The Best Movie Of Each Year From 1925-2025
93. 1933 - King Kong
Honourable Mentions: Baby Face, Duck Soup, The Invisible Man
King Kong was a revolutionary picture when it premiered in 1933, and the technical effects wizardry on display still doesn't fail to impress almost a century later. In fact, even with a further two US remakes in mind, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's original still stands out as the eeriest and most atmospheric (give or take the occasional meat-loving herbivore that picks off our wayward expedition).
The use of miniatures, stop motion, and rear projection conjures a version of Skull Island that is totally uncanny - a monochrome vision of primordial peril that pushed the boundaries of how far the movies could go in transporting us to complete fantasy. Many filmmakers have tried with great affection to replicate that sense of discovery and fear, but the original is the only true eighth wonder of the world.