King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Full disclosure, the eight-year-old in me cannot not watch a Godzilla movie when it comes on. I can always find some entertainment value in these kinds of movies, until today.

I'll start with the good. The miniatures were amazing as always. The houses, cars, trucks, and trains were spot on. Godzilla was a little thin, but not the worst I've seen. Kong finally falls for woman who is not a blonde. Unfortunately, Fumiko spent most of her time unconscious while in Kong's hand. That's it. That's all I've got.

Now the bad. Whoever designed Kong had obviously never seen a gorilla. Or maybe it was a great costume to start with but was accidentally mauled by a pack of dogs and the production company was over budget and didn't have the money for a new one. The crowd overlays made the people look like blue ghosts. Kong can be controlled by a drink made out of the berries indigenous to his island. The locals get him drunk every night until he passes out to keep him under control. mmmmkay. The ending was an ambiguous mess.

Now, the really bad. I know that this movie was a product of it's times (1962) and we cannot retroactively go back and fix it. Having said that, seeing the islanders portrayed by Japanese actors in black face and curly wigs was a horrible sight for my modern eyes. This is not to disparage the Japanese, 1962 was a bad time where I live if you weren't white. Just to throw salt in the wound the company men on the island seeking Kong and the magical berries handed cigarettes out to the islanders to win them over---even the kids!

All of these movies are dated, but this one more than any other that I have seen does not hold up---at all.

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