King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

A pharmaceutical company captures King Kong and brings him to Japan, where he escapes from captivity and battles a recently released 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
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:

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

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Taglines:

Mighty King Kong! Mighty Godzilla!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

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)

Gross USA:

$2,725,000

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Godzilla's appearance greatly changed for his 1962 appearance in the first color movie: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) was made more as a comedy film than having the "sense of terror" theme in the two previous movies. Because of that, Toho decided to make Godzilla less demeaning. While some American posters (and some Japanese merchandise) of the previous two black and white Godzilla movies showed Godzilla as green, the Kingoji suit revealed Godzilla's true color: charcoal gray. The previous two Godzilla suits were painted brown. On this suit, Godzilla's ears were taken away, and instead of having four toes on each foot, Godzilla had three; a more simplified characteristic for Godzilla, for the remainder of the Showa Godzilla film series. The center dorsal fins were enlarged and the two side dorsal fins decreased in size. The body of Godzilla was bulkier than the last two suits. The head was made longer and a slight frown was added to the side the mouth, a feature that would be seen in some later suits. The pupils were enlarged and the eyes sported a yellow-reddish color. The new features on Godzilla gave him an alligator-like appearance.

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Goofs

When King Kong is throwing rocks at the octopus, the second rock casts a shadow on the painted sky backdrop.

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Quotes

Rescue Copter Pilot: [the iceberg is breaking open] What's that Al?
[a large creature emerges]
Rescue Copter Pilot: Ah! It's Gojira!

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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

There is a scene cut from this film. It's a brief scene that occurs while Godzilla is attacking the tanks at the arctic base. It's a far away shot of Godzilla breathing fire but this was done with a nozzle in the Godzilla'S costumes head and the effect wasn't that great so it was snipped.

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Connections

Featured in Gojira Fantajî: SF Kôkyô Fantajî (1984)

User Reviews

Too Bad the Original Version Isn't on DVD

Even though this is one of my favorite Godzilla films, its too bad that the original version without the added American scenes has never been released in this country and in all likelihood never will. From all accounts, in its original form, this film was a perfect satire on runaway commercialism and the consequences that can happen if people go to far in the pursuit of money. The character of Mr. Tako is probably the greediest man in the history of filmdom and he almost causes the destruction of Tokyo in pursuit of the almighty dollar, or in his case yen. Hopefully one day Universal will come to its senses and release the original Japanese version in the US.