B. Movie - King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) - Film review

Figure 1. Movie poster

King Kong vs. Godzilla is a 1962 science fiction, fantasy B-Movie set in Japan, directed by Ishiro Honda. In the movie Mr.Tako, a pharmaceutical business man, dislikes the companies that his company is advertising. An employee tells Mr.Tako about a monster that has been found on a remote Island and Mr.Tako then finds the monster and brings it back in order to help his business become more successful. At the same time in America a ship hits an iceberg which releases Godzilla. They are both then transported to Japan where they start to fight each other.

King Kong vs. Godzilla is considered a B-Movie due to many different characteristics. One of the main characteristics shown in the film is that it uses low budget special effects. The special effects are shown throughout the film through the use of small location models and remote controlled vehicles. People dressed in costumes and paper mache masks are also used throughout the film to play the Godzilla and King Kong characters. For some scenes that were unable to be played by the actors, such as when King Kong falls down the hill in the final fight scene, push toys were used to make it seem more realistic. 

Figure 2. Fight scene

Another characteristic that the movie shares is that the film was easily digestible and easy to watch. This is as the film has a beginning, middle and end making the plot easily understandable and predictable. It is easy for the audience to guess that when they are introduced to both King Kong and Godzilla they will ultimately end up destroying Japan and causing chaos and battling each other. 

The film had also featured a cast of C/D list Japanese celebrities of the 1960's with many of them featuring in popular Japanese films of the time. This is a tell tale sign that the film is classed as a B-Movie as, due to the low film making budget, Ishiro Honda was only able to give C/D list celebrities the roles within his film.

Although the film is classed as a B-Movie I still admire the film making techniques that were used in the film due to the intricacy needed to create some of the props, such as the mini landscape models and the Godzilla and King Kong character costumes. The film may be low budget and also seem cheesy but because of this it allows current and future film makers to understand how special effects and CGI has advanced over the years to where it is today.



Illustrations:

Figure 1. (1962) Movie poster. https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/aug/22/godzilla-vs-kong-film-hollywood-monster-mashup-week-geek

Figure 2. (1962) Fight scene. https://www.inverse.com/article/17301-new-king-kong-will-be-100-feet-tall-as-monsters-including-godzilla-keep-growing