KING KONG VS GODZILLA: The Fight of the Century?

    King Kong vs Godzilla marked a big return for both monsters. It had been 7 years since Godzilla's last appearance and 29 years since Kong's debut. It marked the first time both had been in color. Universal was behind the Americanization and made significant changes to the film. They framed the film around a news broadcast with American actors and used music from their own library like Creature from the Black Lagoon. They also made changes to the plot such as indicating this is Godzilla's first appearance.

     The film begins when a head of a pharmaceuticals company heads a expedition to Faro island when he hears of a giant ape. Meanwhile, an American submarine gets stuck in a iceberg which turns up to the same that Godzilla was trapped within since 1955.

Of course, the American version never refers to this. Kong fights a giant octopus, drinks some berry juice that knocks him out, and is put on a raft to be taken to the mainland. The JSDF orders the pharmaceutical company to return Kong, but Kong wakes up and escapes. Both Kong and Godzilla make their way to the mainland, and we get our first encounter. Kong gets his ass handed to him due to Godzilla's atomic breath. So, he retreats.  As usual, the military takes different measures to stop Godzilla including a giant electrical fence which actually stops him. Wait. didn't they try that in the original without success?  Anyways, Kong approaches the fence and is revealed he gains strength from electricity. He goes through the whole steal the girl and climb the building tradition. The building in this case is the capital of Japan.

They use the same berry juice to knock him out and free the girl. This is not nearly as spectacular as the original. Kong had to be beefed up to 150ft in order to be a match for Godzilla, so he is taller than the building itself. They balloon Kong to Mount Fuji where the finale begins. You see both monster's strengths. Godzilla is more brute force and Kong is more about strategy and improvisation. Finally, Kong gets struck by lightning making him even stronger.
In the end, both monster roll into the ocean, and Kong emerges victorious. Despite a popular myth, there was no duel ending. In both versions, Kong wins.

      Is this the epic showdown that was promised? This film has many issues. It has some of the worst compositing effects of the series. The Kong suit isn't much to look at. He has this very dopey look on him.

The biggest issue is the Americanization of the film. It serves no real purpose whatsoever. Unlike the original, there's no American who is directly effected by the events. Instead, the only Americans are a news reporter and a couple of scientist who just comment on the events. I find myself just fast forwarding through these parts because I just find them unnecessary.  positives is the last 10 minutes of the film where Godzilla and Kong just fight at Mount Fuji. As stated before, we get to see both of theirs fighting styles. Some effects are cheesy, but have charm to them like a moment when they look like hand puppets. As a whole, this film is not as epic as expected, but does pay off in the last 10 minutes.     

     In 2019, The Criterion Collection released a remastered version of King Kong Vs Godzilla. This version improved many of the compositing effects. Also, the original Japanese version had its US debut. This version follows a similar story minus the American footage and soundtrack.