Top Movies of the Decade #99

99.   King Kong

I love the 1933 “King Kong” and have hated all the remakes, until Peter Jackson’s.    Jackson shows, as he did with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, that he knows how to use CGI, but also how to tell a story.    His version stays true not just to the story but to the spirit of Merian C. Cooper’s original work– the spirit of adventure, exploitation, and tragedy.    Like the remodel of an old house, the 2005 King Kong updates the fixtures and the furniture, but retains all the charm and personality of the original.

“And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty, and beauty stayed his hand. And from that day forward, he was as one dead.”

“He was right. There is still some mystery left in this world, and we can all have a piece of it for the price of an admission ticket.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen… I give you… KONG! THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD!”

“We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember because we were traveling in the night of first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign – and no memories. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there – there you could look at a thing monstrous and free.”

“It wasn’t the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast.”