Monster Discussion #12: King Kong

[Godz]

I also have to say that this was the first Godzilla movie I ever saw, so I love it. I think it, and Kong in this film, are overly criticized these days...its just a fun movie. I do remember this Kong was one of the only kaiju that scared me....I used to have nightmares about the scene where he runs through some buildings, trampling them, waving his arms overhead.....that was scary to me compared to most other lumbering kaiju that you could MAYBE run away from....

[MekaGojira3k]

I think I like the KKvsG version of Kong fairly well. The suit is better than the KKE one, and overall I have more fun watching Kong in this film than I do in the 70s film and King Kong Lives.

[TokyoVigilante]

I enjoy the ogre-ish quality to this Kong quite a bit and his electricity powers work surprisingly well. I'd love to see a legitimate fan redesign that emphasis's the mythical ogre/yeti look about him over making him more of a gorilla.

But yeah, big fan of Toho Kong.

[Rockzilla]

I don't have any beef with that Kong Suit. I kind of like it actually. I think it has been said before, but he looks a bit like Jack Nicholson.

[Megalon-5]

I like Toho's Kong. I've always been a big Kong fan and my favorite incarnations are this one and the original. He looks a bit silly, but that adds to his charm. He looks more like an ogre/orangutan/yeti than a proper gorilla. I remember back in elementary school I was obsessed with finding King Kong vs. Godzilla and it took me years before I could find it. So when I finally saw it, it was a great experience and I've loved the film and the monster suits ever since. The electricity power was really weird, but it was nice Toho gave him an edge over Godzilla. I wish Toho definitively owned their version of Kong so they could use him whenever and not be bogged down by the insane prices they'd have to pay to use him normally.

[wrongnote85]

I think I like the KKvsG version of Kong fairly well. The suit is better than the KKE one, and overall I have more fun watching Kong in this film than I do in the 70s film and King Kong Lives.

i don't see how anybody could have fun trying to watch king kong lives.

[Goji]

KING KONG LIVES is pretty monotonous. I got it as a gift for my 5th birthday back when it was a new release, and yet I don't have much of a nostalgic attachment to it, despite the fact that I watched it fairly often. It's too long, and the pacing is pretty awful, IIRC.

[wrongnote85]

not to mention that every one of the actors have that 'im going through the motions for this' thing going on.

[space godzilla]

Some people I know think he looks like Bigfoot.

[JAGzilla]

^ Well, he admittedly does. He looks a lot more like Bigfoot than a normal gorilla. Which isn't a problem, IMO. A 150-foot realistic gorilla would probably look kind of strange, and would've been hard to pull off with a suit. What Toho did with him works better than that would.

[Giga Kaiju]

He looks bad but he is portrayed good. A Fighting creature that doesnt back down. (Excluding the first encounter
with Godzilla)

[James23873]

^ The first encounter seemed like a strategic withdrawl. He realized he was at a distinct disadvantage as long as Godzilla was on the cliff raining atomic fire down on him.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

^ The first encounter seemed like a strategic withdrawl. He realized he was at a distinct disadvantage as long as Godzilla was on the cliff raining atomic fire down on him.

There was nothing strategic about Kong in their first fight. You can tell that by the completely dumbfounded look on his face when he leaves.

[Spuro]

^ The first encounter seemed like a strategic withdrawl. He realized he was at a distinct disadvantage as long as Godzilla was on the cliff raining atomic fire down on him.

There was nothing strategic about Kong in their first fight. You can tell that by the completely dumbfounded look on his face when he leaves.

Well I'm sure you would be confused too if you met had fought nothing but giant octopuses (maybe some random giant dinosaur too, who knows) and all of a sudden, you had to fight a creature that was more like fighting a flame thrower. It would be like if you were a professional boxer and all of a sudden your new enemy started flying around while shooting lighting out of his eyes.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

^ The first encounter seemed like a strategic withdrawl. He realized he was at a distinct disadvantage as long as Godzilla was on the cliff raining atomic fire down on him.

There was nothing strategic about Kong in their first fight. You can tell that by the completely dumbfounded look on his face when he leaves.

Well I'm sure you would be confused too if you met had fought nothing but giant octopuses (maybe some random giant dinosaur too, who knows) and all of a sudden, you had to fight a creature that was more like fighting a flame thrower. It would be like if you were a professional boxer and all of a sudden your new enemy started flying around while shooting lighting out of his eyes.

That's not what I meant. Yes, Kong was completely confused by what happened with Godzilla. Therefore, he couldn't do anything strategic.

[James23873]

That's not what I meant. Yes, Kong was completely confused by what happened with Godzilla. Therefore, he couldn't do anything strategic.

I used the phrase strategic withdrawl simply because Kong does not seem like the type to just give up. He realized he couldn't win in that fight, and therefore left, waiting until they could have a rematch on more even ground. And in the meantime he could think of ways to deal with the atomic breath.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

That's not what I meant. Yes, Kong was completely confused by what happened with Godzilla. Therefore, he couldn't do anything strategic.

I used the phrase strategic withdrawl simply because Kong does not seem like the type to just give up.

Looked like he gave up in the first fight with Godzilla.

He realized he couldn't win in that fight, and therefore left, waiting until they could have a rematch on more even ground.

How would Kong know that they would ever fight again? The only reason Kong and Godzilla fought again was because the military made it so they would fight.

And in the meantime he could think of ways to deal with the atomic breath.

Didn't look like he was thinking of ways to deal with Godzilla's breath. Looked like he was more concerned with Fumiko and getting into Tokyo.

[miguelnuva]

I thought the whole point of the second fight was to show how quick Kong could think under pressure had the military not set it up I doubt Kong or Godzilla would have crossed paths again.

[James23873]

I have to admit that I've only seen the American version of KKvG. And it suggests that Kong and Godzilla were instinctively heading for each other. That always made me think that Kong would have gone back for him eventually anyways. What about the Japanese version? Does it say why the two crossed paths in the first encounter?

[Space Hunter M]

There is no mention of "instinctive rivalry" in the Japanese version. No specific answer is given as to why the two hate each other. One character in a scene that was excised from the U.S. cut even asks the same question, though Dr. Shigezawa gives no response. They just happened to cross paths.