Gorilla and Giant Ape Movies I've Reviewed on IMDb
by classicsoncall | created - 21 Jan 2012 | updated - 4 weeks ago | PublicCall me crazy, but I've loved Big Ape movies ever since I saw the original King Kong as a kid. He started a trend that's fascinated movie goers since 1933. But not all apes can match King Kong in size or stature. Have fun with this list of big monkey movies. It's presented in IMDb ranking order.
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1. Planet of the Apes (1968)
G | 112 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet where highly intelligent non-human ape species are dominant and humans are enslaved.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans
Votes: 193,438 | Gross: $33.40M
"You know what they say, human see, human do."
2. King Kong (1933)
Passed | 100 min | Adventure, Horror
A film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher
Votes: 91,002 | Gross: $10.00M
"It was beauty killed the beast."
3. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
PG-13 | 105 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A substance designed to help the brain repair itself gives advanced intelligence to a chimpanzee who leads an ape uprising.
Director: Rupert Wyatt | Stars: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, Karin Konoval
Votes: 559,639 | Gross: $176.76M
"He's a cute little guy, isn't he?"
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The fragile peace between apes and humans is threatened as mistrust and betrayal threaten to plunge both tribes into a war for dominance over the Earth.
Director: Matt Reeves | Stars: Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Andy Serkis, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Votes: 469,580 | Gross: $208.55M
"Ape always seek strongest branch."
5. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.
Director: Matt Reeves | Stars: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval
Votes: 283,615 | Gross: $146.88M
"Now, I fight only to protect apes."
6. King Kong (2005)
PG-13 | 187 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
A greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann
Votes: 447,059 | Gross: $218.08M
"It was beauty killed the beast."
7. Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris, John Omirah Miluwi
Votes: 29,201 | Gross: $24.72M
"Never, ever, run from a gorilla!"
8. Mighty Joe Young (1949)
Approved | 94 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A young woman who has raised a giant gorilla from an infant brings him to Hollywood years later seeking her fortune.
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong, Mr. Joseph Young
Votes: 5,786
"Joe can't live in a cage, and neither can I."
9. Kong: Skull Island (2017)
PG-13 | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Vietnam war, a team of scientists explores an uncharted island in the Pacific, venturing into the domain of the mighty Kong and must fight to escape a primal Eden.
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts | Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly
Votes: 348,478 | Gross: $168.05M
"What imaginary monster are you hunting this time?"
10. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries.
Director: Adam Wingard | Stars: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle
Votes: 41,058
"Is that a mini Kong?"
11. Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against each other--the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong--with humanity caught in the balance.
Director: Adam Wingard | Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry
Votes: 241,716 | Gross: $100.92M
"This won't end until one of them submits!"
12. Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
G | 98 min | Action, Sci-Fi
The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society, but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.
Director: Don Taylor | Stars: Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman, Natalie Trundy
Votes: 39,259 | Gross: $12.30M
"We came from your future."
13. Rampage (2018)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When three different animals become infected with a dangerous pathogen, a primatologist and a geneticist team up to stop them from destroying Chicago.
Director: Brad Peyton | Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Votes: 185,013 | Gross: $101.03M
"Of course..., the wolf flies."
14. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
PG | 88 min | Action, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, Caesar, the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira, surfaces after almost twenty years of hiding out from the authorities, and prepares for a slave revolt against humanity.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Ricardo Montalban, Natalie Trundy
Votes: 35,976 | Gross: $9.81M
"If we lose this battle, that's the end of our world!"
15. Africa Screams (1949)
Passed | 79 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Two booksellers search for diamonds in Africa, along the way meeting a visually-impaired gunner, a hungry lion, and a tribe of cannibals.
Director: Charles Barton | Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Clyde Beatty, Frank Buck
Votes: 4,057
"I'm one of the finest big game hunters in the world!"
16. Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
G | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison
Votes: 51,467 | Gross: $19.00M
"Glory be to the bomb, and the holy fallout."
17. Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)
Approved | 83 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
When several women are found mutilated and murdered, the Paris police are baffled as to who the killer may be. All evidence points to Dupin, but soon it becomes apparent that it is someone (or something) stronger and deadlier than a human.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina, Steve Forrest
Votes: 1,128 | Gross: $1.45M
"This is the work of a maniac!"
18. Planet of the Apes (2001)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 2029, an Air Force astronaut crash-lands on a mysterious planet where evolved, talking apes dominate a race of primitive humans.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Michael Clarke Duncan
Votes: 229,255 | Gross: $180.01M
"Never send a monkey to do a man's job."
19. Mighty Joe Young (1998)
PG | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Family
A legendary fifteen-foot tall mountain gorilla named Joe is taken to an animal sanctuary in California by zoologist Gregg O'Hara (Bill Paxton) and Jill Young (Charlize Theron), with whom he grew up. Poacher Strasser (Rade Serbedzija) returns from the past to seek vengeance on Joe.
Director: Ron Underwood | Stars: Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, Rade Serbedzija, Peter Firth
Votes: 30,812 | Gross: $50.63M
"I say legends live forever!"
20. King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)
Not Rated | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A UN reporter broadcasts a report on the appearance of a prehistoric monster that emerges from hibernation while a pharmaceutical company seeks publicity with a monster of their own. (US Version)
Directors: Ishirô Honda, Tom Montgomery | Stars: Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, Yû Fujiki, Michael Keith
Votes: 11,235 | Gross: $2.73M
"I want my own monster. Send me a monster, fast!"
21. Son of Kong (1933)
Passed | 70 min | Adventure, Family, Horror
The showman who brought Kong to New York returns to Skull Island and finds Kong's son, a spunky 12-footer with a winning personality and his dad's awesome strength.
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Frank Reicher, John Marston
Votes: 5,299 | Gross: $1.34M
"I guess next time you leave big monkey alone, huh?"
22. Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944)
Passed | 63 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Gildersleeve, running for office, is aided by two ghosts and hindered by a mad scientist and an invisible woman.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Harold Peary, Marion Martin, Richard LeGrand, Amelita Ward
Votes: 445
"And remember, if you're going to get mixed up in any scandal, I want to be the cause of it."
23. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
G | 93 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Ten years after a worldwide series of ape revolutions and a brutal nuclear war among humans, Caesar must protect survivors of both species from an insidious human cult and a militant ape faction alike.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy, Severn Darden
Votes: 33,818 | Gross: $8.84M
"I went looking for my past, but I found our future."
24. Congo (1995)
PG-13 | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
When an expedition to the African Congo ends in disaster, a new team is assembled to find out what went wrong.
Director: Frank Marshall | Stars: Laura Linney, Tim Curry, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson
Votes: 48,687 | Gross: $81.02M
"The myth of the killer ape is true!"
25.
Night Gallery (1969–1973)
Episode:
Hatred Unto Death/How to Cure the Common Vampire
(1973)
TV-PG | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
On the Kenyan veldt, a wild gorilla named N'Gi disrupts the marital harmony between anthropologists Ruth and Grant Wilson./In this brief vignette, vampire hunters encounter the coffin of the undead.
Directors: Gerald Perry Finnerman, Jack Laird | Stars: Rod Serling, Steve Forrest, Dina Merrill, Fernando Lamas
Votes: 222
"Hey gorilla! You remember me?"
26. Mark of the Gorilla (1950)
Approved | 68 min | Adventure, Family
Crooks dressed to look like gorillas are looking for lost Nazi gold, and Jungle Jim must stop them.
Director: William Berke | Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Trudy Marshall, Suzanne Dalbert, Onslow Stevens
Votes: 387
"Skipper, this isn't gorilla country!"
27. The Gorilla (1939)
Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Horror
When a wealthy man is threatened by a killer known as The Gorilla, he hires the Ritz Brothers to investigate. A real escaped gorilla shows up at the mansion just as the investigators arrive.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: The Ritz Brothers, Jimmy Ritz, Harry Ritz, Al Ritz
Votes: 1,673
"Now you just sit tight Mr. Stevens, the gorilla will get you over our dead bodies."
28. The Ape (1940)
Approved | 62 min | Horror
Dr. Bernard Adrian is a kindly mad scientist who seeks to cure a young woman's polio. He needs spinal fluid from a human to complete the formula for his experimental serum.
Director: William Nigh | Stars: Boris Karloff, Maris Wrixon, Gene O'Donnell, Dorothy Vaughan
Votes: 2,062
"Somebody better get after that ape or he'll tear this town wide open."
29. Perils of the Jungle (1953)
Approved | 63 min | Adventure, Drama
Hunter tracks down lions on the Congo jungle.
Director: George Blair | Stars: Clyde Beatty, Stanley Farrar, Phyllis Coates, John Doucette
Votes: 60
"Those drums speak the dance of war."
30. Bride of the Gorilla (1951)
Passed | 70 min | Adventure, Horror
The owner of a plantation in the jungle marries a beautiful woman. Shortly afterward, he is plagued by a strange voodoo curse which transforms him into a gorilla.
Director: Curt Siodmak | Stars: Barbara Payton, Lon Chaney Jr., Raymond Burr, Tom Conway
Votes: 1,436
"The jungle's my house, it belongs to me."
31. The Ape Man (1943)
Passed | 64 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A crazed scientist accidentally turns himself into a half ape, half human creature, and scrambles to find a cure.
Director: William Beaudine | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Louise Currie, Wallace Ford, Henry Hall
Votes: 1,505
"Prepare yourself for a great shock Agatha."
32. Son of Ingagi (1940)
Passed | 70 min | Horror
A newlywed couple is visited by a strange old woman who harbors a secret about the young girl's father.
Director: Richard C. Kahn | Stars: Zack Williams, Laura Bowman, Alfred Grant, Daisy Bufford
Votes: 331
"Now listen sister, don't try any of your funny business, or someone's liable to get hurt."
33. Nabonga (1944)
Passed | 75 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
When a treasure hunter seeks a downed airplane in the jungles of Africa, he encounters one of the passenger's young daughter, now fully grown, and with a gorilla protector.
Director: Sam Newfield | Stars: Buster Crabbe, Fifi D'Orsay, Barton MacLane, Julie London
Votes: 683
"Land of the white witch taboo, we no go."
34. The Monster Walks (1932)
Passed | 57 min | Horror, Mystery
People in an old dark house on a stormy night are menaced by a killer ape.
Director: Frank R. Strayer | Stars: Mischa Auer, Martha Mattox, Rex Lease, Vera Reynolds
Votes: 1,085
"That's because of the corpse in the house, he remembers his dead master."
35. King Kong Lives (1986)
PG-13 | 105 min | Action, Adventure
Kong falls from the twin towers and he appears to be alive. However, his heart is failing, so it's replaced with an artificial one. All is well until he senses that there's a female Kong somewhere out there and escapes wreaking havoc.
Directors: John Guillermin, Charles McCracken | Stars: Brian Kerwin, Linda Hamilton, Peter Elliott, George Antoni
Votes: 6,824 | Gross: $4.71M
"Hello Kong..., welcome back."
36. Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952)
Not Rated | 74 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Two goofy entertainers meet a mad scientist on a jungle island.
Director: William Beaudine | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Duke Mitchell, Sammy Petrillo, Charlita
Votes: 2,619
"And how are you today my little anthropoid?"
37. The Bride and the Beast (1958)
Not Rated | 78 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery
When Laura and Dan get married, she's more interested in Dan's gorilla. It's revealed through hypnosis that she was Queen of the Gorillas in a previous incarnation. By: Mark Rowan
Director: Adrian Weiss | Stars: Charlotte Austin, Lance Fuller, Johnny Roth, William Justine
Votes: 679
"I'm afraid some of the jungle romance is leaving me."
38. White Pongo (1945)
Approved | 71 min | Adventure
Hunters and scientists venture into the jungle to track down a savage albino gorilla, which they believe could be the missing link between man and ape.
Director: Sam Newfield | Stars: Richard Fraser, Maris Wrixon, Lionel Royce, Al Eben
Votes: 696
"All right Mumbo Jumbo, bring the Fraulein with us."
39. Robot Monster (1953)
Approved | 66 min | Comedy, Family, Horror
The monstrous Ro-Man attempts to annihilate the last family alive on Earth, but finds himself falling for their beautiful daughter.
Director: Phil Tucker | Stars: George Nader, Gregory Moffett, Claudia Barrett, Selena Royle
Votes: 5,455 | Gross: $1.00M
"You look like a pooped-out pinwheel!"
40. The White Gorilla (1945)
Not Rated | 62 min | Adventure
A white gorilla is snubbed by black gorillas because he is the wrong color. Cut off from his tribe he becomes lonely and angry. After troubling hunters and natives, the white gorilla fights... See full summary »
Director: Harry L. Fraser | Stars: Ray Corrigan, Lorraine Miller, George J. Lewis, Francis Ford
Votes: 552
"As the outcast and the black gorilla met, the jungle vibrated with their wild battle cry."
41. Night Fright (1967)
Unrated | 75 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A government space experiment into the effects of cosmic rays on animal life goes horribly wrong, creating a mutant monster that terrorizes a rural community.
Director: James A. Sullivan | Stars: John Agar, Carol Gilley, Ralph Baker Jr., Dorothy Davis
Votes: 1,035
"You heard what the man said baby, it came from the sky!"
42. Kong Island (1968)
Unrated | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
Eve is a jungle girl brought up by apes. She is captured with a number of apes by a mad scientist, conducting mind control experiments on them. Eventually she is liberated by a young explorer.
Director: Roberto Mauri | Stars: Brad Harris, Esmeralda Barros, Marc Lawrence, Adriana Alben
Votes: 954
"I've been hunting the sacred monkey for a year and I don't intend to lose her now."
43. King of the Lost World (2004)
R | 80 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's action-adventure classic, four plane crash survivors encounter danger in a world that time forgot.
Directors: Stuart Gillard, Leigh Scott | Stars: Bruce Boxleitner, Jeff Denton, Rhett Giles, Sarah Lieving
Votes: 1,966
"This is hell, man. You're in hell!"
44. Konga TNT (2020)
72 min | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
After becoming injected with a formula derived from an alien spaceship, a laboratory gorilla escapes from his containment and befriends two young boys. The alien formula causes the gorilla ... See full summary »
Director: Brett Kelly | Stars: Sébastien Godin, Pavel Lubanski, Chance Kelly, Steve Kasan
Votes: 216
"Enough is enough! I need to find that monkey!"
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