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King of New York
King of New York
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King of New York

King of New York

1990
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
1h 43m
A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.

Directed by:

Abel Ferrara

Screenwriter:

Nicholas St. John

Starring:

Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi, Victor Argo, Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, Theresa Randle, Paul Calderon, David Caruso, Janet Julian, Joey Chin, Leonard L. Thomas

Genres:

Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Crime, Action

Countries:

Italy, UK, USA

Language:

English
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King of New York

1990
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
1h 43m
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Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer
Avg Percentile 58.44% from 1091 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

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Rated 10 Jan 2010
83
92nd
Christopher Walken shoots David Caruso in the face. That has to be one of the pinnacles of film as an art form.
Rated 10 Jan 2010
suture_selfSuture Self
Rated 14 Jan 2014
7
67th
Three idiot cops take on a guy who murders a slew of people with his inner city gang 'cause he really wants poor children in a slum to have access to a hospital. Allow me to quote Richard Nixon: "What?" King of New York has the plot of a bad B-movie with some A-level craftsmanship and an amusing performance from Christopher Walken, so take from that what you will, I guess. At the very least, it's fun.
Rated 14 Jan 2014
chemical404chemical404
Rated 24 Jun 2009
73
88th
Movie made out of pure style. And there's perfect charismatic villain Walken to back it up! It might be commercial film, but those shots with nocturnal lighting were simply masterful. And I never thought hip-hop music might be stylish, well in this movie it is! Twisted, dark, unexpected awesomeness. Good script is the only thing missing.
Rated 24 Jun 2009
miss_jesusmiss jesus
Rated 24 Apr 2008
74
75th
Ferrara works his magic on gangster film, creating one that's in turns quietly peaceful and unstoppably loud and violent. This has some of the best cinematography to be seen in crime film. Walken doesn't have to do much to convince us that he's a kingpin, and he doesn't. The dialogue you might expect is all missing as well. The expletive-filled conflicts and bloody gun battles that many came to see are in full effect, but Ferrara eschews many other cliches and refuses to moralize.
Rated 24 Apr 2008
obdurateObdurate
Rated 03 Feb 2023
85
81st
It's not like you come to this because it's an intense character portrait of... well, anybody. Walken tears it up as White and Fishburne does well as an obnoxious psychopath but they won't go down as the deepest characters by any means. But that's fine because King of New York is also savage, insanely violent and, ultimately, fun. Ferrara was also the right director for this type of material because he does add some visual flair. There is some silly 90s shit in here sometimes but oh well.
Rated 03 Feb 2023
darrenDarren
Rated 05 Jun 2021
85
85th
A takedown of American decadence thru the vampiristic lense. A fuck you to a destroyed New York. An attempt to come to terms with redistribution of money that has been obtained thru the destruction of the proletariat(drugs, prostitution, labour and rent). "Blood" money. All the cops die and no one becomes a hero. Beautiful
Rated 05 Jun 2021
billyshearsBillyShears
Rated 07 Jun 2020
80
77th
Who was David Caruso for? Dirty clean Abel flick.
Rated 07 Jun 2020
aflickeringAFlickering
Rated 07 Jul 2017
7
94th
a hellaciously violent, uber-quotable action classic of masterful formal control and detail, shot through with a disquieting, fatalistic beauty. double bill it with COSMOPOLIS, another suffocating modern vampire movie in which an "undead" "businessman" attempts to reawaken himself by "nobly" putting a wrench in the inscrutable system of an alienating nu-new york corporatized and commodified to abstraction.
Rated 07 Jul 2017
alex_watkinsAlex Watkins
Rated 09 Sep 2010
4
70th
It's unstructured and steeped in a dated early-90s aesthetic, but that helps the film more than it hurts it, giving it a raw power and a vivid sense of time and place. Ridiculous but never enough to detract from the power of the narrative, and in fact in service of it. Frank White is a hell of a character, and if Walken's performance isn't great, it's certainly electric - he's magnetic every second he's on the screen. Ferrara's direction is very stylish, with some standout cinematography.
Rated 09 Sep 2010
moraesfelipemoraesfelipe
Rated 21 Mar 2010
85
92nd
Abel Ferrara's stylish vision of crime is still fresh and entertaining. The story of Frank White, amazingly incorporated by Chris Walken, is butchery but somehow catchy. He's a gangster whose "feelings are dead", but also an ordinary man in a melancholic pursuit of redemption.
Rated 21 Mar 2010
inhmninhmn
Rated 13 Jan 2009
99
92nd
best Ferrara
Rated 13 Jan 2009
kmcneilKMcNeil
Rated 26 Jul 2008
8
84th
Deliciously dark. And Walken is amazing. Nothing short of amazing. Oh yeah. And I love the ending.
Rated 26 Jul 2008
fra_paolofra paolo
Rated 03 Apr 2022
93
94th
Abel Ferrara's angry condemnation of the corrupt soul of America is more cynical than THE GODFATHER and outclasses GOODFELLAS.
Rated 03 Apr 2022
peyrinpeyrin
Rated 27 Jul 2021
80
81st
Abel Ferrara's New York is at once grimy, sexy, and elegant. 100 minutes and many dead bodies later, the subways still run, Coca-Cola is still being sold, and nothing was solved. Life goes on.
Rated 27 Jul 2021
myfavchordsmyfavchords
Rated 29 Sep 2020
72
34th
This film has some boring scenes and some exciting ones. The cast does a good job in this story. The screen play has a lot of typical moments you find in crime films. Overall I would recommend this film.
Rated 29 Sep 2020
matthagenmatthagen
Rated 23 Jun 2020
37
14th
Despicable characters, with bizarre motivations, making awful decisions every step of the way. Much like At Close Range, a good, magnetic Walken performance alone does not make a good movie.
Rated 23 Jun 2020
ribcageribcage
Rated 06 Jan 2016
68
52nd
Walken sells his character even though the story actually doesn't explain how he can have any power or money when no one on either side of the law wants anything to do with him. In fact the film takes a style over substance approach to all its characters, fortunately it has a cast that allows this to work. The action scenes are energetic and a sense of continual tension makes you anticipate an eruption of violence any time.
Rated 06 Jan 2016
zipsterZipster
Rated 11 Aug 2014
65
8th
King of New York is another lurid exploitation film attempting to be high art by Abel Ferrara. It works at crossed purposes with itself. First it tries to establish a murky slum atmosphere and clear-cut social issues. Yet at the same time, the true aim is simply to go way over the top in an endeavor to have every character be swaggeringly cool and find every excuse to blow someone away, show some tits and have a car chase.
Rated 11 Aug 2014
anomalyAnomaly
Rated 28 Jun 2014
77
66th
Filmed beautifully, a dark story told with a strong tone smoothly glides along. At least smoothly enough to overlook some of the weirder decisions. Walken and Fishburne certainly help us with that.
Rated 28 Jun 2014
glumpy99glumpy_99
Rated 14 Aug 2012
51
11th
Stylish but ultimately empty crime drama is awfully bleak and brutal, completely devoid of a leavening sense of humour, and becomes steadily more tedious and incoherent as it progresses. Main compensation is a terrific, twitchy performance by Walken as the gang leader, and some beautiful, silky cinematography, which harks back to the sepia tones of THE GODFATHER at times.
Rated 14 Aug 2012
rfdutrarfdutra
Rated 01 Jun 2011
7
64th
This is a nice gangster film, but, I don't know exactly why, I was expecting so much more. I always get a little disappointed when I watch Ferrara's movies, I feel that it could be much better than it really was.
Rated 01 Jun 2011
okkervilOkkervil
Rated 16 Feb 2011
68
63rd
Feels very much a film from its era, rather than a film of its era. Not that the strong 90's aesthetic is necessarily a bad thing, but at any point I expected MC Hammer to burst in from the sidelines. The excellent Walken pretty much carries this all on his own, with a few okay support performances. The cops in particular felt underdeveloped as characters, & I simply can't take a man as ginger as Caruso seriously. Also Wesley Snipes plays a character called Thomas Flanigan in this movie... lol.
Rated 16 Feb 2011
joojooJooJoo
Rated 24 Nov 2010
5
81st
Hoo boy do I have conflictions with this one. The last half teeters the ridiculous factor high, but goodness it is entertaining. And stylish. And Chris Walken dances. And there's awesome cameos all over the place. And, etc.
Rated 24 Nov 2010
pickpocketPickpocket
Rated 20 Nov 2010
9
93rd
Severely underrated. When Walken and Fishburne are on screen it is pure magic, great performances. The film is delightfully bleak and gritty with a few missteps but the story fills you with such a sense of dread that I barely even noticed. The dialogue didn't bug me at all and the shootout with the cops was well done. Worth seeing
Rated 20 Nov 2010
kahKAH
Rated 18 Jun 2009
3
74th
Gritty, dark and amoral. Good performance by Walken. Not as gut-wrenching as Bad Lieutenant, but enjoyable on a different level. Cynical shit.
Rated 18 Jun 2009
mjvmoviemanMJVmovieMan
Rated 28 Apr 2009
73
60th
Though I wished Walken's character had been given more depth, especially his criminal past - I did find "King of New York" to be supremely dark, violent and entertaining within its genre. Christopher Walken has a solid performance as well as his supporting cast. There are a few solid shootouts and a couple memorable scenes. It's not the greatest we've seen rise up from this particular brand of storyline, but it's a worthy example.
Rated 28 Apr 2009
derbarneyDer_Barney
Rated 21 Apr 2008
70
15th
Good performance by Walken, but it is mostly wasted because we can never quite get into his head until his speech at the end of the movie. Also, the whole shooting stuff is just SO unrealistic: they're firing into the goddamn ceiling, for Pete's sake, and everybody seems to be carrying hundreds of rounds on them! You know what that stuff weighs and how bulky it is? Anyway, most of the characters remain flat and the whole movie doesn't live up to its premise. Watch the Godfather trilogy instead.
Rated 21 Apr 2008
zeddichuszeddichus
Rated 25 Feb 2008
95
92nd
great movie and a favourite of mine. walken is never better
Rated 25 Feb 2008
tropeanTropean
Rated 28 Aug 2007
89
95th
A great dark, sexy, violent film for which Walken deserved an Oscar. And what a supporting cast! Young Fishburne, Caruso before he became a caricature of himself, Snipes (already showing his limitations), and Buscemi, who in a 5 line part demonstrates that there are no small roles, only small actors.
Rated 28 Aug 2007
djrossdjross
Rated 14 Aug 2007
60
63rd
A couple of memorable moments and Walken at his psychopathic best.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
yesistastyyesistasty
Rated 02 Jul 2024
63
11th
I was expecting another gritty, grounded crime film like "Bad Lieutenant." This is completely different, a mindless action movie dressed up in exploitation tropes. The violence is entertaining, but nothing is believable or really that thought-provoking. The imagery is mostly pedestrian, with a couple of exceptions. The performances are decent, considering the poor quality of the script.
Rated 02 Jul 2024
montycircusMontyCircus
Rated 21 Apr 2024
20
12th
Cartoonish nonsense filled with vulgar shootouts and cocaine sniffing. I have never heard of the director or the screenwriter (after this they were never heard from again), and have no idea how all these big stars got duped into being in this junk. Skip it and watch "Scarface" again.
Rated 21 Apr 2024
brrrpbrrrp
Rated 19 Feb 2024
85
94th
Ferrara's vision of New York is about on par with contemporary renditions of Gotham, and Walken's Frank White seems somewhere in between a Bruce Wayne and McGill as Oberlus in Iguana: the sovereign vigilante with an innate sense of justice. He seems to be from another world at times, and there's an almost mystical air to all the coke and gunfights and wickedly gleeful killing sprees. The soundtrack is equally inspired.
Rated 19 Feb 2024
shockularSHOCKULAR
Rated 23 Jul 2023
75
57th
Really interesting picture that feels like a 1990 movie had a baby with a gritty 70s crime drama. The plot is nothing particularly special, but it has a deep cast and a good performance from Walken. There are really no good guys here. The aesthetic at times reminded me of things like a less over the top Escape from New York. Interesting film. A couple of plot points, like the Caruso plot, don't really make sense. The bit right after the opening credits is masterful mood setting.
Rated 23 Jul 2023
bencgauldbencgauld
Rated 20 Jul 2023
50
13th
Tedious, nonsensical, the dialogue is poor and delivered at a languid pace. Walken is an alien, occasionally in a way that is interesting or entertaining. There's some verve to it and the final act has some moments but overall a slog
Rated 20 Jul 2023
heynicefilmHeyNiceFilm
Rated 19 Jun 2023
51
13th
Underwhelming. Notorious BIG calling himself the black "Frank White" got me interested in watching this. Christopher Walker is obviously a bad ass but the slow story and equally boring plot just turned me off. Proof that you can mess up a crime noir set in NYC.
Rated 19 Jun 2023
ericamblerericambler
Rated 13 Jun 2023
70
46th
"Listen, I put my pants on just like the rest of you, one leg at a time. Except once my pants are on, I'm the King of New York."
Rated 13 Jun 2023
nathanbatesNathanBates
Rated 06 May 2023
60
35th
Gritty gangster film that really blurs the line between good and bad. I liked the juxtaposition between the run-down and the elegant; New York is almost its own character here as well. Some odd editing choices, but certainly worth watching once.
Rated 06 May 2023
noisebloomnoisebloom
Rated 18 Apr 2023
84
58th
A dark, thrilling, crime mob movie filled with riveting performances and loads of tension.
Rated 18 Apr 2023
philamentalphilamental
Rated 23 Jan 2023
76
72nd
Enjoyable gritty New York Gangster Crime Drama. Walken is excellent as is the supporting cast. I much prefer this to Scarface as an 'of its time' american gangster story.
Rated 23 Jan 2023
moncliviemonclivie
Rated 04 Nov 2022
85
89th
David Caruso, fuckin' red hair district, single-handedly almost ruined this amazing movie, but, well, there ain't many problems in the cinema that cannot be solved by a shotgun.
Rated 04 Nov 2022
bownBown
Rated 02 Nov 2022
78
46th
The filmmaking and performances do a fairly decent job of elevating a poor script, but it still ends up as nothing to write home about.
Rated 02 Nov 2022
scribScrib
Rated 08 Aug 2022
59
22nd
Competent, if dripping with the '90s, but commentary is absent until act 3; subtext better drip-fed is instead laid out in a scene of brief, tense exposition. Not badly executed, but bad to be the only scene that hammers home your themes. A lot of screentime is wasted on showing a lifestyle; five minutes of bare breasts prancing about in neon lighting to hip-hop does little to further the narrative or develop our main anti-hero. Too much 'crime' and not enough questionably funded philanthropy.
Rated 08 Aug 2022
dawdlingpoetDawdlingPoet
Rated 01 Aug 2022
80
79th
This is a pretty action packed film with a decent cast - I enjoyed seeing Christopher Walken (I kept thinking of Stephen Merchants recent British drama 'The Outlaws' while watching Walken on screen - this ain't Bristol MF'er!) and Wesley Snipes on screen, plus there's David Caruso of CSI: Miami fame. Its pretty gritty in parts and it keeps you guessing. A decent, explosive action/crime/thriller with a decent car chase scene. Yes, I'd recommend this.
Rated 01 Aug 2022
mustunseeMustUnsee
Rated 15 Oct 2021
80
67th
i got the motherfucker
Rated 15 Oct 2021
simsorutsimsorut
Rated 06 Oct 2021
30
12th
yarak gibi bi film daha
Rated 06 Oct 2021
silviosilvio
Rated 22 Aug 2021
50
39th
This is shot like an art film, lit like an art film, but this neo-noir comes with a price, it destroys its own believability with constant violent spectacle. I find the crowd shots, sequences with their careful close-ups memorizing.
Rated 22 Aug 2021
cerclerougeCercle_Rouge
Rated 20 May 2020
62
49th
Despite all the sex and killing, the message seems fairly conventional (violence begets violence) or even conservative (crime doesn't pay). Even the moral ambiguity - the police aren't much better than the gangsters, there's a thin line between the criminal underworld and respectable professionals and politicians - seems a bit derivative and it ultimately pulls its punches: the one more or less unambiguously good guy is a cop. It's well made though and Walken is great as usual.
Rated 20 May 2020
natebarriosnatebarrios
Rated 26 Mar 2020
85
94th
Like a crossbreed of The Wire and Grand Theft Auto splashed with a bucket of exploitation paint. Walken is fucking amazing, and this is one of my favorite things I've seen him do. Maybe his best?
Rated 26 Mar 2020
braddad68braddad68
Rated 25 Feb 2020
92
65th
Not sure how this one escaped me all these years. Gritty crime drama that gets right into the action and stays there.
Rated 25 Feb 2020
lintonmyroxylintonmyroxy
Rated 13 Feb 2020
86
61st
Wesley Snipes looked like such a dork with those glasses and the 80s rap soundtrack was cringe
Rated 13 Feb 2020
madmanMadMan
Rated 20 Nov 2019
95
86th
Walken headlines a fine cast in a great and brutal gang war movie that is a product of its time period.
Rated 20 Nov 2019
mcjohnsonMcJohnson
Rated 27 Nov 2018
80
42nd
This 90s-to-the-max film never manages to project the epic, "kingly" scale it seems to be aspiring to. It's almost as if Ferrara was forced to pare a 4-hour movie back to the bare bones, and it's much the worse for it. It's obvious that many characters have much more to say. Some of the—brutal—action scenes are great, though, and Walken carries the whole thing with verve.
Rated 27 Nov 2018
judo_koalaJudo Koala
Rated 15 Nov 2015
73
44th
Gangster as fuck, with an abundance of ridiculous scenes and (many) quotable lines of dialogue that had me cracking up, but still indebted to Ferrera's awesome knack for visual flair and pulpy brutality.
Rated 15 Nov 2015
kaan_kavusanKaan Kavusan
Rated 12 Jan 2015
85
91st
Michael Mann'ın Los Angeles gecesi varsa, Abel Ferrara'nın da New York gecesi vardır.
Rated 12 Jan 2015
karamazovkaramazov.
Rated 29 May 2014
63
84th
lmao.
Rated 29 May 2014
glm01glm01
Rated 20 Mar 2014
75
51st
74.500
Rated 20 Mar 2014
neonmanNeonman
Rated 08 Mar 2014
76
53rd
The convoluted story doesn't warrant any interest, but this is (for most of the second half) a brutal, well-made gangster flick, the brilliantly directed and edited action scenes proving more worthwhile viewing than the ordinarily written dialogue sections.
Rated 08 Mar 2014
3drevelation3dRevelation
Rated 24 Jan 2014
50
13th
I couldn't help but feel that this has aged terribly while watching this for the first time. Couldn't really take Walken seriously and Fishburne was annoying. The story is ok, but I didn't find this as anything other than flat.
Rated 24 Jan 2014
comepeliculacomepelicula
Rated 09 Jan 2014
30
12th
First time watching this movie, maybe when it was released people felt it fresh, but hasn't aged well. The characters aren't complex, very heavy handed script. It's nice to see Christopher Walken as a kingpin but I didn't buy it and he didn't have an equal match to fight. In the end it was a boring movie.
Rated 09 Jan 2014
naurunauru
Rated 15 Jul 2013
18
12th
Very boring and horribly dated.
Rated 15 Jul 2013
walkenrollWalkenRoll
Rated 28 Aug 2012
85
85th
It might seem a little dated now, with the fashion and music and whatnot, but I think it's up there with Scarface as one of the best crime sagas on film. Walken makes the film, without him and Fishburne the film would have even less recognition than it has now. Well worth watching, if only for Walken dancing and Larry Fishburne ordering chicken
Rated 28 Aug 2012
eric_janeric-jan
Rated 24 May 2012
70
54th
Probably one of the most basic kind of crime/drama/action movies. But there is supreme factor what makes this an above average movie: CHRISTOPHER WALKEN. What a hero! Also Laurence Fishburne delivered a perfect performance.
Rated 24 May 2012
paxtonPaxton
Rated 08 Feb 2012
79
75th
I'm going to avoid New York, maybe forever thanks to this film.
Rated 08 Feb 2012
glmglm
Rated 14 Dec 2011
71
46th
71.000
Rated 14 Dec 2011
vandelay1Vandelay1
Rated 15 Jun 2011
67
71st
good movie
Rated 15 Jun 2011
terrymacterrymac
Rated 04 Jun 2011
71
62nd
Thoughtful and stylish, but definitely a bit dated. Walken is wonderful, and the assembled cast is fine; Fishburne in particular has some great lines, delivered with gusto. Worth checking out.
Rated 04 Jun 2011
hellboy76hellboy76
Rated 22 Sep 2010
69
73rd
Brutal. Excellent film, now with a bit of cult status. Has it's flaws, but strong cast keeps you interesting to the end.
Rated 22 Sep 2010
moribunnyMoribunny
Rated 20 Sep 2010
70
75th
A New York drug lord fights rival gangs and the police, everyone kills everyone and it's a thrill-ride, tense and edgy with a fantastic cast. Reminds me a bit of De Palma's version of Scarface, but much better. In fact, this is one of the most enjoyable films of its ilk, so long as you overlook some of the absurdities it expects you to believe, such as that Public Enemy #1 is pursued by only three (amazingly foolhardy) policemen.
Rated 20 Sep 2010
billkerwinbillkerwin
Rated 28 Jan 2010
92
89th
The dialogue ain't much, and it is more than a little weird (a crime boss who starts killing off mobsters because they won't help him bankroll a children's hospital?), but it is one of the most elegant, visually stunning crime films I've seen--expertly edited and superbly paced.. And Walken is good. And he dances a little too!
Rated 28 Jan 2010
castrophCastroph
Rated 24 Dec 2009
8
85th
Colors galore!
Rated 24 Dec 2009
kavuKavu
Rated 20 Dec 2007
79
65th
Astonishing performance by Christopher Walken. Some of the other actors aren't quite at their level but the great screenplay makes up for it.
Rated 20 Dec 2007
aarona1caarona1c
Rated 30 Nov 2007
80
67th
Pretty decent rental. A good drama, especially if you like Christopher Walken.
Rated 30 Nov 2007
geopoopGeopoop
Rated 19 Sep 2007
70
74th
A fairly good film, worth watching just to see what some of these actors looked like back then. Steve Buscemi is also in this film, also notice this was made before Laurance adoped the his surname.
Rated 19 Sep 2007
dustydDustyd
Rated 16 Sep 2007
65
49th
Dark and bloody with a pretty good lead performance
Rated 16 Sep 2007
thedenizenTheDenizen
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
84th
A recently released from prison mobster systematically eliminates all his old competition. Dark and mesmerizing performance from Walken, and Ferrara's camera revels in highlighting the scummy locations.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
stainStain
Rated 19 Jun 2007
80
68th
Refreshingly extreme variation on your usual crime story. Giancarlo Esposito is wasted but this movie can afford to do so because the rest of the cast is so great. Plus you get to see Christopher Walken dance
Rated 19 Jun 2007
thedicemanTheDiceman
Rated 01 Mar 2007
65
73rd
Great film.
Rated 01 Mar 2007

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