King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) Reviews

• Before there was "Freddy VS Jason"...

  DarthBill2004-04-20

  Godzilla escapes from an ice berg and King Kong is found on an island that has lots of kick ass berries on it which the natives grind into a juice for Kong to drink. After throwing boulders at a giant octopus and drinking the juice, Kong falls asleep and the local Japanese TV guys "ape nap" him and bring him back to Japan so their boss can exploit the big monkey for all he's worth. But en route, the Japanese government order the TV guys to send Kong back his home island because they've got enough problems with Godzilla as it is, they don't need a giant monkey on the rampage as well. Kong escapes and this leads to the inevitable clash of titans as Godzilla battles Kong for the right to demolish Tokyo. The original Kong from the 1933 film was only 50 feet tall while Godzilla is 400 feet tall, so they had to make Kong a lot bigger for this film and in order to make the odds more even for him they endowed him with the ability to draw strength from lightning bolts. The King Kong suit is hopelessly phony to look at though. The American version is a travesty that serves merely as filler until the big finale, with a reporter who really makes you long for Raymond Burr's reporter man Steve Martin. Whether or not the Japanese version ever becomes available in America remains to be seen, but hey, see whatever version you can get just to see Kong ram a ridiculously huge tree down Godzilla's throat!

• A fun monster-rumble

  Brave Sir Robin2004-08-07

  Director Ishiro Honda, who first brought The Big G to the screen in the brilliant 1954 film GOJIRA (re-edited in the US as Godzilla King of the Monsters) decided to scrap the heavy messages and themes of the original film when he made King Kong vs. Godzilla, however he does appeared to have had a great deal of fun making this goofy rubber monster classic. Godzilla breaks out of an iceberg he was imprisoned in and heads to knock down Tokyo. Meanwhile, a pharmaceutical company discovers King Kong on an island full of Japanese actors in blackface playing the natives (!) and the flamboyant CEO decides to bring Kong to Japan as a publicity stunt. The government decides to pit the two titans against each other on the top of Mount Fuji in the climatic scene of the movie. Much of this film is film is intentionally goofy, particularly the island scenes. The screenwriters decided that electricity makes King Kong stronger, but it weakens Godzilla (to make sure it would be a fair fight). Honda also put in several homages (parodies) to the original 1933 King Kong. The final battle on Mount Fuji is similar to watching WWF wrestling, except better, because they're wearing monster suits. If you want a film with epic romance and sweeping drama, you should watch Gone With the Wind, but if you're in the mood for campy monsteriffic fun like only the Japanese can do, watch this.

• Monster-battling fun.

  StormSworder2006-08-03

  Having never seen the Japanese version, I can't say whether the US version is better or worse. But I can say that this is a jolly monster-battling romp. King Kong is intoxicated by some kind of berry which grows on his island, is brought back to Japan by ruthless businessmen who intend to make money out of him. But they reckoned without Godzilla, who returns to fight the great ape. Alright, so the film completely ignores the storyline of the original King Kong film, and the special effects (apart from the land-stalking octopus, which looks really good for its time) are pretty tatty. But come on. If you're a fan of these kinds of films, you'll be hooked until the final showdown.

• King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) ***

  JoeKarlosi2005-02-15

  Any insults and accusations hurled against this beloved movie will fall on deaf ears with me. Admittedly, I am somewhat biased in favor of this entertaining monster romp because it was a regular television staple all during my childhood while I was growing up. It's one of the most enjoyable giant monster movies Toho Studios ever made, and it's certainly one of the best Godzilla films of all. It can be silly, it can be jokey, and it's also a hell of a lot of fun. I have seen both the U.S. Version and the Japanese Version, and I'll have to confess that while this review will be based on the proper Asian edition, I also have a nostalgic fondness for the American Cut, which actually benefits from some added jokes ("When you and the monster meet, be sure to tell him all about your corn problems!") and the exciting Universal stock music which compliments much of the action. Godzilla was still a bad guy at this point in time, and I'm among the group who considers his costume here my personal favorite (it was very much like the Aurora model kit, or maybe it was the other way around). It's not very original to bash the obvious awful King Kong suit, so I'll say that while it's definitely kind of ragged, I actually think it's appealing in its unusual weirdness. Kong is more or less painted as the heroic one of these two, and I have to tell you that I absolutely love that native song of worship which is chanted at him by the island dwellers who dance and pray on his home turf. I appreciate it even more when it's used as the title credits music in the Toho version. The story is silly and simple, but it works. Godzilla is back in town after awakening from the iceberg he froze in at the conclusion of GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN, and so a frustrated pharmaceutical advertiser decides to send a couple of his zany cronies to King Kong's Island to capture and bring back his own monster to give Godzilla some competition. Humor is very well used here, and it works well alongside the usual rampages and city stompings. The touted "battle of the giants" has been unfairly maligned as looking too much like a "wrestling match," but I don't see how else these creatures are supposed to tangle with one another unless they opted to stare each other down for ten minutes. Not much fun there, I'm afraid! Their climactic fight is well worth the wait and fulfills all expectations. *** out of ****

• Kingu Kongu tai Gojira: Just plain silly

  Platypuschow2018-07-12

  King Kong vs Godzilla picks up from the events of Godzilla Raids Again (1955). We see our big lizard friend broken free of his icy tomb and head off towards Tokyo once more. But at the same time King Kong just happens to be headed there as well and a conflict between the two seems inevitable, but how much of Japan will be left afterwards? Now on paper this should have been a grand epic, the two biggest movie monsters facing off. It should have been a true spectacle like Batman vs Superman (2016) should have been, but much like that this fails rather impressively. The plot is hilarious, unintentionally hilarious. It's so bad and so unbelievable it forces the entire movie into the comedy genre, underlined further by the comedic fight scenes. The image of King Kong and the balloons will stick with me forever! With Godzilla flapping his arms around randomly like a bird and King Kong bouncing from walking like a gorrilla to upright as if consistency didn't exist in the 60's the whole thing is the very definition of silly. Don't get me wrong the film has its moments but this US/Japan collaboration fails on too many fronts and has a serious identity problem. Not the worst movie of the franchise but perhaps the silliest. The Good: The basic conept The Bad: Far too comedic in places Stupidly well groomed native folk Plot is bafflingly stupid No consistency with the creatures sizes Things I Learnt From This Movie: VS movies are destined to underwhelm Unbreakable wires will also allow balloons to carry unrealistic weights