King Kong vs. Godzilla

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.

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.

The original Japanese Toho cut of 'King Kong Vs Godzilla' has a much more developed sense of comedy imbued throughout its runtime: the entire film is satirical and scatty; it just isn't really any better than the heavily altered American/International cut that features truly dreadful added United Nations scenes alongside necessarily dubbed and re-edited scenes.

I find this version needs significant further attention from an editor to improve its pacing and the construction of action scenes: the American film does slightly improve in this area despite it causing terrible damage to the satirical comedy of the original.

In the comedic premise of the story 'King Kong Vs Godzilla' has its best strength. There is a great degree of poking fun at television and corporate cultures and some of this is well put across.

The action part of the film is less ably done and the narrative pace is off by a considerable degree.

The same failings of really poor and unconvincing monsters that afflict the American version are naturally in this film also.

They look, sound, and move badly, individually, and even moreso, in tandem together.

The film score is better in this version as is the overall sound design.

I rate a 5/10 for a version that has more brains but less pruning than the more often seen English language cut.

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.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first, because this movie is not without weaknesses. One of those weaknesses, regrettably, is King Kong. It's not that the giant ape looks completely awful, but there are definitely some aspects of the design that are less than great: I understand the reason for having two different sets of arms for the suit, but the differences are glaringly apparent and look goofy; whenever we see close-ups of Kong's face, or the face requires some special movement or expression, it raises a skeptical eyebrow; the suit at large kind of looks patchy, as if the yak hair was applied and/or dyed unevenly. Some similar critiques apply to the Godzilla suit worn by Nakajima Haruo, but not to the same extent, and whenever Kong actor Hirose Shoichi is directed to run about waving his arms in the air, suffice to say that it doesn't come off well. Speaking of appearances, there is a lot of native exploitation going on with the indigenous people of Kong's home, Faro Island, and not of the sort that speaks to the major themes that informed 1933's 'King Kong,' nor the 1976 remake to come. There's also something extra icky about the brownface that the Japanese extras wear to portray said islanders. Of course that Pacific landmass is where we first meet Kong, and he's not alone; for all the inventiveness of the other megafauna, however, the fabricated practical effects that are employed to further represent it are bizarrely, gauchely subpar, and outdated by at least about ten years. And as one additional notable shortcoming, there are a few points where the writing very decidedly takes some shortcuts - declining sensible beats so that Movie Magic can move us toward the titular showdown. We know Toho's kaiju can do better, but here we are.

Yet while such matters come to our attention and absolutely merit discussion, none of them are so severe as to critically diminish the lasting value. Based on everything I had read of the film before watching I quite anticipated it to be a wholly preposterous romp, and at that probably a rather middling one; imagine my surprise when it turned out to be significantly better than I could have hoped! In fact, of any King Kong flicks that had been made from Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's essential progenitor, through to the tawdry 'King Kong lives' of 1986, this might be second only to the original; moreover, it surely is a surprisingly worthy entry in the enormous Godzilla franchise, too. There is some outright ridiculousness here, certainly, earning some laughs whether intentionally or not: the extra animated performance that Arishima Ichiro gives as Mr. Tako, the (literal) position Kong finds himself in before the climactic fight, some moments in the battles between the two colossi, and so on. There are also some creative choices made here and there which are just plain curious, provoking an unexpected reaction one way or another, and some less sure-footed contributions do occasionally rear their heads in most regards. Far more than not, however, 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' is astonishingly well made, and astonishingly earnest. This isn't merely some kooky, outlandish genre blast, but a carefully crafted kaiju picture that also happens to be marked with some imperfections. And I kind of love it.

I have to hand it to composer Ifukube Akira: he didn't need to go as hard as he did; all he had to do was compose a suitable complementary score that incorporated recognizable phrases. Well beyond that minimum, the main theme that first greets us over the opening credits is immediately grabbing, and he had my full attention before the story even began. That story, with exceptions, is gratifyingly well-written, from the undercurrents of satirizing contemporary television and marketing, to the silent nod to a prior Godzilla installment; from small character traits that are later woven back into the narrative in meaningful ways, to the broad strokes of the titans' respective entries into the saga, and where humans fit into the proceedings. The scene writing, too, is marvelously strong, and filmmaker Honda Ishiro demonstrates perfectly solid direction. To much the same end, Tsuburaya Eiji's oversight of the effects produced terrific results, and for that matter the visuals at large are outstanding. Yes, the kaiju suits bear faults, but the sets and miniatures are a wonderful sight for sore eyes, and all the practical effects are a joy; at their best Godzilla and King Kong do look pretty swell, the fight sequences are excellent, and even the consideration for lighting is quite welcome. Editor Kaneko Reiko is to be commended for some extra shrewd work, and Koizumi Hajime's cinematography is smart and vivid even through the slight variations in image quality that come with the most commonly available copies of the Japanese version. The human cast don't necessarily stand out all that much (Arishima aside), but all involved give fine performances to help bring the feature to life.

It has some flaws, and it sounds outwardly silly. Real skill and intelligence went into this production, however, and the final product reflects the care and passion of all who participated. Just as some moments are more questionable, some tidbits of rather brilliant - and regardless of how much we might scrutinize the whole affair, I don't think there's much arguing that it's roundly engaging, entertaining, and satisfying. I sat to watch with expectations that were mixed to low, and I for one am very pleased with just how good 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' actually is. It might not be a title one needs to go out of their way to see, but whether you're an especial fan of either monster or just looking for something fun it's well worth checking out, and I'm happy to give this (Japanese version) my enthusiastic recommendation!