Toho Kingdom

Looks more like a scene from Legendary Wolfman vs Godzilla.

UltramanGoji wrote:Looks more like a scene from Legendary Wolfman vs Godzilla.

The first poster on that link specifically says it's not from that film. But again, I have no idea.

Also, that looks more like the legit KKvG suit than the one from Wolfman - that suit is good but not 100% the Kinggoji suit.

It’s definitely from KKvG: it’s seen in a Toho documentary in the Final Box collection.

Terasawa wrote:It’s definitely from KKvG: it’s seen in a Toho documentary in the Final Box collection.

Oh that's awesome. Is the whole scene there, or just this photo?

Poe Ghostal wrote:

Terasawa wrote:It’s definitely from KKvG: it’s seen in a Toho documentary in the Final Box collection.

Oh that's awesome. Is the whole scene there, or just this photo?

Sorry, I should have specified that. It's just this picture. I don't really speak Japanese so I'm not sure if anything is said about it while it's on screen. Eizo Kaimai, one of the monster suit makers from that period, otherwise seems to be talking about the construction of the '62 costume and this is one in a series of behind the scenes pictures of the suit.

It's "The Spirit of Godzilla" documentary for anyone with the Final Box that wants to check it out.

Terasawa wrote:Sorry, I should have specified that. It's just this picture. I don't really speak Japanese so I'm not sure if anything is said about it while it's on screen. Eizo Kaimai, one of the monster suit makers from that period, otherwise seems to be talking about the construction of the '62 costume and this is one in a series of behind the scenes pictures of the suit.

Still really cool. Thanks for the info!

Now, does anyone know what book this image comes from?

I was just wondering: now that Toho has restored some missing footage to King Kong vs. Godzilla, how much has the film been restored to in terms of completeness? 100%, 75%, 50%, what?

And what's the overall quality of the condition of this restoration, on a scale of 1 to 10?

This should be considered, I think, if we're ever going to get a Japanese subtitled version/American dubbed version any time soon (one can only hope, but I doubt it).

Just rewatched the Japanese Version continuing my marathon of the series in chronological order.

-Tako, in the Japanese version kills it. The actor who plays him has a great comedic presence. It’s funny because he actually has a simple yet decent character arc. Throughout the film he’s continually scheming and doesn’t give up, only for in the final moments of the film to give up. It’s also great, because he’s actually pretty smart despite his anger and bumbling nature.

-Speaking of Tako, it feels like there’s two camps of protagonists. You have Tako and Sakurai, who treat everything like a joke, and then you have Fumiko and her boyfriend who exist in a mindset not too far from 1954. Contrast how Tako is annoyed by Godzilla, not scared at all, when he appears, while Fumiko has a bunch of dramatic moments worrying about destruction and her boyfriend possibly being lost at sea.

-Tako references an in universe Godzilla film being made.

-I noticed that Fumiko must have the worst luck in the world, and there’s strange parallels in the events of he film. First she’s on the train, and gets attacked by Godzilla, only for her boyfriend to save her. Then later, Kong attacks the train she is in, only for Kong to kidnap her and then be saved by her boyfriend. I really wonder if this was intentional.

-I’m jaded whether the explorers are intentionally portrayed as being explorative, and if it’s satirious or not. The scene where they give cigs to the natives of Pharoh Island could be a joke or not.

-There’s a line on the radio: “We must make it clear that King Kong is a real animal, whereas Godzilla is a monster born from radiation”. I found this interesting, because in this dialogue the word for animal, dobutsu, was used in regards to Kong. While of course, past films called Godzilla a monster, this dialogue paralleling him against Kong really emphasizes that Godzilla is an unnatural monster, and not just a large prehistoric creature.

-The movie does a good job at balancing the Godzilla and Kong plots, swapping back and forth and giving equal time to each monster.

Overall, a really solid entry in the series. I don’t get why people view this film in a lesser regard then the films following right after it. While I wish there was more destruction, and perhaps a bit more in the final confrontation, just because of the two names attached, it’s a really entertaining Godzilla film.

Added in 17 days 5 hours 7 minutes 47 seconds:
So, the climax of this film takes place in Mt Fuji, but ends in the destruction of Atami Castle. I live in a city near Mt Fuji now, you can see it. But there’s actual a considerable distance between where the fight starts on Mt Fuji and where it ends on the coast. Of course they’re giant monsters, but knowing the relative distance in relation of this is sort of strange.

I need to rewatch this. I remember it being really good and a lot of fun. I can see why some don't like it though. Its in between two fairly dark entries in the series.

LSD Jellyfish wrote:-There’s a line on the radio: “We must make it clear that King Kong is a real animal, whereas Godzilla is a monster born from radiation”.

Right. With the lightning strikes to revive Kong after Godzilla tries to finish him off with his ray, it seemed like Mother Nature herself was helping the animal (natural) defeat the mutant (unnatural).

Shhh! The Octopus wrote:

LSD Jellyfish wrote:-There’s a line on the radio: “We must make it clear that King Kong is a real animal, whereas Godzilla is a monster born from radiation”.

Right. With the lightning strikes to revive Kong after Godzilla tries to finish him off with his ray, it seemed like Mother Nature herself was helping the animal (natural) defeat the mutant (unnatural).

Nice! I like that interpretation a lot.

It's been a long time since I've posted here.
Anyway, I just picked up this film for like $5 today, never got around to watching it and I think it was super good, didn't know there were 2 different versions though, US version was still entertaining.

Finally saw the Japanese version. I just can't get into this film. I don't know why. I will say though the Japanese one is better than the U.S. version. And with that, I have seen every King Kong film (at least till Godzilla vs Kong).

Added in 8 minutes 21 seconds:

Poe Ghostal wrote:

Terasawa wrote:Sorry, I should have specified that. It's just this picture. I don't really speak Japanese so I'm not sure if anything is said about it while it's on screen. Eizo Kaimai, one of the monster suit makers from that period, otherwise seems to be talking about the construction of the '62 costume and this is one in a series of behind the scenes pictures of the suit.

Still really cool. Thanks for the info!

Now, does anyone know what book this image comes from?

That's Noger Chen's artwork.

https://twitter.com/nogerchen/status/10 ... 9367314432

I like that art work. The human gives the picture a nice sense of scale.

I don't know if it was posted in the forums already, but Tadao Takashima, who played Osamu Sakurai in this movie, has passed away a day ago. RIP to an absolutely fantastic actor, his performance here was among the highlights for me besides Ichiro Arishima.

Dv-218 wrote:I don't know if it was posted in the forums already, but Tadao Takashima, who played Osamu Sakurai in this movie, has passed away a day ago. RIP to an absolutely fantastic actor, his performance here was among the highlights for me besides Ichiro Arishima.

He was great in every film I've seen him in, his contributions will be remembered. It was cool how he played alongside his son in the Heisei MG film. Rest in peace, Mr. Takashima.

MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote:

Dv-218 wrote:I don't know if it was posted in the forums already, but Tadao Takashima, who played Osamu Sakurai in this movie, has passed away a day ago. RIP to an absolutely fantastic actor, his performance here was among the highlights for me besides Ichiro Arishima.

He was great in every film I've seen him in, his contributions will be remembered. It was cool how he played alongside his son in the Heisei MG film. Rest in peace, Mr. Takashima.

Oh right! I forgot he played a part there too, kinda cool how he acted alongside his son there- an ideal family act.
RIP, he will be missed.

Even though this movie did have some entertaining scenes I was always very critical of putting these two monsters in the same movie unironically. While Godzilla may not have been the powerhouse the Heisei series would turn him into it is still a silly fight. This is further evidenced by the fact Godzilla had a weakness to electricity conjured out of nowhere just to let Kong win that we never see again perhaps except in the following movie GvM. Of course it just so happened Kong got powers completely out of character that just happened to be what Godzilla was weak to! If you have to make such dramatic alterations to these characters then that is proof they just weren't meant to meet. It felt like to me like this just a jingoistic chance to prove the US' monster is better than Japan's monster because at the time Kong was more popular than Godzilla in the US.

Most fans I talk to though still love the concept as well as the movie and the popularity of this film proves this is a popular match up and movie regardless. I do like how the film is basically a non-serious comedy, especially in the original Japanese version and the actual scenes between Godzilla and Kong are fairly entertaining on their own merit. Godzilla's suit is pretty nice but Kong's suit is just plain awful. That scrunchy face and ape boobs are hideous. Watching Kong get wasted on berry juice is also amusing as well as Godzilla acting like a bully when fighting Kong.

Godzilla always had discomfort when it came to electricity, that's why he used his breath to melt the high-tension wires in the original.

The weakness was also exploited in Mothra vs. Godzilla.

It just seemed as the series went on, he somehow gained an immunity towards it.