Search - King Kong vs. Godzilla on DVD

Who won? The debate continues

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 11/04/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When you talk about this movie, the whole conversation necessarily comes down to two words: who won? When you have two major money-making monsters, you can't very well kill either one of them, of course, so you cannot definitively proclaim a victor in this epic battle. There is a slight difference between the American and Japanese versions of the film; while Kong clearly is seen swimming away, the Japanese version (so I read) features a roar from Godzilla at the end, clearly indicating he is not dead or defeated. Some argue that Kong is supposedly our "American" monster, so Americans are led to believe he won, while Japanese audiences are led to believe that their monster won. This is hogwash to me. There is no way King Kong could defeat Godzilla. The first time they meet, Kong quickly turns and runs, scratching his head. In the finale, Godzilla pretty much beats the (...) out of him for several minutes, and Kong even stupidly conks himself head-first onto a big rock and knocks his own lights out. Kong's only offense is to throw rocks and to get his opponent into some type of bear hug. At the end, both monsters plummet into the water--Godzilla does not resurface (but of course he is aquatic), and Kong leaves. I like to believe that Kong is running away from Godzilla, but each viewer has to decide the true outcome on his own.This movie gets a little weird. First off, forget earlier movies--no one has seen Godzilla, frozen in ice for millions of years, or King Kong before (even though the folks who discover Godzilla immediately identify him by name). Naturally, Godzilla heads directly for Japan. Some scientist has discovered the sleep-inducing powers of the red berries found only on a small island; a caricature of a man who runs a TV station and pharmaceutical company sends a Japanese Laurel and Hardy to find the monster-god of the island. Music and cigarettes win over the natives, but then a giant octopus shows up and threatens to destroy the berry juice that the natives use to supplicate Kong, only to be thrashed by the big ape, after which Kong slurps down a few barrels of juice and passes out like a drunk. He is dragged back toward Japan on a barge, but then escapes. He heads for Godzilla, runs away like a little girl when he first encounters him, then decides to content himself with stomping around on the Japanese mainland for a while. Inevitably, Kong's weakness for the ladies distracts him; he is drugged and then transported by giant balloons to Mt. Fuji to fight in the main event against Godzilla.The special effects in this movie are sometimes good and sometimes awful. The King Kong costume is just horrible, I feel. Kong looks like Charles Manson after a long night of drinking. Godzilla walks around like a hockey goalie in full pads late in the film, but overall he looks pretty good. Don't ask why, but Godzilla dislikes electricity in this film; Kong, on the other hand, loves it and draws strength from it (a declaration made early on by scientists despite the total lack of anything resembling proof of the fact). The scenes featuring folks running around right in front of the monsters are amateurish--the people are blue and semi-opaque; scenes featuring the girl held in Kong's grasp feature a doll that looks little better than a corn cob with some black hair stuck on top of it. Some of the models used look exactly like models. When it comes to Godzilla movies, though, these things really don't matter to me; in fact, I would be disappointed if there were no ultra-cheap looking special effects. Oddly enough, the giant octopus that makes a cameo appearance seems pretty realistic. The most annoying feature in the film is the series of clips featuring Eric Carter on the United Nations television network. I'm not sure if these scenes are in the Japanese version, but they serve no good purpose in the film. A lot of people praise the final battle between the monsters, but I frankly found it disappointing. As I mentioned, Kong doesn't bring a lot of offense to the fight, and you can almost hear Godzilla saying "Get up, you loser," when Kong knocks his own lights out. The bit where Kong stuffs a tree down Godzilla's throat is pretty funny, but he gets few points from me outside of that one move. Basically, what we need here is a rematch. Let's get a new incarnation of Godzilla and King Kong back together and put an end to the controversy over who won the first fight. I'll put my money on Godzilla."

An All Time Classic!

Melvin Hunt | Cleveland,, Texas United States | 11/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This would have to be considered one of the all time greatest
Japanese monster movies. King Kong is captured and brought to the civilized world. Godzilla comes onto the scene with his radioactive fire breath. It is a battle waiting to happen. The
Japanese homeland is torn asunder when the two behemoths do finally meet.The land is burned and smashed in every conceivable
fashion. At times if you really looked hard you could tell that
Godzilla and King Kong were men in suits and hand puppets. That
alone did not detract from the film.You would still have to classify it as a classic. Buy and watch this movie. You will never forget it."

Did this battle take place 1,000 's of years ago?

Melvin Hunt | 09/23/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"WWWWOOOOHHHHOOOO!!!!!! After viewing all of the Godzilla movies except Godzilla vs The Smog Monster & Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla 2, I'd have to say KING KONG vs GODZILLA is the positivly absoluty, incredibly, truly most Godzillariffic and Kingkongastic Godzilla movie ever made.I especially like the part when Godzilla Karate kicks King Kong (really in movie).Anyway you would like this 1962-1963 movie."

Godzilla Vs King Kong - Good Times 1998-2001 release

SiC | Burton on Trent, Staffs United Kingdom | 12/03/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Godzilla Vs King Kong (1963)(Goodtimes 1998-2001) 2/5
This disc contains a 4:3 picture (I don't know if this is the original ratio so I won't comment)and has scratches throughout. The colours are not very good and look washed out and the whole picture looks flat. It has a mono soundtrack which is passable. The extras are, Subtitles in English, Spanish and French(although only english as an audio option), producion note, which is actually one page of text which gives you a very very small insight into the film. It has chapters too and when you put the disc in it goes straight to the menu no copyright notices or anything. The version on the disc is the american edited version and only that.
Good Points: It's watchable if you don't have any other copy.
Bad Points:It doesn't have an option for the japanese version, the film hasn't been restored at all and not even a trailer as an extra??
The rating is for the DVD, I rated it 2 stars because it is watchable as a bog standard version of the movie but more dedicated fans should save their money for a future release."