King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

A newspaper and television station funded by a pharmaceutical company want a sensation, which happens to be the discovery of King Kong on an island. He is captured and brought to Japan, where he escapes from captivity and battles Godzilla.

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Shin'ichi Sekizawa, Paul Mason

Stars:

Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, Yû Fujiki

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tadao Takashima	...	Osamu Sakurai
Kenji Sahara	...	Kazuo Fujita (as Keji Sahaka)
Yû Fujiki	...	Kinsaburo Furue
Ichirô Arishima	...	Mr. Tako
Jun Tazaki	...	General Masami Shinzo
Akihiko Hirata	...	Dr. Shigezawa
Mie Hama	...	Fumiko Sakurai
Akiko Wakabayashi	...	Tamiye
Akemi Negishi	...	Chikiro's Mother (Dancing Girl)
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Farou Island Chief
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Captain of Fujita's Ship - Japanese version only
Ikio Sawamura	...	Witch Doctor
Someshô Matsumoto	...	Dr. Onuki
Kô Mishima	...	Official
Sachio Sakai	...	Obayashi (Mr. Tako's assistant)

Storyline

Mr. Tako, the chairman of a pharmaceutical company, learns the roma tomato-sized berries that grow on Farou Island are a miracle cure, and that the natives worship a god called King Kong who has allegedly grown to giant size from eating the berries. What better way to promote the product, Tako figures, than to bring the creature back to Japan? He leads an expedition with Sakurai and Furue to get the berries and the monster. Meanwhile, some American pilots discover the chunk of the glacier Godzilla was sealed in back in 1955. Sakurai's sister's boyfriend Kazuo is busy trying to sell an invisible but super-strong wire, which of course no one wants until Kong escapes...

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Plot Keywords:

king kong character | godzilla | giant ape | kaiju | monster versus monster | 

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Taglines:

The Battle of the Century!!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

At 59:10 the fuel trucks are labeled CALTEX in English, not Japanese. This is not an error. Caltex is a division of Chevron Corporation in Asia, the Middle East and Southern Africa.

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Goofs

In the scene where the Japanese explorers reach the island, their guide speaks to the island natives in their language. In the English dubbed version of the movie, you can clearly tell the guide has two different voices. (When he talks to the natives in their language, it is not dubbed over.)

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

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Crazy Credits

In the credits for the U.S. version, actor Kenji Sahara is listed as "Keji Sahaka."

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Alternate Versions

In the original version, the reason that Kong was not allowed to enter Japan was due to his being considered smuggled goods. However, in the American version the reason he was not allowed to enter was because it was felt that having him and Godzilla in Japan at the same time was too dangerous.

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Connections

Featured in Munky Cheez: Episode #1.3 (2004)

User Reviews

A fun monster-rumble

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.

Details

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

26 June 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

King Kong vs. Godzilla

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company, John Beck, RKO General Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 74 min (1970 Toho Champion Festival)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Japan theatrical release) Mono (Westrex Sound) (US version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1