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A nuclear sub crashes into an iceberg, freeing Godzilla, who heads to Tokyo. Meanwhile, a buffoonish pharmaceutical executive sends two agents to a tropical island where they discover King Kong. When Kong drugs himself on narcotic berry juice, the nitwits decide to bring him back to Japan (just assuming that the drug will keep him unconscious) so that he can be used in advertising. Instead, the ape escapes, finds the big lizard, and it’s pro-wrestling time.
I try to ignore poor effects and makeup and judge each film for what it has to offer. I really do try. But sometimes, it isn’t possible. I could, under other circumstances, ignore how horrible the Godzilla suit is, looking like a gray Pillsbury Doughboy with a Cecil the Sea Sick Sea Serpent head stuck on top. Showing it under bright lights isn’t a clever idea, but it is passable from the side, and it would get worse in future films. In dim light I might have been able to forgive that the Black natives were all Japanese in black face wearing afro wigs. Some of the girls were quite cute in their native skirts after all.
But the guy in the plastic, inflexible monkey mask, with a fuzzy sweater and over-long arm extensions that leave the mitten-like hands immobile… No, that’s too much. There’s no way to ignore the ape costume.
The idea for this flick originally came from Willis O’Brien, a stop-motion artist on 1933’s King Kong, who wanted to bring Kong back in an impressive way. We can only sigh in relief that he died before this atrocity was unleashed.
We do get a bit more if you can look beyond the monkey mask. The human-side of things works better than in most Godzilla films. The characters are silly, but they also have personality. Memorable human characters are rare in the franchise, and if sometimes their antics can be a bit much, at least they aren’t boring. And we’ve got a theme. Toho was shifting hard to target children, so dark messages about nuclear weapons were out. The replacement was to satirize capitalism, which they also did in Mothra (1961) and Godzilla vs Mothra (1964). Since that’s not exactly a subject kids love, they did it with a good deal of broad humor. It works the best in this film, where advertising is the main topic.
King Kong vs. Godzilla is a significant film in the history of the atomic lizard. It was the first time he appeared in color (first time for the big ape as well). More significantly, it was his first action/comedy film. Godzilla stomps on fake tanks and exchanges punches with another giant while the humans fill in time and act as comic relief. It would be the pattern for the next fifteen years.
Purists complain that the dubbing and reediting for the U.S. release ruin the film. Nah. But it doesn’t do it any favors. The additions of U.N. news reports are unnecessary and shot with little cash or concern. The cuts remove much of the antics of the pharmaceutical employees, toning down the silliness, which might be a plus depending on your sense of humor. But the cuts also remove the theme and the editing is rough. Go with the Japanese version.