| abstract | - In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, film maker Carl Denham's latest picture is slammed by critics, mainly because of its poor quality special effects. Hoping to make a comeback, Denham decides to journey to an uncharted island and shoot his next film on location, even managing to secure the use of a ship, the Venture, to take him there. However, he is unable to find an actress who will play the lead role until he stumbles upon young Ann Darrow. He meets Ann, who has just lost her job as a vaudeville actress, when she tries to steal an apple from a market stall. After buying her a hot meal in a diner, Denham convinces her to accompany him and star in the film. On the ship, Captain Englehorn sets sail for Indonesia, but it is revealed that they are not actually headed to Indonesia. Denham wants to film on the mysterious Skull Island, but keeps this a secret from his two leads; Ann and a man named Bruce Baxter, a narcissistic actor. Ann also meets the ship's first mate, Jack Driscoll, who is initially unhappy about the presence of a woman on the ship. Over the course of the voyage however, they grow close and begin to develop feelings for one another. Eventually, the Venture finds itself lost in a fog bank when suddenly, Skull Island emerges from the mist. The crew head to the beach to investigate the beat of drums and encounter a native village, but notice that they are cut off from the jungle by a huge wall. The group accidentally interrupt a ceremony and are chased away by the natives; however, the villagers take an interest in Ann. That night, Driscoll is preparing to confess his true feelings to Ann, who is resting in her cabin. Baxter comes in and tries to seduce her, but fails. Before anything else can happen, the natives attack the ship. They kill a crew member and Baxter before abducting Ann and taking her to the island. When they realize what has happened, Denham, Driscoll and the half of the crew members mount an expedition to go and get her back while Ann is tied to two large columns on the other side of the wall, realizing too late that she is being offered as a sacrifice. The others arrive and fight their way through the village and Driscoll manages to climb on top of the wall, where he witnesses a giant ape emerging from the jungle, untying Ann and taking her away. Driscoll the other men, apart from Denham, decide to go into the jungle to rescue Ann. Before they leave, Denham explains that the beast Jack saw is Kong, a god to the natives. Trekking through the jungle, the group encounter other fantastic creatures which also inhabit the island. They first encounter a rampaging Brontosaurus and manage to kill it, only to learn that it was in the process of fleeing from a pack of Velociraptors. They then wind up at a swamp where Driscoll has the men gather materials in order to build a raft with which to cross. Meanwhile, Ann manages to calm Kong and win him over, taking note of Kong's capacity for emotion. The crew pulls together a makeshift raft and are almost across the swamp when a plesiosaur emerges from the depths and destroys the raft, killing two men. The crew manages to swim the last stretch and escape, but one unfortunate man trips and is also killed. The crew next accidentally run straight into a herd of Triceratops, which begin to chase them. They manage to escape by running out onto an enormous log spanning a chasm, but the noise alerts Kong, who is nearby. Kong places Ann on top of a tree while he goes to investigate and encounters the men trying to cross the log bridge. Driscoll and his close mate Hayes are only ones to make it across before Kong arrives. Driscoll avoids detection by climbing down a vine into a small crack in the side of the wall. Kong throws Hayes against a rock and his body falls into the chasm, causing one of the men to panic and open fire. Kong shakes the rest of the sailors off the log bridge and into the chasm, where they are eaten by a swarm of giant spiders. A spider begins to climb up the vine towards Driscoll, but he uses his knife to cut it and the spider falls back into the chasm. As Kong makes his way back to Ann, she is found by a T-Rex, who prepares to eat her when Kong arrives and the two fight viciously. Following a brutal struggle between the two, Kong breaks the T-Rex's jaw and then removes Ann from the tree. He then takes her up to his mountain lair, while Driscoll secretly follows them. In the cave, Kong is attacked by a giant snake, but he kills it by whacking it's head on the cave floor. Kong then carries Ann outside, where they watch the sunset before Kong falls asleep. Jack sneaks up behind Ann and the two prepare to quietly leave together until they are attacked by a pterodactyl, waking Kong up. He fights the pterodactyl and manages to crush it's neck while Ann and Jack escape. Kong spots them and gives chase, forcing them to jump into the river below, which carries them back to the village gates. Kong pursues them and encounters the plesiosaur, which he also kills by punching out while running past. Jack and Ann manage to reach the village gates, where Denham and Englehorn let them in. Denham reveals that he has created a plan to capture Kong and bring him back to America so that the expedition won't have been wasted. However, an enraged Kong easily breaks through the gate and goes on a rampage, killing many native villagers. He eventually falls into a pit trap and smothered with chloroform. Some time later, Denham is ready to make his great comeback by revealing Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World, with the introduction taking place at a theater in New York City. It is a huge event and people come from all around to see Kong. Back stage, Ann confesses to Jack that she is nervous about seeing Kong again, but he comforts her and then proposes to her. Ann accepts just as Denham arrives and congratulates them before they all head out on stage to introduce Kong. The curtain is lifted to reveal a subdued and shackled Kong, to the surprise and amazement of the audience. However, the flashes from a crowd of photographer's cameras caused Kong to become enraged and he breaks free. The terrified audience flees as Denham looks on in shock, realizing that he's screwed up again. However, he finally redeems himself by spotting a small girl pinned down under one of the seats. Denham manages to pull her out of the way just as Kong lands on top of Baxter, crushing him to death. Kong goes on a rampage and derails an elevated train, killing many civillians. In the chaos, Jack and Ann become seperated so he steals a taxi to find her. Kong thinks he has found Ann sleeping in an apartment and pulls her out of the window, but finds that he was mistaken and drops the woman to her death. Kong then encounters Driscoll and flips the taxi over. Before he can kill him, however, Ann appears and calms Kong down. However, when the police arrive, Kong grabs Ann and continues to tear through the city. Eventually, Kong is left without many places to run so he climbs to the top of the Empire State Building, from where he and Ann look out over all of New York. Driscoll is tended to by medical personnel and overhears that Kong has kidnapped Ann and taken her to the Empire State Building, where the military is going to shoot him down using airplanes. Jack races towards the tower while the squadron arrives. While Driscoll ascends the Empire State Building, the planes open fire and mercilessly blast Kong with gunfire. Kong manages to knock one plane out of the sky, killing the pilot, but is ultimately unable to fend them all off. Kong gazes at Ann one last time before succumbing to his wounds and falling from the top of the skyscraper to his death. Driscoll arrives and embraces Ann while a crowd gathers around Kong's body. As the police try to hold people back, Captain Englehorn emerges through the swath of onlookers and a reporter next to him remarks that the planes got Kong. Englehorn replies that it wasn't the planes, but beauty that killed the beast. With that, Englehorn solemnly turns away and vanishes into the crowd.
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