King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

King Kong vs. Godzilla (Japanese: キングコング対ゴジラ, Hepburn: Kingu Kongu tai Gojira) is a 1962 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the third film in both the Godzilla franchise, and King Kong franchise, plus the first of two Toho-produced films featuring King Kong. It is also the first time that each character appeared on film in color and widescreen. The film stars Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, Yū Fujiki, Ichirō Arishima, and Mie Hama, with Shoichi Hirose as King Kong and Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla. In the film, as Godzilla is reawakened by an American submarine, a pharmaceutical company captures King Kong for promotional uses, which culminates into a battle on Mount Fuji.

The project began with a story outline devised by King Kong stop motion animator Willis H. O’Brien around 1960, in which Kong battles a giant Frankenstein Monster; O’Brien gave the outline to producer John Beck for development. Behind O’Brien’s back and without his knowledge, Beck gave the project to Toho to produce the film, replacing the giant Frankenstein Monster with Godzilla and scrapping O’Brien’s original story.

King Kong vs. Godzilla was released theatrically in Japan on August 11, 1962. The film remains the most attended Godzilla film in Japan to date, and is credited with encouraging Toho to prioritize the continuation of the Godzilla series after seven years of dormancy. A heavily edited version was released by Universal International Inc. theatrically in the United States on June 26, 1963.

via Wikipedia

The continuing movies of Godzilla (as I previously mentioned) pits the giant lizard versus various adversaries, this time being the original kaiju (well, his movie was first in 1933 which I will be covering later) King Kong.

This movie is actually a combination of the original King Kong movie and the original Godzilla movie, as both monsters are “new” (seeing as how King Kong actually died in his movie, and this Godzilla is a different one that was awakened). The first alternate timeline scenario?

The most famous scene is the one where the two monsters duke it out on top of Mount Fuji, which apparently is what won over audiences and continues to be highly viewed on YouTube.

It’s an interesting piece of history as it is the first time both monsters were filmed in color, the third movie in both series, and the best viewed Godzilla movie at the time. I think it’s an enjoyable collaboration, and I’m glad it continues to entertain audiences (even if you’ve only seen the 2021 remake.)

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★