The Empire State Building, located in the center of Manhattan, New York City, is one of the most recognizable landmarks of not only the city of New York, but as a popular culture icon as well. The majestic skyscraper has appeared in many movies, television shows and books and is a symbol of modernity, elegance and urban grandeur.
The Empire State Building is probably most famous for its’ appear in the 1933 film classic King Kong. In the movie Kong climbs up the tower to escape his pursuers but ends up falling to his death. On the 50th anniversary of the King Kong movie in 1983 an inflatable Kong was put on top of the Empire State Building. There was a remake of the King Kong movie in 2005 that featured a showdown with bi-planes and Kong on top of the Empire State Building.
Several romantic films have also made use of the Empire State Building for some memorable scenes. The 1939 film Love Affair, a romantic drama, is the story of a couple who make plans to meet at the top of the Empire State Building. Their meeting is thwarted by a car accident. In 1957 this movie was remade and called An Affair To Remember and then remade again in 1994 as Love Affair. Sleepless in Seattle, the 1993 romantic comedy, which was in part inspired by the earlier An Affair To Remember, has its’ climatic scene at the Empire State Building’s 86th floor observatory.
Empire, a 1964 Andy Warhol black-and-white silent movie, is an eight-hour, one continuous shot of the Empire State Building filmed during the night. The film is preserved at the Library of Congress.
In the action film Independence Day, the Empire State Building is ground zero for an attack by aliens. Aliens destroy the building, and most of New York City is burnt down.
The 1966 Doctor Who The Chase series also featured The Empire State Building. The Tardis land on the top of the building. Doctor Who and his friends leave because the Daleks are following them. Two Doctor Who episodes from 2007, Evolution of the Daleks and Daleks in Manhattan, also feature the Empire State Building.
The Empire State Building has also figured prominently in several books. In the Empire of Dreams, a 1994 Latin American novel by Giannina Braschi, shepherds take over the Empire State Building, dancing and singing, “now we do whatever we please.”
The Shape of Things to Come, the 1993 H.G. Wells science fiction classic, contains a notable passage about the Empire State Building. In another science fiction novel by Robert Cham Gilman (Alfred Coppel), The Rebel of Rhada, set in a galactic empire in the future, New York City is an old city that has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. The oldest and tallest building is referred to as The Empire Tower.
The Empire State Building, with its distinctive Art Deco architecture, central location in the heart of Manhattan in New York City, and imposing height, has indeed come into our popular consciousness as one of the most striking architectural landmarks in all of cinematic and literary fame.