Day 33: King Kong Vs. Godzilla.

Day 33: King Kong Vs. Godzilla (1962, Dir. Ishirô Honda)

(American Version)

If you’re a fan of the original 1930’s King Kong film or the first Godzilla film from 1954, you should probably lower your expectations for this film now, and if you’ve got the American version of this you should probably lower them a bit further. However that’s not to say this film is good nonsensical fun.

This review is of the American version and it has a bit of a peculiar history behind it. The distributor who bought the rights basically didn’t like the social satire that drove the film and wanted it to be a more straight forward sci-fi film, so that is what he made it into. A fair chunk was cut from the original then he decided to film additional scenes to make up for it; these particular scenes stick out like a sore thumb and reek of B-movie sci-finess, so after some heavy re-dubbing and a new soundtrack this version was ready to go. Unfortunately the original, like most of the Godzilla series simply isn’t available in the UK so this will have to do for now. That’s not to say it isn’t enjoyable and quite good campy fun but it’d be nice to see a bit more substance behind it.

The main bout in question is a man in a woolly suit having a bit of a wrestle and a roll around with another man in a rubber suit. However naff that might sound you can’t help but really getting into it and finding yourself backing your favourite monster.

Despite the political satire of the Japanese version being replaced by some an American voice over that almost fits and some wobbly news room scenes the film remains extremely enjoyable; the pairing of the two classic characters is something to behold, with plenty of silly action scenes and bizarre battle of the giants that’ll keep you hooked till the end.

8/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056142/

Extra: Rematch!