King Kong Vs Godzilla - Tumblr Posts
Followup: King Kong vs Godzilla
I was not left disappointed. This movie is fun and good. Not emotionally gripping, but very good fun.
This movie is absurd and funny, especially in a good couple of the dialogues. The film being (in part) kickstarted by a pharma executive frustrated with the company's poor advertising is honestly incredible. And it's even funnier how he keeps on rooting for King Kong even after having lost any kind of control over the situation.
The fights are kinda fun, but obviously a bit underwhelming because of the technical limitations. And while the larger practical setpieces are pretty well done, I find some of the greenscreen effects very janky. The octopus was a very neat setpiece, however, and kind of an exception almost.
I generally do like the designs of the kaiju. They're pretty brutish overall and can be a bit silly sometimes. Godzilla himself looks very dinosaurian with his head and fat body (another example of his versatility as a basic design), and I fw how Kong has this sort of orangutan-macaque-like build moreso than that of a gorilla.
The Bernard Heuvelmans/cryptid deal with the kaiju's general background as unkown strange kinds of otherwise real animals is pretty charming. Not surprising since this was fairly popular or sensational in contemporary sci comm iirc?
I have seen a bit of similarish things with some older science books at my grandparents'. On the topic of cryptids, I strongly suggest getting Cryptozoologicon, btw.
The film also has some cool shots.
And the score, by none other than Akira Ifukube, is brilliant. Here's an anniversary concert rendition of it.
Anyways, a pretty fun watch, and I suggest watching it.
... SHITTING CHRIST I'M THICK, KING KONG VS. GODZILLA PREDICTED HEARTSTOPPER
Ishirō Honda, truly ahead of his time...
...
KING KONG (Dir: Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933).
RKO Radio Pictures’ modern day Beauty and the Beast is the daddy of all monster movies; chronicling the tale of the Eighth Wonder of the World, King Kong.
Maverick filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) and actress Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) travel to the exotic Skull Island to shoot Denham's latest movie, there encountering the 20 foot tall ape King Kong. Kong falls for Darrow and is used by Denham as bait for the primate's capture. They return to New York with the intention of parading the mammoth beast before a paying public. The plan fails when Kong goes ape, resulting in a climax both thrilling and surprisingly touching and featuring one of the greatest last lines of any movie.
With a cast relatively unknown to modern audiences the real star of the picture is, of course, the gorilla. We are roughly halfway through the movie before we meet Kong. He is mesmerising. Provoking terror and eliciting sympathy from the audience, Kong is completely believable as a living, breathing creature. The animated ape has more personality than most leading men!
Willis O’Brien’s stop motion special effects are astonishing. King Kong is full of breathtaking special effects set pieces which must have seemed miraculous in 1933. Of course the effects do not look as slick as modern day computer graphics but they do have a tactile quality missing from CGI. They are certainly more impressive than the man in the monkey suit of some later Kong movies.
Kong would inspire countless imitations and spawn sequels, remakes and reboots including the forthcoming Godzilla vs Kong (Adam Wingard, 2020). While, admittedly, many of the Kong spin-offs have had their merits, the original has never really been equalled.
A truly astounding piece of filmmaking, King Kong is a work of art that is rightly regarded a masterpiece.
Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for a longer, more in-depth review of King Kong! Link below.
THE SON OF KONG (Dir: Ernest B Schoedsack, 1933).
How would the makers of Son of Kong manage to top the groundbreaking, blockbuster original King Kong (Merian C Cooper & Ernest Schoedsack, 1933)? Short answer: they wouldn’t. But neither did they try. Ernest Schoedsack returns as producer/director but Merian C Cooper, his collaborator on the first movie, bowed out when RKO slashed the budget. Scriptwriter Ruth Rose also returns, as do cast members Robert Armstrong as Denham and Victor Wong as Charlie the Cook.
A month after the disastrous events of the first movie, beleaguered showman and moviemaker Carl Denham escapes his creditors by chartering a ship to Kong's Skull Island, in search of mythical hidden treasure. Joined by an animal trainer cum singer (Helen Mack) and shady ships' captain (Frank Reicher) and faithful cook Charlie, the gang are cast overboard by a mutinous crew and arrive on the island via rowboat. After a hostile encounter with the native islanders they encounter the ape sinking into quicksand. Denham and the singer rescue pint-sized Kong who then befriends the pair as they battle a cave bear and brave a massive earthquake in their search for riches.
Although this movie lacks the grandiose special effects set pieces of the original King Kong, Kong Jr is still an impressive beast. Smaller than his pa at 12 foot, as opposed to Kong’s 20ish foot, Kong Jr is also more anthropomorphised than his father. The stop motion ape is, once again, beautifully animated by special effects genius Willis O’Brien. Yet with more human like expressions he is less menacing than his dad, but likewise less sympathetic.
Son of Kong adopts a much lighter, more comic tone than its predecessor and a result the movie is, sadly, less impressive, less poignant and less engaging than the original King Kong. But it is by no means the disaster it was initially perceived to be. Its special effects are still superlative; the performances are strong and at barely 70 minutes it doesn’t outstay its welcome. Lower your expectations (slightly) and you will find The Son of Kong a highly entertaining time waster.
Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for a longer, more in-depth review of Son of Kong! Link below.
