King of New York

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King of New York

R

Released Sep 28, 1990

1h 44m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

A crime lord plots to take control of New York's underground drug economy and distribute the profits to the poor.

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Critics Consensus

King of New York covers familiar narrative ground with impressive style -- and leaves plenty of room for its talented cast to deliver gripping performances.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B-

Sep 7, 2011

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Variety Staff

Variety

Complementing Walken's bravura turn are equally flamboyant performances by David Caruso as the young Irish cop out to destroy Walken, and Larry Fishburne as Walken's slightly crazy aide-de-camp.

Mar 26, 2009

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

A film which, despite splendid location work, lurches sloppily and messily from kill to kill, orgy to orgy, coke to crack, clich to clich.

Jun 24, 2006

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

This is the abysmal background of a sort of vomitive cinema. [Full review in Spanish]

Dec 2, 2022

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Quentin Crisp

Christopher Street

This is a powerful movie, but it suffers from the flabbiness of excess.

Apr 6, 2022

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Juan Carlos Coto

Miami Herald

Unfortunately, King of New York can't tear itself from its low-rent heart.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 18, 2021

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Brad M

Pretty good gangster film. Worth watching.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/02/24

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Sams K

Brutally underrated movie, a wonderful one. Christopher Walken is a legend. You must watch this and watch the other Abel Ferrara's movies.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/03/24

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ed m

Great cast, the story and writing are thin.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/05/24

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Regal R

75/100 - could have been better especially considering the other gangster films that were made at the time. they really needed to dig into the characters a bit more and get some depth.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/07/24

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timmy b

Just incredible. I can see why at that point in history this Film was mad controversial.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/04/24

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Ty H

This is the movie two high-school sophomores would write an hour after they found a stash of pot brownies, two pens, and a notepad. There are no characters, only caricatures. I think Lawrence Fishburn is playing a hyena? Think Boondock Saints … only earlier. And dumber.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/31/24

Full Review

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Abel Ferrara

Director

Christopher Walken

Frank White

David Caruso

Dennis Gilley

Laurence Fishburne

Jimmy Jump

Victor Argo

Roy Bishop

Wesley Snipes

Thomas Flanigan

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Further Reading: Marion Cotillard and Forest Whittaker in Abel Ferrara’s Mary

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Synopsis

A crime lord plots to take control of New York's underground drug economy and distribute the profits to the poor.

Director: Abel Ferrara
Producer: August Caminito, Mary Kane
Distributor: Artisan Entertainment, Live Video, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Scena International, The Rank Organization [gb], Reteitalia, Caminito
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 28, 1990, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.6M
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, Surround, Stereo

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