The major themes of the film include the struggle for survival on the primitive, fog-enshrouded, tropical Skull Island between the ardent and energetic filmmakers (led by Robert Armstrong), the hero (Bruce Cabot in a part originally offered to Joel McCrea), the voodoo natives, and the forces of nature (the unique Beast creature); unrequited love and the frustration and repression of violent sexual desires. However, the primitive, giant ape must also struggle against the forces of urban civilization and technology when it is exploited for profit and returned for display in New York City during a time of economic oppression.

From the start of the picture, its clever screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose (based on a story by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace) suggested the coming terror. The film was shot during the spring and summer of 1932 in the confines of the studio. Due to their limited budget for sets, Cooper and Schoedsack used the jungle locale from the latters previous film The Most Dangerous Game (1932) - an adventure film that also starred Fay Wray. When released, it broke all previous box-office records. Its massive, money-making success helped to save RKO Studios from bankruptcy.

The following scenes for the 1938 re-release, that were excised by censors after the Production Code took effect in 1934, were restored in recent editions of the film:

• the Brontosaurus killing of three victims (instead of five in the original)
• the giant spider scene
• Kongs stripping/peeling of Fay Wrays clothing while holding her unconscious in his palm
• Kongs chewing of a New York victim and his drop of a woman from the Empire State Building

This remarkable film received no Academy Awards nominations - it would have won in the Special Effects category if there had been such a category. The film contained many revolutionary technical innovations for its time (rear projection, miniature models about 18 inches in height, and trick photography, etc.), and some of the most phenomenal stop-motion animation sequences and special effects ever filmed (by chief technician Willis OBrien, famed for his first feature film The Lost World (1925)).

A wildly dramatic musical score by Max Steiner enhanced the action of the story. It was the first feature-length musical score written specifically for a US talkie film, and was the first major Hollywood film to have a thematic score rather than background music, recorded using a 46-piece orchestra. After the score was completed, all of the films sounds were recorded onto three separate tracks, one each for sound effects, dialogue and music. For the first time in film history, RKOs sound department head Murray Spivak made a groundbreaking sound design decision - he pitched the effects to match the score, so they wouldnt be overwhelming and so they would complement each other.

The film has numerous memorable moments, including Kongs battle with a giant snake in a misty cavern, his struggle against a flying pterodactyl, the screaming beauty (Fay Wray, known as the "Queen of Scream") held captive in Kongs giant clenched palm, and the finale with the defiant Kong atop the Empire State Building while circling aircraft shoot him down. In director John Guillermins inferior remake King Kong (1976), starring Jessica Lange, the great ape takes his last stand atop one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

King Kong launched the "giant beast" subgenre of science-fiction, inspiring the 1950s atomic mutant creature features and the Japanese giant movie monsters like Godzilla, Gamera, Rodan, etc. Godzilla and King Kong actually faced off in the Japanese film King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962, Jp.) (aka Godzilla vs. King Kong in Japan). Various other Kong-related films are summarized in the following list:

• Son of Kong (1933)
• Mighty Joe Young (1949)
• Konga (1961)
• King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962, Jp.)
• King Kong Escapes (1967, Jp.)
• King of Kong Island (1968)
• King Kong (1976)
• A*P*E (1976, Kor.)
• Queen Kong (1976, UK)
• King Kong Lives (1986)
• The Mighty Kong (1998, animated)
• Mighty Joe Young (1998)
• King Kong (2005)

[Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson shot a remake of the classic 1933 film as King Kong (2005), with Jack Black (as Carl Denham), Adrien Brody (as Jack Driscoll), Naomi Watts (as Fay Wray), and Andy Serkis (and CGI) employed for the 25-foot tall monstrous ape.]

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