Movies Like King Kong Lives (1986)

King Kong Lives is a 1986 action, adventure, fantasy film from John Guillermin with a MovieMagicScore of 5.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with King Kong and Kong: Skull Island.

Action Adventure Fantasy

King Kong

1976

An oil company expedition disturbs the peace of a giant ape and brings him back to New York to exploit him.

6.3

MagicScore

Kong: Skull Island

2017

Explore the mysterious and dangerous home of the king of the apes as a team of explorers ventures deep inside the treacherous, primordial island.

6.5

MagicScore

King Kong vs. Godzilla

1962

The advertising director of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, frustrated with the low ratings of their sponsored TV program, seeks a more sensationalist approach. He orders his staff to Faro Island to capture King Kong for exploitation. As Godzilla re-emerges, a media frenzy generates with Pacific looking to capitalize off of the ultimate battle.

6.9

MagicScore

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

2024

Following their explosive showdown, Godzilla and Kong must reunite against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own.

7.1

MagicScore

The Son of Kong

1933

Beleaguered adventurer Carl Denham returns to the island where he found King Kong.

5.4

MagicScore

The Man They Could Not Hang

1939

Dr. Henryk Savaard is a scientist working on experiments to restore life to the dead. When he is unjustly hanged for murder, he is brought back to life by his trusted assistant. Re-animated he turns decidedly nasty and sets about murdering the jury that convicted him.

6.6

MagicScore

King Kong vs. Godzilla

1963

When an underhanded pharmaceutical company goes to a remote tropical island to steal King Kong for advertising purposes, they get more than they bargained for when the gigantic ape attacks an unsuspecting village and an enormous octopus.

6.6

MagicScore

Mighty Joe Young

1949

A young woman, Jill Young, grew up on her father's ranch in Africa, raising a large gorilla named Joe from an infant. Years later, she brings him to Hollywood to become a star.

6.4

MagicScore

Mighty Joe Young

1998

As a child living in Africa, Jill Young saw her mother killed while protecting wild gorillas from poachers led by Andrei Strasser. Now an adult, Jill cares for an orphaned gorilla named Joe -- who, due to a genetic anomaly, is 15 feet tall. When Gregg O'Hara arrives from California and sees the animal, he convinces Jill that Joe would be safest at his wildlife refuge. But Strasser follows them to the U.S., intent on capturing Joe for himself.

6.3

MagicScore

#10

The Mighty Peking Man

1977

Word of a monster ape ten stories tall living in the Himalayas reaches fortune hunters in Hong Kong. They travel to India to capture it, but wild animals and quicksand dissuade all but Johnny, an adventurer with a broken heart. He finds the monster and discovers it's been raising a scantily-clad woman, Samantha, since she survived a plane crash years before that killed her parents. In the idyllic jungle, Johnny and Samantha fall in love. Then Johnny asks her to convince "Utam" to go to Hong Kong. Lu Tien, an unscrupulous promoter, takes over: Utam is in chains for freak show exhibitions. When Lu Tien assaults Samantha, Utam's protective instincts take over: havoc in Hong Kong.

5.1

MagicScore

#11

Godzilla vs. Kong

2021

In a time when monsters walk the Earth, humanity’s fight for its future sets Godzilla and Kong on a collision course that will see the two most powerful forces of nature on the planet collide in a spectacular battle for the ages.

7.6

MagicScore

#12

King Kong

1933

Adventurous filmmaker Carl Denham sets out to produce a motion picture unlike anything the world has seen before. Alongside his leading lady Ann Darrow and his first mate Jack Driscoll, they arrive on an island and discover a legendary creature said to be neither beast nor man. Denham captures the monster to be displayed on Broadway as King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world.

7.6

MagicScore

#13

King Kong

2005

In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.

6.9

MagicScore

#14

The Food of the Gods

1976

Morgan and his friends are on a hunting trip on a remote Canadian island when they are attacked by a swarm of giant wasps. Looking for help, Morgan stumbles across a barn inhabited by an enormous killer chicken. After doing some exploring, they discover the entire island is crawling with animals that have somehow grown to giant size. The most dangerous of all of these, however, are the rats, who are mobilizing to do battle with the human intruders.

4.9

MagicScore

#15

Deep Blue Sea 3

2020

Dr. Emma Collins and her team are spending their third summer on the island of Little Happy studying the effect of climate change on the great white sharks who come to the nearby nursery every year to give birth. Along with the last two inhabitants of this former fishing village, their peaceful life is disrupted when a "scientific" team led by her ex-boyfriend and marine biologist Richard show up looking for three bull sharks who we soon learn aren't just any bull sharks.

5.6

MagicScore

#16

47 Meters Down: Uncaged

2019

Four teenage girls go on a diving adventure to explore a submerged Mayan city. Once inside, their rush of excitement turns into a jolt of terror as they discover the sunken ruins are a hunting ground for deadly great white sharks. With their air supply steadily dwindling, the friends must navigate the underwater labyrinth of claustrophobic caves and eerie tunnels in search of a way out of their watery hell.

5.7

MagicScore

#17

Lake Placid: The Final Chapter

2013

Black Lake is now a crocodile sanctuary, surrounded by an electric fence. When the fence is left open, a high-school bus unknowingly enters the park. It's up to Reba and the Sheriff to save the kids from becoming crocodile food.

5.1

MagicScore

#18

Ape vs Mecha Ape

2023

Recognizing the destructive power of its captive giant Ape, the military makes its own battle-ready A.I., Mecha Ape. But its first practical test goes horribly wrong, leaving the military no choice but to release the imprisoned giant ape to stop the colossal robot before it destroys downtown Chicago.

5.8

MagicScore

#19

Jaws 3-D

1983

A giant thirty-five-foot shark becomes trapped in a SeaWorld theme park and it's up to the sons of police chief Brody to rescue everyone.

4.5

MagicScore

#20

Godzilla

1998

French nuclear tests irradiate an iguana into a giant monster that viciously attacks freighter ships in the Pacific Ocean. A team of experts, including Niko Tatopoulos, conclude that the oversized reptile is the culprit. Before long, the giant lizard is loose in Manhattan as the US military races to destroy the monster before it reproduces and it's spawn takes over the world.

5.6

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like King Kong Lives?

The top films similar to King Kong Lives by MovieMagicScore are King Kong (6.3), Kong: Skull Island (6.5), King Kong vs. Godzilla (6.9). Each shares action/adventure/fantasy themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is King Kong Lives worth watching?

King Kong Lives holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.1/10 from 239 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is King Kong Lives?

King Kong Lives (1986) is a action, adventure, fantasy film directed by John Guillermin, starring Linda Hamilton, Brian Kerwin, Peter Elliott.

Where can I find more recommendations like King Kong Lives?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more action recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like King Kong Movies like Kong: Skull Island Movies like King Kong vs. Godzilla Movies like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Movies like The Son of Kong Movies like The Man They Could Not Hang

About movies like King Kong Lives

This ranked list pairs King Kong Lives (1986), a action and adventure and fantasy film from John Guillermin, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Linda Hamilton take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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