Hungry Like the Wolf the door in America for the New Romantic/synth rock crossover." Stewart Mason, also from Allmusic, called "Hungry Like the Wolf" a "spectacular pop single", and "the finest song Duran Duran ever wrote", adding that it was a "much more kinetic and exciting song than earlier flop singles like 'Planet Earth'." In 1982, music video director Russell Mulcahy, who had directed the band's first video "Planet Earth," was brought back to make the music video for "Hungry Like the Wolf" and two other songs for the band's 1983 video album. The band had a vision of jungles and exotic women, and
Hungry Like the Wolf began playing the accompanying music video in heavy rotation, the exposure pushed "Hungry Like the Wolf" onto AOR playlists. The song entered "Billboard"'s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in August 1982 and reached the top of the chart in January 1983. Following the release of the "Carnival" EP in September and the David Kershenbaum remaster of "Rio" in November, the Kershenbaum remix of "Hungry Like the Wolf" was released as a single on 3 December 1982. "Hungry Like the Wolf" entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 on 25 December 1982 at number 77, peaking at number 3 on 26 March 1983,