Godzilla vs. King Kong (remake) (Johnsonverse)

Godzilla vs King Kong is the third Johnson Studios-made remake.

Plot

Mr. Tako, head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, is frustrated with the television shows his company is sponsoring and wants something to boost his ratings. When Doctor Makino tells Tako about a giant monster he discovered on the small Faro Island, Tako believes that it would be a brilliant idea "...with a punch" to use the monster to gain publicity. Tako immediately sends two men, Sakurai and Kinsaburo, to find and bring back the monster from Faro.

Meanwhile, the American submarine Seahawk momentarily loses power, and is attacked by Godzilla, who wants its radiation. As an American rescue helicopter circles the wreckage, Godzilla heads towards a nearby Japanese Arctic base. The base, of course, is ineffective against Godzilla. Godzilla's appearance is all over the press and makes Tako angry. As Tako is complaining about Godzilla's media hype to his employees, one of them exclaims "And... there's a movie too!"

Meanwhile on Faro Island, the giant octopus Oodako attacks the village. King Kong finally makes his appearance and defeats the monster. Kong then drinks some red berry juice and falls asleep. Sakurai and Kinsaburo place Kong on a large raft and begin to transport him back to Japan. Back at Pacific Pharmaceuticals, Tako is excited because Kong is now all over the press instead of Godzilla. As Tako is out of the room, one of the employees ask which is stronger between King Kong and Godzilla. Another employee responds "Stupid, it's not a wrestling match!" Tako walks back in the room and exclaims "I'll buy that idea!"

On Monster Island, Godzilla confides to Anguirus and Varan that he is very concerned that this newcomer King Kong could take his territory in Tokyo. He worked hard (and smashed an alien mech called Moguera in 1957) to hold dominion over Tokyo. Anguirus and Varan encourage him to kill Kong, and Godzilla departs, eventually arriving in a valley.

Mr. Tako arrives on the ship transporting Kong, but unfortunately, the monster then wakes up and breaks free from the raft. As Kong meets up with Godzilla in the valley, Tako, Sakurai, and Kinsaburo have difficulty avoiding the JSDF to watch the fight. Eventually they find a spot. Kong throws some large rocks at Godzilla, but Godzilla shoots his atomic ray at Kong, so King Kong retreats, as Godzilla turns toward the JSDF for Round 3, decimating the army.

The JSDF constantly try and stop both Kong and Godzilla but are mostly ineffective. They set up some power lines filled with a million volts of electricity (compare that to the 300,000 volts Godzilla went through in the original movie). The electricity is too much for Godzilla, but it seems to make King Kong stronger. Kong attacks Tokyo and holds a woman from a train, named Fumiko, hostage. Tom Stephenson, on assignment to Tokyo for WBC, notes the similarities between what's going on here and what happened in New York City in 1933, and theorizes that this Kong is the same, mutated by radiation. The JSDF explode capsules full of the berry juice from Faro's scent and knock out King Kong. Tako approved of this plan because he "...didn't want anything bad to happen to Kong." The JSDF then decide to transport Kong via balloons to Godzilla, in hope that they will fight each other to their deaths.

The next morning, Kong meets up with Godzilla and the two begin to fight. Godzilla eventually knocks Kong unconscious but then a thunder storm arrives and revives King Kong, giving him the power of an electric grasp. The two begin to fight, Kong shoving a tree in Godzilla's mouth, Godzilla lighting it on fire, burning Kong's hand. The two monsters fight some more, tearing down Atami Castle in the process, and eventually plunge into the sea. After an underwater battle, only Godzilla resurfaces and turns towards Tokyo to assert his dominance once more. Stephenson assumes Kong was killed in the fight, until he sees Kong re-emerge and head for Mondo Island.

Differences from Original

Title

In this version, Godzilla is given top-billing, since he wins the fight

Story

A new scene with Godzilla, Anguirus, and Varan on Monster Island is added, and show Godzilla's motives
New Tom Stephenson scenes are added