What Are the Best ‘King Kong’ Movies?

There’s something primal about King Kong that never gets old. A giant ape, a desperate climb, a tragic fall from the top of the world. The myth has been retold a dozen times over nine decades, and yet here we are, still arguing about which version gets it right. So let’s settle this the fun way.

The Original Is Still the King (1933)

No surprises at the top. The 1933 King Kong by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack is, simply put, one of the most important films ever made. It pioneered stop-motion animation and rear-screen projection at a time when nobody knew those techniques were even possible. Kong’s face on the Empire State Building, clutching Ann Darrow as biplanes circle like angry hornets. that image has been burned into the cultural memory of the entire planet. Even close to a century later, the story still lands emotionally. That’s not nostalgia. That’s filmmaking.

Peter Jackson’s Love Letter (2005)

Jackson famously cried when he first saw the original as a nine-year-old. It shows. His 2005 remake is exactly that, a deeply personal tribute stretched to three hours and stuffed with every idea he ever had about the character. Some of those ideas are brilliant. The Kong and Ann relationship feels genuinely moving, and Andy Serkis’s motion-capture performance gives the big ape more soul than most human characters get. The Brontosaurus stampede sequence, though? That one goes on about ten minutes too long. Still, this is the rare remake that earns its place near the top.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Set in the 1970s with a Vietnam War backdrop and a cast that includes Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, and John C. Reilly. Kong: Skull Island is basically a rock-and-roll monster movie with real attitude. It doesn’t try to be the 1933 film. It doesn’t need to. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts shoots Kong like a god from the moment we see him, silhouetted against a burning sky. The film moves fast, looks gorgeous, and John C. Reilly’s subplot is surprisingly touching. This one’s more rewatchable than people give it credit for.

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Here’s the thing. Sometimes a movie knows exactly what it is, and that self-awareness is its greatest strength. Godzilla vs. Kong is 113 minutes of two enormous monsters beating each other across neon-lit cities and hollow Earth landscapes. The human story is, well, let’s call it “functional”. But the monster stuff? Genuinely spectacular. It’s the kind of film that rewards a big TV and a complete absence of expectations. 

Speaking of how iconic Kong remains across different forms of entertainment, the character has also inspired digital interpretations. On platforms like Bigpirate, titles such as Stacking Kong play on the familiar skyscraper-climbing imagery, reimagining one of cinema’s most recognizable moments in an interactive format.

The 1976 Remake Deserves More Credit

John Guillermin’s King Kong gets dismissed a lot, and that’s unfair. Yes, the production has dated. Yes, the man-in-a-suit Kong doesn’t hold up next to modern effects. But the script modernizes the story with environmental themes, a gas company villain, and the Twin Towers standing in for the Empire State Building. Jeff Bridges is genuinely good here, and the film has a melancholy that lingers. Many fans consider it the most rewatchable of the older entries. That counts for something.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

This one is harder to defend, but it has its moments. When the human drama steps aside, which it does frequently and gratefully, the monster sequences deliver pure spectacle. The MonsterVerse has clearly leaned into the absurdity at this point, and The New Empire commits fully. It’s goofy in ways that would have been unthinkable in the 1933 original, but the franchise has always evolved. A next installment is already reportedly in development under the working title Supernova, so Kong isn’t going anywhere.

The Rest of the Pack

King Kong Escapes (1968) is a fun piece of pulpy history, connected to a Japanese animated series and dripping with that specific late-Sixties B-movie charm. King Kong Lives (1986) is, honestly, a mess. Linda Hamilton can’t save it. Son of Kong (1933) is a rushed cash-grab sequel that even fans of the original tend to skip.

King Kong’s nine-decade run through cinema says something real about why the story works. It’s not really about a monster. It’s about something wild and magnificent being dragged into a world that can’t contain it. Every filmmaker who’s tackled Kong has understood that at some level, even when the execution missed the mark.

The 1933 original remains untouchable. But the 2005 remake and Skull Island prove the myth still has room to breathe. That’s a pretty remarkable legacy for a giant ape who’s been falling off buildings since before your grandparents were born.