King Kong (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      I'm Sitting on Top of the World
      Written by Ray Henderson, Joe Young, Sam Lewis (as Sam M. Lewis)

      Performed by Al Jolson

      Courtesy of Geffen Records

      Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

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    FAQ31

    • How long is King Kong?Powered by Alexa
    • What happened to the natives after they hid?
    • What is 'King Kong' about?
    • Is "King Kong" based on a book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 14, 2005 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • New Zealand
      • Germany
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Peter Jackson's King Kong
    • Filming locations
      • Shelly Bay, Wellington, New Zealand(Skull Island)
    • Production companies
      • Universal Pictures
      • WingNut Films
      • Big Primate Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $207,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $218,080,025
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $50,130,145
      • Dec 18, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $556,907,035
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 3h 7m(187 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital EX
      • SDDS
      • DTS-ES
      • Dolby Stereo
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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