King Kong vs. Godzilla

king Kong verses Godzilla is a hilarious clash between two monster icons,the Japanese with their;Godzilla(aka;gojira)and for Americans; king Kong.even if its an actor in a monkey suit,originally i heard that in the Japanese version Godzilla wins the battle.not so after i've seen every Godzilla movie i notice the big g always returns. and he did in the next sequel;Godzilla verses the thing(mothra) since universal had released the American version,they used the music from their monster films,like the wolfman,the creature,etc;early on Kong battles a giant octopus(they filmed a real octopus and also used a rubber stand in )Godzilla of course after surviving being buried in ice cubes from the previous,Godzilla raids again(aka;gigantis, the fire monster)an entertaining monster movie from the sixties.a classic from the abundant toho studios and the home of classic monsters,universal.7 out of 10.

Most of us saw the English language version of KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, which discarded alot of fun bits found only in the original Japanese language version of this near classic. In it's original Japanese, this is a fun movie about these rather boob-ish guys who work for a Tokyo advertising firm going to a desolate island. They encounter music loving natives who worship none other than King Kong. At the same time, Godzilla re-appears on the scene, threatening to destroy Tokyo. The film is made with wild energy, and goes with wild logic (how can you not love the scene where King Kong is knocked out with bongo music?!) Proof that director Inoshira Honda loved his audience and wanted to make them happy.

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!

This movie is not the movie to see for an epic fight between the two legendary monsters. It's a movie to see for all the fans of badly executed special effects in the true spirit of 50's scifi b-movies. In that respect, it's a true classic. If you enjoyed the Beasty Boys' video for "Intergalactic Planetary", you'd love this movie as a Japanese feature length counterpart. They've got the same quality feel to them, and the same incredible special effects - and here, "incredible" is meant literally.

Some of the highlights of this movie for me: the toy plane a little boy sees hanging in a toystore and makes him stop because he badly wants it, is the same plane that flew in formation attacking Godzilla. And by that I don't mean the same type of plane, but it's the exact same plastic model! Also, true to the original story, King Kong comes from a tropical island. As we all know, the cliché has it such an island is inhabited by black people wearing banana-leaf skirts and toting spears. This being a Japanese production, the natives are played by Japanese, painted black and given curly wigs...

So if you enjoy laughing at the ridiculous details in movies, love to see fights between people wearing halloween suits trying to make it look like the real thing, with some mediocre fireworks in between, you have to see this movie. If you're looking for a credible classic, such as the original King Kong movie, or high-tech special effects and stunning visuals, this is not the one for you ;)

Obviously, KING KONG VS. GODZILLA is all about getting these two big lugs together for a showdown. The Americanized version has a lot of extra chatter, adding very little substance to the movie.

The setup is perfectly absurd, having something to do with giant berries, an island, and a mysterious, giant creature (Kong). An idealized United Nations dispatches a team to the island, while their gameshow host-like spokesman narrates the proceedings.

Godzilla is the bad guy on a rampage. Kong is mankind's only hope. In other words, it's time for the battle of the titans.

Despite the fact that in their original films both King Kong and Godzilla were exterminated, they're very much alive here. For his part, Kong is also much taller, as his first incarnation would have been easy pickings for the lumbering lizard.

Any fan of giant rubber monster movies will cheer aloud as these two legends face off...