History Film / KingKong

* FootFocus: Both the '33 and '05 versions had Ann barefoot for most of the time on the island, but only the latter had repeated closeups of her muddy feet.

* {{Gorn}}: Kong's death.

* TechnologyMarchesOn - the biplanes are replaced by specialised attack helicopters with [[MoreDakka gatling guns]].

* NoEndorHolocaust: In this version, it appears no-one ever bothers to tell Ann Darrow about the twenty or so guys who died horrible, horrible deaths trying to save her. Either that or she's the most callous bitch of all time.

* SceneryPorn: Oh ''gawd''. So much. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis So. Much.]]
* SerkisFolk: Quite literal: Creator/AndySerkis provides both vocalizations and MotionCapture for Kong. He also plays the ship's cook.

* PacingProblems: A common criticism of the 2005 movie, which clocks in at 188 min (201 in the extended version). It takes over an hour before we see the titular ape. To be fair, that was probably done on purpose, as Peter Jackson stated that ''King Kong'' was the film that made him want to go into film-making, and wanted as faithful an adaptation as possible. In the 1933 film, which was about 90 minutes long, Kong wasn't first shown until 45 minutes in, about halfway through the movie.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Right after the EverybodysDeadDave scene, [[spoiler:Jack, Jimmy, Carl, and a few other sailors]] are attacked by massive, oversized insects. As [[spoiler:Jack]] is covered in giant bugs, [[spoiler:Jimmy]] fires a Thompson submachine gun ''full-auto'' at him from only a few feet away and manages to hit nothing but bugs.

** You expected any less from Peter Jackson?

* BloodlessCarnage: Almost everywhere, to keep the film at PG-13; natives and animals are shot at point blank range, people are speared, people are ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice on razor sharp teeth...all without a drop of blood spilled.

* DownerEnding/BittersweetEnding: Both the '76 and '05 versions, as a result of making Kong even more sympathetic and having Ann/Dwan form a bond with him. The 2005 version in particular gets bleaker and bleaker the more you think about it: Kong's dead, and since he's the LastOfHisKind, his whole species is now extinct. Several civilians and many of the soldiers who tried to bring him down and protect the city were killed. Carl Denham's career is ruined for sure, and he'll never be able to donate the proceeds of his film to the families of the Venture's deceased crew members. And of the Venture's crew that survived, most of their friends (and in Jimmy's case, his father figure) are dead. One of the only really bright spots to come out of the whole deal is Ann and Jack's relationship, and there's a feeling that it won't last. Granted, a lot of the same points could also apply to the original, but the fact that the story of the '05 version is more "developed" just makes it even sadder. The bittersweet part to this is that at least New York is saved from destruction.

* DownerEnding: Both the '76 and '05 versions, as a result of making Kong even more sympathetic and having Ann/Dwan form a bond with him. The 2005 version in particular gets bleaker and bleaker the more you think about it: Kong's dead, and since he's the LastOfHisKind, his whole species is now extinct. Several civilians and many of the soldiers who tried to bring him down and protect the city were killed. Carl Denham's career is ruined for sure, and he'll never be able to donate the proceeds of his film to the families of the Venture's deceased crew members. And of the Venture's crew that survived, most of their friends (and in Jimmy's case, his father figure) are dead. One of the only really bright spots to come out of the whole deal is Ann and Jack's relationship, and there's a feeling that it won't last. Granted, a lot of the same points could also apply to the original, but the fact that the story of the '05 version is more "developed" just makes it even sadder.

* EpicMovie

* AccidentallyAccurate: Some have questioned the credibility of the fact that Captain Englehorn is able to translate the language of the islanders, who have apparently never had Western visitors before. He describes it as similar to the language of the Nias islanders. Nias is a real place in Indonesia, but the language of the film is completely fabricated. Nonetheless, Englehorn's ability to translate is not all that implausible; most of the languages of the Pacific share common enough roots to be mutually intelligible to fluent speakers.

** Englehorn is not a particularly pleasant human being with an unusual number of automatic weapons lying around his ship. He's absolutely right to use excessive force on Skull Island.

* ChangedMyMindKid: Snooty actor Bruce Baxter, faced with the perils of Skull Island, gives up on rescuing Ann, only to return later JustInTime for a BigDamnHeroes moment.

* DistressedDamsel: Played straight in the original; subverted/deconstructed in the later films with the girl's Stockholm-esque/Koko-and-Kitten bonding with Kong.

* CavemenVsAstronautsDebate: The original film is a quite literal depiction of the [[TropeNamer Trope-naming]] [[Series/{{Angel}} argument]]. Merian Cooper was a man fascinated by both the past and the future. He traveled the world studying primitive societies that had not changed for hundreds of years. He was also a bold innovator who made important advances in aviation and motion pictures, and talked in his later life about his wish that he could live long enough to travel in space. In ''Film/KingKong'' this duality becomes a violent conflict between the mighty but savage Kong and the technology of the modern world. Cooper recognized that the modern world would eventually win, but in many ways his sympathies lay with the primitive.

* [[PeopleInRubberSuits People In Hairy Suits]]: The 1976 film and ''Film/KingKongLives'' are the only two American-made official Kong films to use men in ape suits. The closeups of Kong lifting Ann in one of his hands, however, were made with a full-sized King Kong robot.

** well the raptors are shown to be pretty agile, the only one that got killed(at least on-screen) was due to a human knocking it down. Also what is easier to kill, a 100-ton super-size dinosaur that can kill you with its foot, or an easy human?

** Presumably not ''quite'' the last, as the tie-in book describes something of their life cycle and behavior, including juvenile behaviors. They were probably the parents of the species' last generation, however.

* OffTheShelfFX: The subway cars that Kong picks up are miniature models.

* SerkisFolk: Quite literal: Andy Serkis provides both vocalizations and MotionCapture for Kong. He also plays the ship's cook.

* FallenOnHardTimesJob: Ann Darrow's one unlucky break away from going the burlesque chorus-girl route.

* TheHeroDies: While it's hard to call Kong a hero, he counts as such in the sense that he is the title character himself.