King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)

Director: Ishiro Honda

Written by: Shin’ichi Sekizawa

Original Godzilla director Ishiro Honda returns to direct this epic throwdown between the two ‘biggest’ movie stars that the world has ever seen.

It’d been seven years since the lackluster sequel, Godzilla Raids Again, but with Kong up for grabs the King of the Monsters was quickly ushered back onto the screen after a hasty rewrite of a script entitled King Kong Meets Frankenstein.

After clashing with a giant octopus, Kong gets wasted on fermented berries and is shipped off to Japan on a giant raft. Meanwhile, Godzilla is inadvertently freed from his icy tomb and sets out on a furious rampage.

When the two titans first meet, it’s clear that Kong is out of his league and it’s only after absorbing 100’000 volts of electricity that the greatest of apes is finally strong enough to stand up to Godzilla in a final epic showdown.

Eat your vegetables!

I was only able to track down the dubbed American version of this film which has replaced a lot of key scenes with monotonous American news reports so I feel I may be missing out somewhat, but this has been my least enjoyed Godzilla outing so far.

The Monster suits, especially Kong, do not look great and when wet every crease and fold is painfully obvious. Not to mention Kong’s face looks awful, I know I shouldn’t expect much from a 60-year-old movie but when the 1933 classic looks better than a movie made 30 years later I feel it’s valid.

It’s greatto see Godzilla in color, though again the dips and folds in the suit look much more obvious here than in previous and forthcoming entries in the series.

The new suit, known as the KingGoji stood out starkly from its predecessors and successors in the Godzilla franchise. Its appearance leaned more towards reptilian, notably with a robust and stocky build, particularly evident in the lower body region. The head, characterized by its small size and streamlined design, featured human-like eyes positioned on the sides, reminiscent of reptilian anatomy.

Distinctive attributes of the KingGoji included oversized hands adorned with spike-like claws, with thumbs nearly matching the size of the other three fingers. Furthermore, it shared several characteristics with Godzilla suits up until the introduction of the 84Goji in 1984. These included the absence of visible external ears, the lack of fangs, a three-toed foot structure, a sleek underside of the tail, and a prominent main row of dorsal plates flanked by two smaller rows.

It is good to see the two titans clash, with Godzilla still in his villainous phase it should come as no surprise to see Kong emerge as the ultimate victor. But we would not have to wait long for the big G’s triumphant return.

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