King Kong (2005)

One of the few films on this list that succeeds because of its reverential treatment of the source material, Peter Jackson's take on the Eighth Wonder of the World turns Merian C. Cooper's classic tale into a sprawling, epic blockbuster that hits all of the right notes. Lending the characters a level of three-dimensionality that was missing from the original, Jackson simultaneously recreates sequences from the original and adds brand new, spiritually consistent ones, all while hitting every story beat at just the right moment. Jackson's level of adoration for the original film is so complete that he actually conceived of and restored the "Spider Pit Sequence" to his film - a scene which was cut from the original.