☆ ☆ ☆
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) – I. Honda
Amon really wanted
to see Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) – but it is rated M here in Australia and he is
only 8 going on 9 years old. Imagine his
surprise when I dug out this oldie – the original Kong vs. Godzilla! But imagine my surprise when Kong was a man
in a monkey suit rather than stop-motion animation! I guess I should have realised this would be
the case, given that Godzilla is generally always a man in a rubber suit back
in the day. Apparently, the original
Japanese version of this film was designed as a comedy and there are still some
traces of this – but the American version rewrote the script and recut the movie
to eliminate aspects that didn’t translate well and to add some stock US characters
whose sole role is to explain the plot.
Not that it is complicated!
Basically, Godzilla is found inside an iceberg near Antarctica. Then, an
unscrupulous TV production company decides to get their own “monster” because
of the great ratings Godzilla is providing to the news. They find Kong on a South Seas island where
he is placated by the natives with intoxicating red berries – unfortunately,
the scenes with the natives are upsettingly racist (not surprising for the
era). Kong is soon captured and taken away by ship. Of course, he escapes en route to Japan,
setting up a classic confrontation with Godzilla. Not unlike a classic World Wrestling Federation
bout, albeit on the slopes of Mount Fuji, with Japanese houses being trampled
underfoot.
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