King of New York

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1:39

King of New York

R

1990

1h 44m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

74%

Tomatometer

31 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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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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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Deliciously indecent.

Rated: B+

May 4, 2006

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

…King of New York’s grim fantasy clicks because it reflects a time when the battle between law and disorder was taken directly to the streets, with Christopher Walken bestriding the bloodshed like a kingpin colossus in Abel Ferrara's brisk crime drama….

Rated: 5/5

Jul 23, 2025

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a progressively engrossing piece of work that benefits from its remarkably captivating central performance...

Rated: 3.5/4

Jan 6, 2025

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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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Eric B

Worst movie I've seen in years, no plot, no character arc, meaningless symbolism, no suspense. Proves to show some scripts cannot be saved even by an a list cast. I watched Christopher Walken stare into the blankness multiple times as if thinking why did I agree to this film, and I felt it with him.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/29/25

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Ken W

Great cast but, felt like it was filmed in 3 days with almost no script.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/27/25

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Calvin T

Good but it wasn't better than the other mob movies

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/22/25

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Derek H

Wow this movie sucks so bad. There’s no story line, no character development. This is a low-IQ “damn, dude got shot! N**** mothaf****” 90’s garbage hahaha

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/21/25

Full Review

steve s

absolutely horrible. no plot, no character development. just a lot of shooting, car chases, and blood. what little there was of a story made absolutely no sense. women are no more than scantily dressed arm candy.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

06/26/25

Full Review

Meredith S

I heard a movie reviewer I follow on Instagram say this was right up there with Goodfellas. I figured it was worth another watch since I hadn't seen it for a couple decades so rewatched. Nope! I enjoy Walken but this movie was BAD -- sure it had okay moments but to compare it to Goodfellas is criminal!

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

04/24/25

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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81%

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60%

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31%

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

King of New York: Trailer 1

1:39

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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: The Rank Organization [gb], Caminito, Scena International, Reteitalia
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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