King Kong vs. Godzilla

An advertising executive at Pacific Pharmaceuticals is unhappy with the poor ratings of his company's sponsored television show and decides he needs a bigger spectacle. He sends a team to Faro Island, where a giant ape known as King Kong is said to live, intending to bring the creature back and use it to promote his products. At the same time, Godzilla resurfaces, and the two monsters are soon on a collision course. The media latches onto the prospect of a confrontation between them, and the executive sees a chance to turn the whole thing into a publicity event.

King Kong vs. Godzilla was directed by Ishirō Honda, the tenth of the twenty-five films he made, following Mothra and preceding Varan the Unbelievable. Shinichi Sekizawa wrote the screenplay, Tomoyuki Tanaka produced, and the cast includes Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, Yū Fujiki, Ichirō Arishima, Jun Tazaki and Akihiko Hirata, with thirty-three credited performers and fifty-six credited crew members. Made in Japan and the United States, it runs ninety-seven minutes and mixes action, adventure, comedy, fantasy and science fiction. It took in about thirteen million dollars worldwide, a strong result for a kaiju film of its era, and holds a rating of 6.9 out of 10 on TMDB from 356 votes, indicating a generally favourable audience response.