Movie Substrate · Film

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

★ 6.6 · 11,094 ratings on TMDB

All hail the king.

Kong: Skull Island poster★ 6.6

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

DirectorJordan Vogt-Roberts
CastBrie Larson, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Jing Tian, John Goodman, John Ortiz
GenresAction, Adventure, Fantasy
The emergence reading

In Kong: Skull Island, consciousness is carried by animals — a plane of “monster island”. The story fights on E8/E9/E10 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing colonialism, exploitation, nature, militarism.

↷ animalsUScolonialismexploitationnaturemilitarism
Also inConsciousness hiding in animalsFilms that move consciousness off the human
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Same rung, same subject

Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.

Tarzan (2013)E8 · colonialism, exploitationJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)E8/E9/E10 · exploitationAlvin and the Chipmunks (2007)E8/E9/E10 · exploitationChicken Run (2000)E8/E9/E10 · exploitationThe Lorax (2012)E8/E9/E10 · exploitationMadagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)E8/E9/E10 · exploitation

Same subject, different rung

The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.

The War of the Worlds (1953)E13/E14 · rare rung · colonialism, militarismGodzilla 2000: Millennium (1999)E6/E13 · rare rung · colonialism, militarismKing Kong Lives (1986)E6/E11 · rare rung · exploitation, militarismOrigin: Spirits of the Past (2006)E12/E13 · rare rung · colonialism, militarism

Also hides consciousness here

Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.

King Kong (2005)consciousness in animals · giant ape tragedyThe Jungle Book (1994)consciousness in animals · jungle frontierKing Kong (1976)consciousness in animals · giant‑ape spectacleTwo Brothers (2004)consciousness in animals · tiger captivityPokémon 4Ever (2001)consciousness in animals · mythic forestRatchet & Clank (2016)consciousness in animals · galactic frontier

Same subject, different mask

The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)consciousness in the dead · exploitation, militarismAvatar (2009)consciousness in aliens · colonialism, exploitationSupergirl (2026)consciousness in aliens · colonialism, exploitationTransformers: Age of Extinction (2014)consciousness in machines · exploitation, militarismThe Son of Bigfoot (2017)consciousness in monsters · exploitation, natureMothra vs. Godzilla (1964)consciousness in monsters · exploitation, militarism

Same people

Shared director or cast.

The Kings of Summer (2013)dir. Jordan Vogt-RobertsCaptain Marvel (2019)Brie LarsonSilver Linings Playbook (2012)John OrtizStraight Outta Compton (2015)Corey HawkinsFast & Furious (2009)John OrtizWar Horse (2011)Toby Kebbell