The third film in the Godzilla series, King Kong Vs. Godzilla was the highest grossing to date, selling 11.2 million tickets during its initial theatrical run.

This was the second of eight Godzilla films for director Ishirō Honda

Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya rubbing elbows with the stars.

Eiji Tsuburaya and an octopus wrangler prepare to terrorize a miniature village with a “giant” octopus. 

Monsters, but certainly not heathens: a Shinto priest performs a purification ceremony prior to the start of filming.

Bringing cinema’s greatest questions to the round table in a winner-takes-all battle.

This Week’s Battle: Who is the better monster, Godzilla or King Kong?

Both of these monsters have become icons. Each has multiple films under their belts as well as remakes. And of course, both of them are recognizable household names. But now it’s time to bring it to the Andy vs. Brian arena. The question that’s been asked for decades! Which of these two beasts is the better all-around monster?

A:

King Kong is the better monster hands down. Godzilla is a giant reptile. He just looks like a mutated deformed dinosaur. And do I really need to remind you what happens when a dinosaur confronts King Kong? Even when they double-team him AND he is busy trying to keep a pretty lady safe, he comes out victorious Primates will always beat reptiles. That’s just science.

B:

King Kong is a legitimate monster, no one will argue that.  But if you want to take the scientific path, then let’s try to remember that while Godzilla shares many similarities with dinosaurs, he also has a few attributes that make him a bit more …monstrous.  He’s bigger, he’s badder, and what’s that? He breathes fire? He breathes fire.

A: 

Ok sure, I may have forgotten about the fire. But it’s not all about causing destruction. Primates are much smarter than lizards. King Kong makes a deep and personal connection with Ann. They connect in a way that only mammals can. and Dr. Seussian constructed sentences aside, In the end, King Kong is also a hero. Not just a mindless beast that happens to be a metaphor for nuclear war. Those airplanes should be ashamed of themselves.

B:

You know what’s really terrifying, more so than a giant ape that loves a woman? - Hearing Godzilla’s roar as he decimates a city center and bullets ricochet off his crocodile-esque dorsal plates.

A:
I do love Godzilla’s roar… But I shall leave you with this. Do you know what “Gojira” means? It’s a mixture of the japanese words for gorilla (gorira) and whale (kujira). Yeah, that’s right. “Gorilla”. I think I’ve proven my point. (In case you missed it, I’m trying to say Gorillas rock.)

B:
Godzilla breathes fire.


What do you guys think. Godzilla or King Kong? 

The original idea for the monster showdown came from the animator of the first stop-motion Kong, Willis O’Brien, and was meant to be a battle between Kong and giant version of Frankenstein. This idea never made it off the drawing board and was eventually sold to the Japanese studio Toho, who decided to substitute Godzilla for Frankie and make it the third film of the Godzilla series.

This begs the question: What did we miss!?! What would a battle between the over-sized and fierce gorilla and the fire-hating patch-work zombie look like? And who would have won? These two have one thing in common for sure: they both have a soft-spot for the ladies. Something you couldn’t accuse our cold-blooded mutant lizard friend of.

Things could have gotten pretty ugly if they fell for the same girl.

 
 

“Now an all-mighty all-new motion picture brings them together for the first time in the colossal clash of all time!”

Forty-nine years ago today, King Kong and Godzilla took the big screen by firestorm, to have a showdown of terror and destruction on the island of Japan. Okay, so it’s not the true anniversary of the film, since it had been released in Japan the Summer before, but by the time if made it across the pond to US audiences it had seen some big changes. Tailored to perceived American tastes, with a new soundtrack, nips and tucks to cut out the satire, and new American characters, it was quite a different experience when it hit the US screenings on June 17th 1963.

We’re celebrating King Kong Vs. Godzilla all day long on the blog, paying homage with photos, fun facts, footage, common myths, reviews from the time, and a very special Andy Vs. Brian in which they will duke it out to determine once and for all which is the greatest monster.

Want to add to the conversation? Email socialmedia@tugginc.com!