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Article:
7
Date: 5/18/08
Year: 1962
 |
King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) |
Company:
GoodTimes Home Video Corp. (1987)
Country: United States
Category: Slip Cover
|
| Probably
one of the most common VHS tapes to be included in
a kaiju fan’s collection, Goodtimes’s
King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) sports a watercolored
front cover that is so badly done that you can hardly
tell who is who in the human crowd. But that really
doesn’t matter since the stars of the film are
the monsters, after all. Godzilla and King Kong seem
rather accurate compared to their film counterparts.
I mean, remember when Godzilla fired a puke pink beam?
Sarcasm aside, it’s a rather well-drawn front
cover. Moving on to the back of the cover, the synopsis
is accurate... until you get to the fourth
sentence where it says Kong is revived by a thunderstorm
after he gets burned by Godzilla at Nikko (which fans
know is wrong). Nevertheless, it’s a minor flaw.
The back also has a publicity shot of King Kong and
Godzilla during the destruction of Atami Castle. |
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King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) |
Company:
GoodTimes Home Video Corp. (1998)
Country: United States
Category: Clam Shell
|
This
re-release of King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) from video distribution
giant GoodTimes is an apparent attempt to cash in
on the heightened interest surrounding Godzilla that
came with the release of the American version; the
text on the back even acknowledges that Godzilla "is
soon to return to the big screen." However, despite
the sizeable banner proclaiming this release to be
the "35th Anniversary Edition," this is
for all intents and purposes the exact same product
released by the company in 1987. Even the sticker
on the cassette is identical to the earlier release,
all the way down to the 1987 copyright. The only difference
is the size of the tape wheels inside, which are much
bigger in this newer release.
The cover images are an amusing mishmash, with no
stills of the monsters taken from the actual film.
Instead, the front includes the familiar green-tinged
headshot taken from The
Return of Godzilla (1984), which GoodTimes
also employed on their video release of Ebirah,
Horror of the Deep (1966), coupled with the
mug of the 1976 King Kong gorilla suit. Below the
floating heads are full-body shots of 1976's King
Kong and a color-correct Godzilla from Godzilla
vs. Megalon (1973) rampaging through a fiery
Japanese city. Oddly, Godzilla is spewing red-orange
flame here. The only shot from King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) is on the back cover,
featuring the voluptuous native babe from Farou Island
mid-dance, adding on some cheesecake to lure in the
male audience. Bizarrely, this shot is black-and-white,
while the picture above taken from the original 1933
King Kong has been colorized brown! The synopsis
of the movie is surprisingly knowledgeable, connecting
Godzilla's iceberg prison to the climax from Godzilla
Raids Again (1955). Along with the plot details,
the box features an impressively extensive cast and
crew list, but obnoxiously includes the common misspelling
of the director's name as "Inoshiro" Honda. |
|
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King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) |
Company:
Westcoast Motion Pictures (Year Unlisted)
Country: Chile
Category: Clam Shell
|
| Making
a tremendous effort to top their previous release
in terms of bad quality, Westcoast created quite the
horryfing tape for King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). To begin with,
the film's title is now Godzilla vs. King Kong.
This is due to the fact they used the US theatrical
poster for Godzilla
(1954) as a cover, deleting every tagline and credit,
as well as the "King of the Monsters" subtitle.
Kong is added to the mix naturally, with his shot
taken from (as you might intuit) a theatrical poster
of King Kong (1933). "TERRIBLE EARTHQUAKES...ARTIC
MELTS...AND 2 GIANTS MEET", so reads the tagline
on the back cover (or what Westcoast intended
as a synopsis). Much like Godzilla
Raids Again (1955), a poster from Godzilla
(1954) is used to fill in the blanks. As for the movie
itself, the US version is present here. Instead of
using subtitles like before, this time we get captions.
That's right, you do get to read "Monster Roars"
or "Alarm Bell". |
|
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Gorath
(1962) |
Company:
Prism Entertainment Corporation (1986)
Country: United States
Category: Slip Cover
|
| One
of the more obscure Toho tapes to hit the states,
Gorath's release date strangely enough appears to
predate most of Godzilla's VHS incarnations. Containing
the edited U.S. version, the front cover basically
features a comet on a blurred backdrop. The real eyecatcher
is the phrase at the top: "From the Director
of Godzilla." The description on the back, oddly
enough, attempts to appeal specifically to Star Trek
fans; all the while, the synopsis' author tries very
hard to hit home the aforementioned director-connection
to Godzilla
(1954). As for the tape itself, the picture and sound
aren't very crisp, but considering there aren't any
Region 1 prospects in the near future, this will still
prove to be a more than acceptable addition to any
collection (if you can find one on eBay, that is). |
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