History Film / KingKong

* TechnologyMarchesOn: The biplanes are replaced by specialized attack helicopters with [[MoreDakka gatling guns]].

* {{Expy}}: Jack Black himself has noted similarities between Carl Denham and OrsonWelles.

* HollywoodEvolution: Evolutionary biology and ecosystems don't work that way. Creatures trapped on an island tend to select for smaller size, not larger[[note]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_gigantism island gigantism is a thing that only happens on larger islands, not tiny ones like Skull Island]][[/note]] – and yet if you read the natural history of Skull Island or watch the relevant documentary on the DVD, that's exactly the opposite of how the film makers designed the animals. Also, with that many apex predators in such a tiny area (the vastatosaurs, the raptors, plus the various giant arthropods), the island would've been devoid of life in no time as the ecosystem fell apart. It is implied in the film (and explicitly said in the "Natural History" tie-in book) that the island used to be much larger and was sinking into the sea/breaking apart. Still, for animals that large, the break-up would have to have been of a very large land mass and would have had to only been happening for a very short period of time, geologically speaking, which makes it something of a VoodooShark.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_gigantism Island gigantism]] is a real concept, but its effects are greatly exaggerated in the film, probably because [[RuleOfCool huge dinosaurs and bugs and a gigantic ape are interesting to watch.]]

* LastOfHisKind: It is implied that Kong is the last giant ape on Skull Island: the most telling evidence is a shot of him entering his cave and walking past multiple skeletons of giant gorillas. This loneliness, along with the hostility of Skull Island's environment, accounts for both his ferocity and his need for company, which Ann Darrow supplies.\\
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Furthermore, as stated in the background materials, Skull Island's entire ecosystem is dying because the island is submerging due to geological activity. Those ''V. rex'' that Kong killed, for instance, may just have been the last three members of their entire species.

** The Natives are actually TheRemnant of the former grand civilisation that once occupied the centre of the island. As the Island began sinking into the sea, the wall surrounding their city ended up being breached and they were forced to evacuate to the other side of the wall, making refuge in the barren landscape containing the catacombs outside their city. Ironically, the wall once meant to keep predators out now became the only thing that was keeping them ''in''.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Safari and wildlife travelogues were pretty popular at the time, and a filmmaker like Carl Denham would have been famous.

** The oldest Kaiju in cinema? A [[StockDinosaurs Brontosaurus]] from Willis O'Brien's ''The Lost World'' (1929).

* Jackson's Kong is closest to what the SquareCubeLaw allows: [[http://viewerscommentary.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/king-kong-and-ann-darrow.jpg a bit larger than a large African Elephant]], walks on all fours most of the time, to distribute weight evenly, proportionately short hind legs with huge feet, like largest modern bears have to support them when walking upright. A 50ft Kong would be unrealistic, an 148ft Kong downright impossible.

** There's also the fact that the Stegosaurus in the original is '''enormous'''. Judging by how long it takes the crew to walk from its head to its tail, the thing must be at least 100 feet long, closer in size to most sauropods than to the 30 foot length of a real Stegosaurus.

* HarsherInHindsight: The entire battle at the World Trade Center is much creepier in the aftermath of September 11th.

The story remains pretty much the same, but the characters and situations are changed: instead of a filmmaker seeking an exciting movie locale, an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive amoral oil executive]] (Charles Grodin) is seeking an uncharted island (hidden by a perpetual fog bank) where he hopes to find an enormous untapped deposit of crude. The requisite blonde, Dwan (Jessica Lange), is encountered at sea, adrift in a lifeboat, the sole survivor of a yacht explosion; and TheHero is a stowaway anthropologist ([[JeffBridges The Dude]]). The rest of the film plays out more or less as the previous version, albeit with a somewhat more realistic depiction of the natives and with fewer island hazards (the only oversized animals featured are Kong and a snake). The oil exec, upset to learn that the island's crude is unfit for refining, decides to "bring home the big one" in a very literal sense; when the hero brings Dwan back from Kong's clutches, Kong is again captured and brought to New York in a gaudy publicity stunt. Again, Kong misinterprets the intentions of pushy photographers, and the story goes on from there.

Creator/LegendaryPictures, fresh off their success with Creator/GarethEdwards' ''Film/{{Godzilla}}'' [[Film/{{Godzilla 2014}} remake]], [[http://www.slashfilm.com/skull-island-movie/ announced]] that they're producing a movie titled ''Film/SkullIsland'', which will be an OriginStory to the Eight Wonder of the World himself. It's currently unknown if the movie is a prequel to either the original 1933 or Peter Jackson's 2005 remake, or is a completely stand alone film.

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: In the original film, the stop-motion Kong models used on Skull Island were scaled to look 18 feet tall, but the one used in New York was made to appear 24 feet tall. The life-size hand, foot, and head props were built with a 40-foot Kong in mind, and RKO's marketing said Kong was 50 feet high. In the first remake, he's ranges from 42 to 55 feet, in ''Film/KingKongLives,'' he's 60 feet, in ''Film/KingKongVsGodzilla'' he's 148 feet, in ''King Kong Escapes'' he's 66 feet, and in Peter Jackson's remake, he's 25 feet tall, but would probably be closer to 35 if he stood upright like the others instead of walking on his knuckles.

This film differs from the 1933 version in another, very important aspect: the relationship between Kong and "his" girl. Fay Wray's Ann was treated as nothing more than a [[DistressedDamsel kidnapping victim]], a prize for Kong. Dwan, on the other hand, is given several extended scenes--on the island, on the ship back to the United States, and in New York--actually forming a bizarre sort of bond with the big guy. And when Kong climbs to the top of the (then newly constructed) World Trade Center towers and is attacked by the military, Dwan is right there, trying to be a human shield for him. But to no avail...

* BehemothBattle: King Kong fights giant monsters in every installment

* TechnologyMarchesOn: the biplanes are replaced by specialized attack helicopters with [[MoreDakka gatling guns]].
* TheDitz: Dwan is a bit of one.

Creator/LegendaryPictures, fresh off their success with Creator/GarethEdwards' ''Film/{{Godzilla}}'' [[Film/{{Godzilla 2014}} remake]], [[http://www.slashfilm.com/skull-island-movie/ announced]] that they're producing a movie titled ''Skull Island'', which will be an OriginStory to the Eight Wonder of the World himself. It's currently unknown if the movie is a prequel to either the original 1933 or Peter Jackson's 2005 remake, or is a completely stand alone film.

Creator/LegendaryPictures [[http://www.slashfilm.com/skull-island-movie/ announced]] that they're producing a movie titled ''Skull Island'', which will be an OriginStory to the Eight Wonder of the World himself. It's currently unknown if the movie is a prequel to either the original 1933 or Peter Jackson's 2005 remake, or is a completely stand alone film.

King Kong goes in trees and likely has Characters/HappyTreeFriends.

* SomewhereAPalaeontologistIsCrying: Flesh-Eating Apatosaur (aka brontosaur) in the original. Most likely due to RuleOfCool.
** The brontosaur didn't actually eat anybody. It just shook around a man in its mouth and then left the guy's body on the ground. It was, however, a common cinematic depiction at that time.
** The 1976 version averts this because there is only a giant snake. The 2005 version makes its own dinosaurs.
** See also TyrannosaurusRex.
** There's also the fact that the Stegosaurus in the original is '''enormous'''. Judging by how long it takes the crew to walk from its head to its tail, the thing must be at least 100 feet long, closer in size to most sauropods than to the 30 foot length of a real Stegosaurus.

Bringing Kong back to America instead of a movie, Denham puts the amazing creature on display in Manhattan. However, misinterpreting the intentions of newsmen trying to photograph Ann, Kong breaks loose from his bonds and begins a rampage through the city seeking the "woman of gold". Finally retrieving her from a hotel, Kong proceeds to [[ClimbingClimax climb to the highest point in Manhattan]]--the Empire State Building. There he attempts to fight off a squadron of biplanes, and Ann makes her escape. While he knocks down several that circle too close, the modern war machines finally get the better of the monster, and he plummets to his death. Yet Denham asserts that it wasn't the bullets that truly killed Kong... it was Ann's rejection of him: "It wasn't the planes that killed the beast. It was beauty."

This film differs from the 1933 version in another, very important aspect: the relationship between Kong and "his" girl. Fay Wray's Ann was treated as nothing more than a [[DistressedDamsel kidnapping victim]], a prize for Kong. Dwan, on the other hand, is given several extended scenes--on the island, on the ship back to America, and in New York--actually forming a bizarre sort of bond with the big guy. And when Kong climbs to the top of the (then newly constructed) World Trade Center towers and is attacked by the military, Dwan is right there, trying to be a human shield for him. But to no avail...

Jackson's film diverges from the original by providing more of Denham's and Ann's respective back stories. Further, "Jack Driscoll" is changed from the ship's first mate to a playwright, and a narcissistic Hollywood actor is added for comic relief. The natives are ''much'' more brutal than past portrayals. And, as with the 1976 film, a good deal of attention is paid to the unusual "romance" between the girl and the primate, which is strong enough that Ann would rather stay on the island with him than see him captured; and later she refuses to participate in his exhibition in America. She does, though, show up in time to halt his rampage through the city, and from there... well, [[ItWasHisSled you know how this one ends]].

The story remains pretty much the same, but the characters and situations are changed: instead of a filmmaker seeking an exciting movie locale, an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive amoral oil executive]] is seeking an uncharted island (hidden by a perpetual fog bank) where he hopes to find an enormous untapped deposit of crude. The requisite blonde, Dwan (Jessica Lange), is encountered at sea, adrift in a lifeboat, the sole survivor of a yacht explosion; and TheHero is a stowaway anthropologist. The rest of the film plays out more or less as the previous version, albeit with a somewhat more realistic depiction of the natives and with fewer island hazards (the only oversized animals featured are Kong and a snake). The oil exec, upset to learn that the island's crude is unfit for refining, decides to "bring home the big one" in a very literal sense; when the hero brings Dwan back from Kong's clutches, Kong is again captured and brought to New York in a gaudy publicity stunt. Again, Kong misinterprets the intentions of pushy photographers, and the story goes on from there.

* BehemothBattle: King Kong fights giant monsters in just about every installment

* ChewingTheScenery: Charles Grodin just about ''shouts'' every other line.

* {{Gorn}}: Kong's death, as well as the death of the giant snake. Kong literally ''tears its head off.''

* EldritchLocation: Skull Island could very easily be one of these. It's full of creatures that are larger than should exist in nature, they're all aggressive and dangerous, the natives are so feral they can barely be considered human, and even the geography is frightening.

* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: If you think about it, Kong is ''not'' the real monster here. Kidnapped, dragged away from home, put on display and gawked at... He's more a victim than Fay Wray was.

* DirtyCoward: Tim, the sailor who tries to run when the natives notice them, comes off as this. He's also TheLoad, since he always brings up the rear of the rescue party later and constantly falling behind.

* ForTheEvulz: Unlike the other creatures in the film, the Brontosaurus really has no apparent reason to be attacking those sailors, especially since he actually bites down on them before either leaving them to die or tossing them aside.

** The [[SlasherSmile vicious grin]] he wears as he corners the sailor in the tree makes it even clearer.
* GiantSpider: Hoo boy, the spider pit has got many of them, but only in the [[ExecutiveMeddling deleted scene from the 1933 original]].

* {{Novelization}}: Written by Delos W. Lovelace and popular enough to be one of the very few movie novelizations consistently reprinted, even to this day (its being in the public domain unlike the movie certainly helps). Despite this, it was subject to a rather pointless rewrite by Joe DeVito with art by Brad Strickland, which gave no credit whatsoever to Lovelace. About the only change DeVito made was having Jimmy (the sailor who carries Denham's gas bombs) survive.