by Giganfan » Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:16 am
A few random observations, if you don't mind...
The Japanese version of King Kong vs. Godzilla really is a gem. I hope that one day, fate intervenes, and a proper state-side release of this wonderful film happens. I don't think it ever really dawned on people that this is the film where Toho first parodied the Godzilla series before they had a chance to make each preceeding movie a parody of itself. It's all played for laughs, right down to the brilliant casting of Ichiro Arishima as the slimy, but loveable Mr. Tako. Come to think of it, the entire cast is one of the best of any Godzilla movie! You have the comic duo of Tadao Takashima and Yu Fujiki stealing the scenes that Arishima doesn't, there's both Mie Hama and Akiko Wakabayashi providing some nice eye-candy and then you have series veterans such as Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara and Jun Tazaki lending strong support. Honda and Tsuburaya make ample use of the large budget alotted them for this film, because everything about KKvs.G feels like a "Toho Super-Production". And what's more exciting than the "Battle of the Century" as Kong and Godzilla slug it out, "clackity-clack" at each other, chuck boulders back and forth, judo-flip, tail-swipe, tail-swing, bump and tumble their way all up and down Mt. Fuji, through Atami Castle, and into the Pacific Ocean!?! And it's all topped off with a big, pounding, epic Akira Ifukube score that was criminally excised from the U.S version. The Godzilla series definitely hit its creative peak with Mothra vs. Godzilla one year later, but this film, I think, rivals the likes of Ghidrah The Three-Headed Monster as being the most enjoyable/entertaining/fun-to-watch of all the Godzilla movies in the series. On that basis alone, King Kong vs. Godzilla is one of the best, period.
Next time, I'll talk about how I've done almost a complete one-eighty regarding my opinion of Gojira no Gyakushu (Godzilla Raids Again).
"EVERYONE FORGET YOUR TROUBLES! ENJOY YOURSELVES!THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!" - Gigantis The Fire Monster
"It was HUGE...It was...IT WAS LIKE A MONSTER!!! Suddenly the rocks rose...ALIVE!" - Godzilla 1985