Die Rückkehr des King Kong

The script is good and you can see a lot of events in the movie. After watching the film, I learned that Ishiro Honda is a amazing director. What I didn't like was working with this graphics and effect maybe it was good in a short time, but I've seen it now nor can I say that there are no badly done scenes in the film. In short, the film is better than I expected and good for its time!

King Kong vs Godzilla (1962 edition, not the edited 1963 American version), the 4th ever Godzilla movie, is a movie I recently watched on YouTube. The storyline follows a marketing team who wants to boost ratings by capturing film of the legendary King Kong. Wouldnt you know it that just as they arrive Godzilla re-emerges for an epic showdown like we've never seen before.

This movie is directed by Ishirô Honda (Godzilla, 1954) and stars Tadao Takashima (Sons of Godzilla), Ichirô Arishima (The Lost World Of Sinbad), Kenji Sahara (Godzilla, 1954), Mie Hama (You Only Live Twice) and Akiko Wakabayashi (Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster).

The first thing I have to say is this is the worst King Kong ever created. His eyes are absolutely crazy throughout the film. The 1933 edition is infinitely better than this one. The music in this is awesome and Godzilla is as entertaining as always. His introduction followed by his battle with the military is great, though the burning tanks were a bit dated. There's a weird octopus scene in this that's unfortunately shot too dark in a fun battle with Kong. The conclusion fight in this is fun and the tree in the mouth scene is legendary.

Overall this is a very dated movie that's fun for its nostalgic charm but doesn't hold the test of time as well as other Godzilla and Kong movies. I'd score this a 5.5/10.

The original 1962 King Kong vs. Godzilla is a bit of a different beast from its 1963 American re-edit. It has rarely been seen outside of Japan and the way to view it (legally) is through the bonus disc on the Criterion set. It goes without say that this original version is superior but I'd wager that it has more wit than at first glance.

The film deliberately sets out to satirize the corporate nature of Japanese TV industry and the ridiculous lengths they'd go to get good ratings. In this case, bring over an gigantic ape as a publicity stunt, which is accentuated by the character of Tako who goes out of his way to "sponsor" Kong. Even when the two monsters are brawling, Tako views it as an opportunity to make a profit as characters argue over who can beat who. They ask, "Who is stronger, King Kong or Godzilla", only to be refuted "This isn't a wrestling match!" Except it is. Indeed for anyone who has only seen the American version of the film, it will probably be a surprise just how self aware and humorous the original version is. It's a blend of monster movie and comedy, through which Honda and Sekizawa have crafted a story that is an entertaining takedown of both commercialism and it's own premise.

The only thing that dampers this aspect of the film is how the satire isn't fully carried throughout the entire film. There isn't any severe consequences the character's actions unlike those from the first Mothra, or Mothra vs. Godzilla. Further exploration into Tako's desire to exploit Kong would have also made the satire stronger. Still, the elements found in Sekizawa's script and Honda's direction gives the film a bit more depth and is a step up over it's Americanized version. The cast is also wonderfully comedic, with Ichiro Arishima as Tako giving a stand out comedic performance. His quirk and gestures are really entertaining and he is definitely one of the funniest characters in the franchise. Tadao Takashima and Yu Fujiki also work great off each other with their antics and even Kenji Sahara is given some funny moments.

With that said, the battle between King Kong and Godzilla is one hell of a fight, the choreography between the two being very entertaining and creative. Speaking of Godzilla, the scenes with him are especially well done, still keeping sense of menace to him with people having genuine fear, even if the film implies some are cashing in on the frenzy. Overall the effects are nicely done with the film having some good miniature work. One of my personal favorite shots is that of Godzilla approaching the high tension wires. There are so many small details such as the houses illuminated from within, cars moving on the bridge, and a helicopter following close behind. Still there are some downsides in the effects, such as a few puppets and compositing shots along with Kong himself. To put it simply, Kong isn't his usual handsome self this time around and has got quite and ugly mug. However, given his state of inebriation by drinking berry juice, Kong's unattractive look works in giving him a distinct personality as the scrappy underdog constantly being bullied by Godzilla.

But if there is one thing that makes this the superior version is the musical score from Akira Ifukube. From the opening cues to Godzilla's iconic theme, it really brings it all together. I'd place Ifukube's Kong theme alongside Max Steiner's score for the original. King Kong vs. Godzilla may not have the adventurous wonder of the original King Kong or the thematic potency of the original Godzilla, but it ultimately succeeds in being an all around entertaining film in its own right. It's just too much fun not to enjoy.

Considering the time, it's okay for what it is. The cast is too big, it would have benefited from focusing more on the two leads instead; and the romance subplot makes the film unnecessarily convoluted, and bogs down the pacing. It also takes too long to focuses on Godzilla and Kong, the split second shots of them get annoying. Probably one of the better Godzilla films, although none of them are actually good movies.

6/10 considering the era it was made in and that the film is intentionally light-hearted and comedic. Reasonable entertaining overall, but it does drag a little before it finally gets to the showdown right before the film warps up.

From the beginning scenes you can tell this is a little different. It's almost like a proto-Verhoeven film. It has a satirical edge to it that you dont see in other Godzilla movies. And just overall it's a little zanier and kind of wild compared to previous Godzilla films.

It's still Honda directing and still a TOHO film with the same technical crew as most other Kaiju. It was just this one script and a few actors that made this one a tad more enjoyable than many others.

I will be blunt though. It's not as amazing as a lot have made it seem. I guess if you saw this once when you were a kid then had to wrok to find it again in the pre-internet era of video rental stores. That would inflate the spectacle of the film a lot.

It is better than most Kaiju films. It does have some memorable characters and some moments of the Kaiju fights that are remarkable. But really it's only about 10% better than the average Kaiju film. There are others like Mothra that are much better in a number of ways.

It is kind of a turning point for the franchise in a few ways. This starting the change of Godzilla from an evil monster to a kind of antihero. Antimonster maybe?

The pitched up his roar a bit. Made the suit less scary looking and had him dance whenever he scores a good move against King Kong.

King Kong is a little weird. He looks nothing like the classic Kong. Very crude and rough. Not to my liking at all. But the suit actor did a great job of mimicing ape like movements.

The fight choreo is recognizably influenced by pro wrestling. I thought that was a great idea, but there are a couple spots I really didn't like how they went about it, but it worked.

Overall it's enjoyable not to be taken seriously fare.