King Kong vs Godzilla

Toho, 1962

Original title: King Kong Tai Gojira
Translation: King Kong vs Godzilla
Director: Ishiro Honda
Special effects: Eiji Tsubaraya

King Kong vs. Godzilla is an eccentric departure from the Godzilla norm, featuring a man in a gorilla suit (King Kong), fighting Godzilla, freshly released from his iceberg enclosure from the end of Gigantis the Fire Monster. The film may have had its roots in earlier concepts for a new Kong feature put out by Ray Harryhausen before his death. This was the first color feature for either monster. There is something of an urban legend about the possiblity of dual ending, a victory for Kong in the American version, a victory for Godzilla in the Japanese; this is mostly false though the American version features inserted scenes and ends with a roar from Kong alone rather than both monsters, perhaps slanting an otherwise ambiguous outcome but not a true alternate ending. The film is obviously a spoof of commercialsm some critics also claim that Kong represents the resources of the Pacific Islands and Godzilla reprises his symbolism as the United States .

See also : Godzilla