King Kong vs. Godzilla

Name: King Kong vs. Godzilla
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Released: June 26, 1963
Duration: 97 min
Rating: 40
Cast: Akemi Negishi, Akihiko Hirata, Akiko Wakabayashi, Ichirô Arishima, Jun Tazaki

1963

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 4 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Ratings

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6.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Ratings

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King Kong Vs. Godzilla

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Movie Details & Credits

Toho | Release Date: June 26, 1963 | Approved

Starring: Akemi Negishi, Akihiko Hirata, Akiko Wakabayashi, Ichirô Arishima, Jun Tazaki, Kenji Sahara, Mie Hama, Tadao Takashima, Yoshio Kosugi, Yû Fujiki

Summary: A pharmaceutical company captures King Kong and brings him to Japan, where he escapes from captivity and battles a recently released Godzilla.

Director: Ishirô Honda

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Rating: Approved

Runtime: 97 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Staff (Not Credited)

It's a peculiar kind of humor, but it does play. Read full review

Noel Murray

It began a transition in the series away from horror and toward kid-friendly adventure. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

On the plus side, King Kong Vs. Godzilla had a higher budget than most films, and it shows. Read full review

Bosley Crowther

The one mild surprise of this cheap reprise of earlier Hollywood and Japanese horror films is the ineptitude of its fakery. Read full review

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User Reviews

PetarPigeon

Apr 18, 2020

My favorite of both Godzilla and King Kong franchises!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Sucate

Mar 30, 2021

Just watched this movie before the remake and it's perfect! A fun movie with the 2 best kaiju fighting each other, what else can you ask? Very very good movie.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Kai82

Nov 2, 2021

A classic of the Kaiju genre and Godzilla franchise. You either like those or find them awful. I like both and enjoy also a bit of silliness and cheesiness (The good kind of cause). Strangely this movie should be something completely different. King Kong should originally fight against aA classic of the Kaiju genre and Godzilla franchise. You either like those or find them awful. I like both and enjoy also a bit of silliness and cheesiness (The good kind of cause). Strangely this movie should be something completely different. King Kong should originally fight against a giant Frankenstein monster. After some struggles and changes in the script Toho the company behind the Godzilla movies caught interest in the movie. So Godzilla came into the picture. As a sidenote you can see parts of the original idea as there is a scene with electricity that should work on a Frankenstein creature but not on the Kaiju. To be fair I thought many years that the King Kong vs Godzilla idea should be a no brainer and not something with such a complex production story. On the other hand we are still waiting for Godzilla vs Gamera. Back to the review. The story is what you expect with the title. Set up: A rich Japanese businessman wants something to boost his prestige. When he hears the stories of a giant monster on a small island he sends his man to capture it. Meanwhile a submarine causes the collapse of an iceberg and sets free Godzilla who is eager to attack Japan. So starts the story. It is actually more than expected and works well for the genre standards. You set up the legendary Kaiju and the battle begins. It is entertaining, cheesy and enjoyable. Of cause for non Kaiju and Godzilla fans this is garbage but then again why watching this movie if you hate this genre? The main characters are of cause both Kaiju and they deliver what the fans want and expect. It is good that they enlarged King Kong as he would be a tiny annoyance in his original size of approx 15 m from 1933. With this we get the battle of titans. The human cast is good and delivers by genre standards. It is not about them so I praise the effort. The costumes and sets aged not well and can be a bit anticlimactic. However other see this as charm of the franchise in that era and I do not mind. I should remind that the budget was just slightly above 600.000 dollars and for this I will say its excellent. The rest is history. It is one of the most successful movies in the franchise and became pop culture knowledge. A synonym for a big fight is still called “It is like King Kong vs Godzilla”. Overall I enjoy this as true classic of the era and Godzilla franchise. Like I said in the opening Kaiju movies are not for everyone. If you are a fan than it is a must see if not you should not watch this or waste your time with it. It is neither shameful to be a fan or being not a fan. We all have different preferences. In sports I would make the Baseball argument. Loved in some countries including the USA and a niche sport in others. Bonus knowledge: There is a rumor that two endings exists for the movie. Each one with the other Kaiju winning. However I could never find prove of this. Others say it is a myth that is too interesting to not be told. Maybe only a few copies exist or the idea existed only on paper and was never executed.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

oneofjw

Nov 24, 2022

Very boring. Many uninteresting **** going on for way too long. Godzilla's design was pretty cool.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

imthenoob

Aug 17, 2019

The plot to pit these two together is some-what decent but it really wasn't until the last 10-15 minutes of the film where we actually got to see the two monsters go head to head in a fight that was riddled with annoying jump cuts and terrible editing. The King Kong suit looked awful and IThe plot to pit these two together is some-what decent but it really wasn't until the last 10-15 minutes of the film where we actually got to see the two monsters go head to head in a fight that was riddled with annoying jump cuts and terrible editing. The King Kong suit looked awful and I thought using electricity to power him up was a weak way of giving him an advantage over Godzilla.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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