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KING KONG/GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot and Akira Takarada Giant monster movies have been a part of world cinema since the early days of film making. Many techniques have been used over the decades, including stop-motion animation, the use of rubber suits and miniature models, and most recently, CGI. Whatever the method is, and no matter how good or bad it appears to the viewer, large monsters invading a city will be a hit with science fiction fans and film buffs alike. The Buddha Video Region 0 import combines great examples of these films, the original King Kong and Godzilla Vs. Mothra. King Kong Carl Denham, a stop-at-nothing film maker, leads a voyage to Skull Island to shoot his newest movie. He is attracted to Skull Island because of its exotic location, natives, and the rumored existence of giant monsters inhabiting the island. Denham enlists the talent and beauty of Ann Darrow to be the lead in his film. Along with the ship captain, second mate Jack Driscoll, and the rest of the crew, they leave for Skull Island. When they arrive, they are greeted with great hostility by the natives. They are participating in a ritual in honor of Kong, an entity that has never been seen before by the outside world. The movie makers and crew go back to their ship for the night with plans of returning the next morning to get their film footage. Later that night, Ann is captured by the natives who board the ship. They take her back to their village and hold her for sacrifice to Kong. Kong arrives and runs off with Ann.
When the crew of the ship discovers that Ann is missing, they go with arms to the village, and then on the trail of Kong. Many of the crew lose their lives at the hands of Kong and other pre-historic creatures that inhabit the island. Driscoll and Denham survive, with Denham returning to his crew to re-group, and Driscoll going after Kong and Darrow. After a series of battles between Kong and other horrific creatures living on the island, Darrow is rescued by Driscoll, and they return to the village. Upon their arrival, Kong appears and invades the village. Denham and his crew gas Kong and restrain him. Kong is then brought back to New York for exhibition.
On opening night of the public unveiling of Kong, Kong breaks free and goes out into the city. Kong rampages through New York, destroying property and killing people. Kong finds Ann, takes her, and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building. When it is thought that there is no way to get at Kong, Driscoll suggests the idea of going after Kong with airplanes. The airplanes start their flight at dawn for the final showdown between man and beast..... The now-familiar story of King Kong is that of the classic (or cliche) "beauty and the beast" variety. Kong fought valiantly against all opponents, but becomes soft and calm when around Ann. It was this angle that had been played up in the television version of this film for a long time, as scenes of Kong chewing on and stepping on people were cut out. King Kong is presented 1.33:1, and the print used is surprisingly in decent shape. The image is a little fuzzy and full of scratches, but given the age of the film and availability of film elements, it is not horrible.
The audio quality is as good as a film of its age could be. There are some dropouts, but overall, the quality is decent - no better or worse than any version found on home video. Godzilla Vs. Mothra King Kong Vs. Godzilla was successful enough for Toho to make another Godzilla film. Godzilla had been portrayed as a villainous creature during the early part of the series, and Godzilla Vs. Mothra was to be no different. A giant egg is found floating off the shore of a Japanese village. The egg is taken ashore and claimed for ownership by Kumi Yama, an entrepreneur. Twin fairies arrive, begging for the entrepreneur to relinquish the egg to Mothra, a giant moth-god from a distant, tropical island. Kumi Yama refuses, which incurs the wrath of Mothra.....
Godzilla unearths himself from under the ground, and immediately attacks the city. When Godzilla encounters Mothra's egg, he begins to attack it. Mothra launches an offensive against Godzilla, only to be killed by Godzilla's radioactive breath. Godzilla continues his rampage, battling the military every step of the way. The egg hatches, and giant twin caterpillars emerge. They follow Godzilla to a remote island and do battle with him. It appears that Godzilla would have the upper hand, however, the caterillars have a power of their own not taken into consideration.....
Godzilla Vs. Mothra is the last film in the Kaiju Eiga (the monster movie series by Toho, spanning from 1954-1975) series where Godzilla was portrayed as a villain. Godzilla found his heroism in the next film, Ghidrah - The Three Headed Monster. The horror of the first Godzilla film was re-enacted here as Godzilla mercilessly destroyed everything in his path. Godzilla Vs. Mothra is presented 1.33:1. The image quality is that of the presumed VHS master it was taken from. The image is dark, fuzzy, and full of scratches and speckles. There are even parts of the film where the video appears to be over-exposed. The digital mono audio quality is decent, but is not exceptional. There seem to be no audio drop-outs, but the general sound is relatively flat.
There are no extras on this disc, except for what appears to be a 14-minute long text bio for King Kong. It is in the Chinese language. With the release of Universal's new King Kong DVD, fans and collectors alike will find it easier to skip this disc. Godzilla Vs. Mothra is available in a better version on DVD and the Kong disc is loaded with extra features, not to mention the fact that it has been re-mastered from the best available elements. This release is only recommended for completists, collectors of Kong and Godzilla films and memorabilia. |
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