Still the best dino fight ever!

The original 1933 version of King Kong is one of my favorite films. The 1976 version with Jessica Lange simply does not exist in my universe. And, though I appreciated a lot of the visual artistry that went into the 2005 version, it was too long, had too many unnecessary story arcs for the supporting characters, tried too hard to shove the idea that we were supposed to sympathize with Kong, and used the annoying modern hyper-editing techniques that effectively ruined what would otherwise have been some really cool dinosaur fight scenes. It tried too hard to be an epic, whereas the original became an epic by simply telling a straightforward adventure story so well.


I still like Willis O'Brien's stop motion special effects. They have a charm and personality to them that neither of the remakes come close to capturing.  And in terms of coherent editing and story logic, it beats the overdone 2005 version by a mile.


I make a point to watch King Kong only once per year. I do so on Superbowl Sunday, since I'm not a football fan, but the big game makes it an easy date to remember. That way, I never really get used to it--it remains a treat every time.


But there's no harm in occasionally giving the best dinosaur fight scene ever an extra viewing every once in a while, is there?