The most iconic giant monster to come out of American cinema, King Kong has proven his title as kaiju royalty with some noteworthy tussles and scrapes against dangerous foes. Ever since his first appearance way back in 1933, King Kong has captivated audiences with his massive size, ferocity, and gentle heart. His name has been invoked by several sequels and remakes of his original eponymous film over the years, with the Monsterverse movies being the most recent franchise to bring Kong back to theaters.
In all of his appearances, King Kong has taken part in a climactic battle against some foe or another, from giant prehistoric creatures to human-made weaponry. While Kong doesn't have as much combat experience as his cinematic rival, with Godzilla having far more iconic enemies, he's still no slouch when it comes to colossal-scale combat. The best King Kong fight scenes utilize his strength, cunning, and simian agility, all of which allow Kong to punch far above his weight class.
9 Kong Vs. The T-Rex
King Kong (1933)
Even as far back as 1933's King Kong, filmmakers were aware that the concept of a giant ape would be all the better with a unique opponent to pit him against. Enter the T-Rex of the original movie, a stop-motion creature that rampaged across theater screens 60 years before Jurassic Park would popularize the dinosaur as a movie 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 off some unheard of mastery for one of the earliest giant monster fights ever. Of course, the endearing duel is still fairly aged, being undoubtedly stitled at times with a less-than-buttery-smooth frame rate. But the sequence at least deserves credit for how ground-breaking it was at the time, not to mention the first use of a gory finishing move by Kong as he messily rips the creature's head in half by its jaws.
8 Kong Vs. Mechani-Kong
King Kong Escapes
The fourth entry in the King Kong franchise ever and the second film to be produced by the genius kaiju director Ishirō Honda of Godzilla fame, King Kong Escapes is one of the few films to give Kong his own unique enemy. Mechani-Kong is the creation of the film's villain, Dr. Who (Legally distinct from the foppish time traveler of British TV fame), who apparently builds Mechani-Kong as a way to mine valuable radioactive ore in the North Pole. When his robotic version fails to be up to the task, Dr. Who sends Mechani-Kong after the organic original.
Mechani-Kong is quite the clever opponent, baiting Kong into a fight by kidnapping his latest romantic interest and harassing him with dizzying high-beam lights. The fight pits both Kongs on fairly equal footing as they scale the iconic Tokyo Tower, thrashing and bashing each other all the way up. While the final result is admittedly pretty goofy, the creativity at least elevates this fight above some of Kong's earliest attempts at one-on-one monster combat.
7 Kong Vs. The Skullcrawler
Kong: Skull Island
Kong: Skull Island provided audiences with the Monsterverse's take on King Kong's legendary natural habitat, populating it with a new unique horde of hostile fauna. The most dangerous of Skull Island's massive creatures are the Skullcrawlers, nasty serpentine burrowers with two clawed legs and haunting empty eye sockets. Kong does battle with a particularly large Skullcrawler towards the end of the film, outsmarting 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 as a makeshift flail. The Skullcrawler does its best to wrap itself around Kong, choking him and mauling him at the same time, but the gargantuan ape eventually gets the better of it, reaching down its throat and pulling out its G.I. tract from the inside out. Even if the Skullcrawler isn't the most memorable opponent Kong has fought, their battle in Kong: Skull Island is fairly spectacular.
6 Kong Vs. The V-Rexes
King Kong (2005)
The 2005 Peter Jackson remake of King Kong isn't remembered particularly fondly today, especially in the wake of Kong's excellent Monsterverse representation. However, the film's take on the classic T-Rex fight, lovingly crafted with Peter Jackson's signature flair for CGI battles, almost makes the movie worth seeing in its own right. This time around, the humble T-Rex is upgraded into a V-Rex - Bigger, stronger, and more cunning than its alphabetically earlier cousin. If that weren't bad enough, Kong has to defend Naomi Watts' Ann from three of them.
The V-Rexes are quite terrifying opponents, with all of 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 all of them, utilizing his more gorilla-like stature to pummel them into submission. Jackson even recreates the iconic jaw-split with stunning modern effects. This primal battle is definitely an upgrade over the past films, but still loses points for unoriginality.
5 Kong And Godzilla's Original Fight
King Kong vs. Godzilla
Before Godzilla and Kong battled in the Monsterverse, the two giant movie monster titans went head-to-head in a Toho-produced film, King Kong vs. Godzilla. Both the third Godzilla movie and the third King Kong movie, the title fight takes place at the base of Mount Fuji, where the Toho versions of both legendary creatures duke it out. In response to Godzilla's latest rampage, Kong is airdropped into Japan by the 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 fling a variety of projectiles at the King of the Monsters. The iconic image of Kong stuffing a tree down Godzilla's throat also earns the battle some bonus points. Unlike their modern rematch, Kong emerges victorious here, something of a suspension of disbelief that nevertheless doesn't ruin the legendary, if silly final showdown.
4 The Classic Biplane Battle
King Kong (1933)
As great as the spectacle of modern CGI-laden kaiju battles are, it's hard to beat the endearing ingenuity of 30s filmmaking. As powerful as Kong proves himself to be on Skull Island, the relentless advance of human civilization ultimately proves to be his downfall, not to mention his bizarre obsession with Ann. The imagery of King Kong scaling the Empire State Building while swatting at whining biplanes is too powerful a pop culture staple to ignore.
This battle has some real dramatic weight behind it, proving the film's assertion that humanity is the most dangerous monster any creature, no matter how massive, could hope to encounter. The downer ending makes the humans' win over King Kong, which should feel triumphant, a bitter and morose occasion, leaving more of an emotional impact than almost any other Kong fight. That being said, there's no denying that the actual action on display pales in comparison to more far-fetched fights later down the line in Kong's cinematic history.
3 The Hong Kong Fight
Godzilla vs. Kong
After decades of waiting, monster movie fans finally got to see the two biggest names in the genre go head-to-head again in a rematch with all the bells and whistles of a modern big-budget blockbuster. After a few probing scuffles, Kong and Godzilla finally make their way to the dense streets of Hong Kong, where they go all-out in a final fight amid the neon-clad buildings of the megacity. Despite being hopelessly outmatched earlier, Kong manages to get a few good licks in round two.
Kong is able to use the terrain of the city to his advantage, dancing circles around Godzilla with his climbing skills. His ancestral ax, made out of a dorsal scale from one of Godzilla's species, also helps him out, absorbing some of Godzilla's atomic breath. Ultimately, Godzilla is still too 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.
2 Godzilla And Kong Vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs. Kong
As great as seeing Godzilla and Kong fight is, seeing them team up against a common enemy is even better. Shortly after Godzilla's victory, Mechagodzilla comes online and starts wreaking havoc, the latent consciousness of King Ghidorah's skull breaking free of the original programming. Kong comes to, jumping in to lend a hand to his former enemy against a greater shared threat.
It's a visual marvel seeing Kong and Godzilla both use their strengths to their advantage, with Kong acrobatically swinging on Mechagodzilla with his ax while Godzilla overloads it with atomic energy. It's clear that neither of them could've defeated the mechanical monster on their own, something that's truly felt through the fight choreography. The fight is a tad besmirched 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.
1 The Egypt Fight
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
As phenomenal as some of their earlier battles may have been, Kong and Godzilla's Monsterverse feud is at its best in the Egypt sequence of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Here, Kong once again needs to recruit Godzilla's help, but only has one way to get his attention - Emitting a challenging roar heard across the globe that instantly draws the atomic lizard's wrath. Before long, Godzilla has re-ignited their old feud, tackling Kong through 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 most recent rematch. Both of the fighters have enjoyed upgrades since their last duel, with Kong's new mechanical brace actually packing enough of a punch to put down Godzilla's potent new pink energy. Entertaining, extravagant, and expertly rendered, King Kong's strongest movie fight ends in a victory for him, dragging his knocked-out comrade through the sand by his tail.
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