A UN reporter covers the appearance of a prehistoric monster that emerges from hibernation, while a pharmaceutical company seeks publicity with a monster of their own.A UN reporter covers the appearance of a prehistoric monster that emerges from hibernation, while a pharmaceutical company seeks publicity with a monster of their own.A UN reporter covers the appearance of a prehistoric monster that emerges from hibernation, while a pharmaceutical company seeks publicity with a monster of their own.
Kenji Sahara
- Kazuo Fujita
- (as Keji Sahaka)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe unedited original Japanese version of the film remains the highest attended Godzilla film in Japan. It is also one of the most attended films of all time at the Japanese box office as well as the most successful live-action science fantasy film with admission numbers surpassing Hollywood blockbusters such as Star Wars and Avatar. To this day it remains as the 13th most attended film of all time in Japan. The heavily re-edited US version that inserted new actors and deleted several scenes from the original was just as much of a success at the US box-office as well.
- GoofsWhen being hauled around by the balloons, Kong's right leg is twisted around painfully and sticks out of him at an odd angle. When it cuts to the suit with an actor inside it, the leg is back to its normal shape.
- Crazy creditsIn the credits for the U.S. version, actor Kenji Sahara is listed as "Keji Sahaka."
- Alternate versionsThis USA version is re-edited from the Japanese original, King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), and is vastly different. New scenes featuring Eric Carter as a United Nations reporter were inserted for the USA version, replacing some footage from the Japanese release. Most of the comedy bits featuring Shôichi Hirose and Ichirô Arishima are deleted in favor of bland action, screeching to a halt U.N. news reports which are completely dissociated from the story. In the USA version, Harry Holcombe recites a ludicrous idea that Godzilla is a cross of a tyrannosaurus (while pointing to an allosaurus in a children's book) and a stegosaurus. Most of Ifukube's magisterial score is deleted and replaced with themes from the score of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
- ConnectionsEdited from The Mysterians (1957)
Featured review
Godzilla escapes from an ice berg and King Kong is found on an island that has lots of kick ass berries on it which the natives grind into a juice for Kong to drink. After throwing boulders at a giant octopus and drinking the juice, Kong falls asleep and the local Japanese TV guys "ape nap" him and bring him back to Japan so their boss can exploit the big monkey for all he's worth. But en route, the Japanese government order the TV guys to send Kong back his home island because they've got enough problems with Godzilla as it is, they don't need a giant monkey on the rampage as well. Kong escapes and this leads to the inevitable clash of titans as Godzilla battles Kong for the right to demolish Tokyo.
The original Kong from the 1933 film was only 50 feet tall while Godzilla is 400 feet tall, so they had to make Kong a lot bigger for this film and in order to make the odds more even for him they endowed him with the ability to draw strength from lightning bolts. The King Kong suit is hopelessly phony to look at though.
The American version is a travesty that serves merely as filler until the big finale, with a reporter who really makes you long for Raymond Burr's reporter man Steve Martin. Whether or not the Japanese version ever becomes available in America remains to be seen, but hey, see whatever version you can get just to see Kong ram a ridiculously huge tree down Godzilla's throat!
The original Kong from the 1933 film was only 50 feet tall while Godzilla is 400 feet tall, so they had to make Kong a lot bigger for this film and in order to make the odds more even for him they endowed him with the ability to draw strength from lightning bolts. The King Kong suit is hopelessly phony to look at though.
The American version is a travesty that serves merely as filler until the big finale, with a reporter who really makes you long for Raymond Burr's reporter man Steve Martin. Whether or not the Japanese version ever becomes available in America remains to be seen, but hey, see whatever version you can get just to see Kong ram a ridiculously huge tree down Godzilla's throat!
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Die Rückkehr des King Kong
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $200,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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