The most iconic giant monster in American cinema, King Kong has proven his title as kaiju royalty with some notable fights and scrapes against dangerous enemies. Since his first appearance in 1933, King Kong has captivated audiences with his enormous size, ferocity, and gentle heart. His name has been invoked by several sequels and remakes of his original film of the same name over the years, with the Monsterverse films being the most recent franchise to bring Kong back to theaters.
In all of his appearances, King Kong has participated in a climactic battle against one enemy or another, from gigantic prehistoric creatures to man-made weapons. While Kong doesn’t have as much combat experience as his cinematic rival, with Godzilla having far more iconic foes, he’s still no slouch when it comes to combat on a colossal scale. King Kong’s best fight scenes utilize his strength, cunning, and simian agility, which allows Kong to punch well above his weight class.
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Kong vs. The T-Rex
King Kong (1933)
Even as early as 1933 King Kong, the filmmakers were aware that the concept of a giant ape would be even better with a unique opponent to face him. Enter the T-Rex from the original film, a stop-motion creature that plagued cinema screens 60 years earlier Jurassic Park would popularize the dinosaur as a cinema icon. After kidnapping the object of his obsession, the beautiful Ann, Kong steps in to defend her against another apex predator, one of Skull Island’s hostile T-Rex specimens.
The stop-motion of this battle is quite impressive, showing unprecedented dominance in one of the first fights against giant monsters ever. Of course, the captivating duel is still quite aged, and is undoubtedly hampered at times by a less than smooth frame rate. But the sequence at least deserves credit for being groundbreaking at the time, not to mention Kong’s first use of a bloody finishing move as he rips the creature’s head in half through its jaws.
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Kong vs. Mechani-Kong
King Kong Escapes
The fourth entry in the King Kong franchise and the second film to be produced by genius kaiju director Ishirō Honda of Godzilla fame, King Kong Escapes is one of the few films that gives Kong his unique enemy. Mechani-Kong is the creation of the film’s villain, Dr. Who (nicely distinct from the arrogant time traveler of British TV fame), who apparently builds Mechani-Kong as a way to extract valuable radioactive ore at the North Pole. When his robotic version isn’t up to the task, Dr. Who sends Mechani-Kong after the organic original.
Mechani-Kong is a pretty clever opponent, baiting Kong into a fight by kidnapping his latest romantic interest and harassing him with dizzying high beams. The fight puts the two Kongs on equal footing as they scale the iconic Tokyo Tower, flailing and punching each other to the top. While the end result is admittedly quite silly, the creativity at least elevates this fight above some of Kong’s earlier attempts at one-on-one combat with monsters.
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Kong vs. The skull tracker
Kong: Skull Island
Kong: Skull Island provided audiences with the Monsterverse’s take on King Kong’s legendary natural habitat, populating it with a unique new horde of hostile fauna. The most dangerous of Skull Island’s enormous creatures are the Skullcrawlers, nasty serpentine burrowers with two clawed legs and haunting empty eye sockets. Kong fights a particularly large Skullcrawler at the end of the film, overcoming his ferocious bestial opponent with simian ingenuity.
This fight is the first time the Monsterverse’s Kong shows off his skill with improvised weapons, wrapping a massive propeller and anchor chain around his fist to wield it like a makeshift flail. The Skullcrawler does its best to envelop Kong, choking him and attacking him at the same time, but the gigantic ape eventually gets the upper hand, going down his throat and pulling his gastrointestinal tract from the inside out. Even though the Skullcrawler isn’t the most memorable opponent Kong has ever fought, his battle in Kong: Skull Island It’s quite spectacular.
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Kong vs. The V-Rexes
King Kong (2005)
The 2005 Peter Jackson remake King Kong isn’t remembered very fondly today, especially after Kong’s excellent Monsterverse portrayal. However, the film’s take on the classic T-Rex fight, carefully crafted with Peter Jackson’s signature flair for CGI battles, almost makes the film worth seeing in its own right. This time, the humble T-Rex is upgraded to a V-Rex – bigger, stronger and more cunning than its previous alphabetical cousin. If that wasn’t enough, Kong has to defend Naomi Watts’ Ann from three of them.
V-Rexes are quite terrifying opponents, with all the intelligence and pack tactics of a Velociraptor, but the brute strength and ferocity of a T-Rex. However, Peter Jackson’s King Kong is slowly able to dispatch them all, utilizing his more gorilla-like stature to subdue them. Jackson even recreates the iconic split jaw with stunning modern effects. This primal battle is definitely an upgrade from the previous films, but it still loses points for lack of originality.
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The original fight between Kong and Godzilla
King Kong vs Godzilla
Before Godzilla and Kong fought in the Monsterverse, the two giant movie monster titans faced off in a film produced by Toho, King Kong vs Godzilla. In both the third Godzilla film and the third King Kong film, the title fight takes place at the base of Mount Fuji, where Toho versions of both legendary creatures fight. In response to Godzilla’s latest rampage, Kong is released into Japan by humans, hoping for mutually assured destruction.
Kong may seem outmatched thanks to Godzilla’s atomic breath at first, but the resourceful ape is soon able to turn the tide by using his opposable thumbs to launch a variety of projectiles at the King of the Monsters. The iconic image of Kong shoving a tree down Godzilla’s throat also gives the battle some extra points. Unlike the modern rematch, Kong emerges victorious here, a kind of suspension of disbelief that nevertheless doesn’t ruin the legendary, if silly, final showdown.
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The classic biplane battle
King Kong (1933)
As great as the spectacle of modern CGI-laden kaiju battles may be, it’s hard to beat the captivating ingenuity of 1930s cinema. However powerful Kong proves to be on Skull Island, the relentless advance of human civilization ultimately proves to be his undoing, not to mention his bizarre obsession with Ann. The image of King Kong scaling the Empire State Building while pummeling noisy biplanes is a pop culture staple too powerful to ignore.
This battle has real dramatic weight, proving the film’s claim that humanity is the most dangerous monster any creature, no matter how large, could hope to encounter. The depressing ending makes the humans’ victory over King Kong, which should seem triumphant, a bitter and somber occasion, leaving more emotional impact than almost any other Kong fight. That said, there’s no denying that the actual action on display pales in comparison to more far-fetched fights later in Kong’s cinematic history.
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Hong Kong’s struggle
Godzilla vs. Kong
After decades of waiting, monster movie fans finally got to see the genre’s two biggest names face off again in a rematch with all the bells and whistles of a modern big-budget blockbuster. After some investigative brawling, Kong and Godzilla finally reach the dense streets of Hong Kong, where they give their all in a final fight amid the megacity’s neon-clad buildings. Despite being hopelessly outclassed earlier, Kong manages to get in a few good licks in the second round.
Kong is able to use the city’s terrain to his advantage, dancing circles around Godzilla with his climbing abilities. His ancient axe, made from a dorsal scale from one of Godzilla’s species, also helps him, absorbing some of Godzilla’s atomic breath. Ultimately, Godzilla is still overwhelmingly strong for Kong, but he puts up a good fight, one of the best battles in the Monsterverse, but not the best of Kong’s career.
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Godzilla and Kong vs. MechaGodzilla
Godzilla vs. Kong
As great as it is to see Godzilla and Kong fight, seeing them team up against a common enemy is even better. Shortly after Godzilla’s victory, Mechagodzilla comes online and begins wreaking havoc, the latent consciousness of King Ghidorah’s skull breaking free of its original programming. Kong awakens, leaping to aid his former enemy against a greater shared threat.
It’s a visual marvel to see Kong and Godzilla use their strengths to their advantage, with Kong acrobatically attacking Mechagodzilla with his ax as Godzilla overloads him with atomic energy. It’s clear that none of them could have defeated the mechanical monster alone, something that is really felt in the fight choreography. The fight is marred a bit by the ridiculous way the human characters are able to stun Mechagodzilla long enough for the kaiju duo to dismantle him, but it’s still a popcorn-worthy action extravaganza.
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Egypt’s struggle
Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire
As phenomenal as some of their previous battles may have been, Kong and Godzilla’s Monsterverse rivalry is at its best in the Egypt sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire. Here, Kong once again must enlist Godzilla’s help, but has only one way to get his attention: by emitting a defiant roar heard around the world that instantly draws the atomic lizard’s wrath. Before long, Godzilla rekindled their old rivalry, facing off against Kong across one of the great pyramids of Giza, despite his pleas for peace.
From Kong’s exasperated facial expressions to Godzilla’s suplex, there are so many great beats to enjoy in Kong and Godzilla’s latest rematch. Both fighters have enjoyed upgrades since their last duel, with Kong’s new mechanical stand actually having enough strength to take out Godzilla’s new, potent pink energy. Fun, whimsical and expertly rendered, King KongThe film’s strongest fight ends in victory for him, dragging his knocked-out comrade through the sand by his tail.