Forces of Geek "A History of Sci-Fi Cinema" - Pt X

The fine folks over at Forces of Geek have allowed me the space and time to ramble on about the history of science fiction cinema.  These bi-weekly columns, will make an attempt, however feeble, at discussing the history of this often chided cinematic genre.  From its birth to the latest CGI box office hits, I will take a look at the films that have filled the genre, as well as their literary influences and TV offshoots.  In this episode, my tenth in the series, I take a look at everybody's favourite giant-ass, radiation-breathing lizard/dragon/dinosaur thing - the phenomenon known simply as Godzilla.

Read my column, "All Things Godzilla," at Forces of Geek.

For links to all the parts in this series, go here, and scroll down to the Forces of Geek section.

Battle Royale #13: Battle of the Big Boys (The Results)

The biggest battle of 'em all is finally over, and we have ourselves a winner.  But which one of our mighty combatants, the great ape King Kong or the atomic dinosaur Godzilla, is that winner?  Well, let me tell ya, though I am sure even the least astute viewer will be able to figure said victor out by just peering over an inch or two, and looking at the great poster specially made for a 2000 screening of the original 1933 film at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - but I digress.  For the longest time, this looked like a runaway victory for King Kong (the eventual winner in the one and only cinematic battle these two giants ever had, in the 1962 film, appropriately titled King Kong vs. Godzilla), who at one time even sported an eleven vote lead, but as the end drew closer and closer, so did good ole 'Zilla, at one point coming to within just two votes of his mammalian opponent, but alas, Kong would never relinquish the lead, and poor Godzilla never could quite catch up.  In the end, the great beast who would eventually succumb to the wiles of beauty (though oddly returning in future movies) would win our thirteenth Battle Royale.  With a final tally of 28 votes (or 54% for the more statistically-minded among you) for King Kong to just 24 (or 46%) for his irradiated reptilian brethren, Godzilla, the biggest battle of 'em all has finally come to an end.  Congrats ya big ball of furry angst.

Now, as I am sure even the most basic math skills can easily realize, the 28 Kong votes and 24 'Zilla votes, add up to a grand total of 52 votes cast.  After the 66 votes cast in The Battle of the Hollywood Hoofers (Astaire edging out Kelly by just two votes) and the 64 cast in The Battle of the New Wave (Godard beating compatriot Truffaut by four), the 52 votes cast here are the third best voter turnout we have had in the whole of Battle Royale history.  Still though, I know we can get those numbers up even higher - maybe even into the triple digits like we managed to accomplish with the annual Oscar poll in January and February (almost 200 votes cast there, though it did last a lot longer than the normal two weeks of the typical Battle Royale, and had a more mainstream topic).  So, tell all your friends about the fun to be had, and the pride one can feel in being part of our Battle Royale, and let us get those vote totals up.  And speaking of voting, your next opportunity to do so, will be coming up in just a few days.  On either Tuesday or Wednesday (depending on how busy/lazy I feel), the combatants for Battle Royale #14 will be announced.  These combatants are men of few words but strong morals, and great iconic talent.  Who are they you ask?  Well, be back here on the aforementioned Tuesday or Wednesday, and find out.  In the meantime, there may be a film review or two posted around these parts.  I will leave you with a behind-the-scenes (obviously) shot from the 1962 film, King Kong vs. Godzilla.

Battle Royale #13: Battle of the Big Boys

Welcome to the thirteenth Battle Royale here at The Most Beautiful Fraud in the World.   It is an ongoing series that will pit two classic cinematic greats against each other - and you can vote for who is the greater by clicking your choice over in the poll at the top of the sidebar.

In the past, our battles have been between actors and directors, dancers and comedy teams, but this time around, we are going for something a little different - and something a lot bigger.  For lucky Battle Royale number thirteen, we are going for two of the biggest stars in movie history.  No, not Ollie Hardy and Fatty Arbuckle.  This time around we are pitting two giants of the silver screen against each other in mortal combat.  Real big giants.  Yes ladies and germs, they did battle only once on the big screen, back in 1962 (as well as a brief battle three years later, in the DC comic, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #84, though for copyright reasons, their names were changed - as well as making a joint appearance in a Peruvian burger commercial), but here they are again for a second epic battle.  You guessed it baby (not that it was a difficult task of guessing, since there is a picture right over there), it is King Kong versus Godzilla.  It's boom time baby!

Kong was born in 1933, in the now classic monster movie by Merian C. Cooper, and Godzilla came about in the self-titled 1954 Japanese film, before becoming Americanized in the 1956 semi-remake.  Throughout cinematic history, both Kong and Godzilla have had numerous filmic incarnations - sequels, spin-offs and remakes galore.  These two movie monster greats can also be found in comicbooks, cartoons and graphic novels, as well as toy lines out the wazoo.  Godzilla even got a Scrappy-Doo-esque little cousin named Godzooky once - but that may not be his most shining hour.  But back to the battle at hand.  Now yes, if one were to compare the size of the atomic-radiated prehistoric dinosaur-esque Godzilla with that of the great ape Kong, Godzilla would be about four or five times bigger than Kong, and therefore the eventual winner (I know, I know, David vs. Goliath, Jack vs. the Giants, etc, but still), but in the 1962 film version, Kong is sized up quite a bit and is therefore the same approximate size as our big freakin' lizard.  In fact, when these two bad ass movie monsters clashed in said 1962 movie, it was Kong who came out the victor, but that doesn't mean he has to here as well - although he still might.  And it is YOU who can decide!!

All you need to do is go on over to the poll - placed conveniently near the top of the sidebar of this very same website - and make your vote heard.  And remember, you can rant and rave about Kong and/or 'Zilla, all you want in the comments section of this post - and please do, because we encourage such antics - but in order for your vote to be counted, you must actually vote in the aforementioned poll near the top of the sidebar.  After that, please feel free to come back here and rant and rave to your heart's delight.  And also, please tell all your friends to get in on the voting fun as well.  Our record voter turnout here in the Battle Royale arena, is just 66 votes - waaaay back in our second battle - but I know we can blow that number out of the proverbial water - maybe even reach triple digits this time around.  Voting will run through midnight EST, the night of April 26th - just over two weeks from the starting time - so get out there and vote vote vote.  The winner will be announced in a post on Saturday, April 27th.  Oh, and by the way, in an attempt to give credit where credit is due, the above artistic rendering of these two giants at battle is by Frank Parr, who's work can be found at Kaijuverse, DeviantART.