KAIJULY: GODS AND MONSTERS

A G-rated sort of take on King Kong with all and stop animation included.

Can’t say I enjoyed it as much as many folks here, but it is still enjoyable enough for what it is and what it tends to do. Performances are solid. The stop motion is noticeable by default, but that has a charm to it and I liked it. Also liked that they chose to go in a “different direction”; I mean, there’s a building but the circumstances are completely different. There are a few minor attempts at tension and thrills, particularly during the last few minutes.

All in all, probably not as entertaining watching it early in the morning after waking up,…

This one was much more entertaining than I expected! I honestly expected something along the lines of Son of Kong, but more like the original in the fact that the friendly ape gets shipped off to Hollywood this time. While it had obvious similarities to the original it was of course its own story. Some of the scenes with the lions had me wondering if they were ever mistreated or hurt in the filming, like the shots when they were landing on things like tables and getting up to run away. Regardless I highly doubt any of them were seriously hurt even if some of the shots wouldn't fly under today's standards. It did, however, make for a pretty spectacular…

In essence a retelling of the King Kong legend but the jump in special effects creativity is palpable. This is Ray Harryhausen's first official credit and it's a beautiful showcase of the influence that would flourish for decades after. Like Kong, the magic here is the sense of breathing life and emotion in a stop-motion creature. Joe interacts with real humans, stop-motion humans, real lions, stop-motion lions, real backgrounds, rear-projection backgrounds, miniatures, models, fire(!!). It's a seamless blend of movie magic to suspend disbelief and the suspension holds steady. There's a jaw-dropping action scene where Joe destroys a nightclub and there's people scrambling for safety and lions running in panic. Suddenly, it's Roar all over again. But this is a…

Literally King Kong (1933) for tweens. 

Producer Merian C. Cooper and director Ernest B. Schoedsack join screenwriter Ruth Rose and star Robert Armstrong from the original 1933 horror film. Willis O’Brien also returned to execute the special effects. While O’Brien’s studio employed a number of animators it was primarily Ray Harryhausen who constructed the gorilla at the center of the action and brought it to life. The Mighty Joe Young was Harryhausen’s first feature length project and it shows all of his artistic hallmarks. Joe has weight. He moves smoothly. He expresses emotion with both his body and face. Harryhausen was gifted at investing his models with personality and Joe has loads of it.

The accomplishment is impressive and it…

Figured I'd make this a night of firsts with my very first film featuring Ray Harryhausen's work. I have to say I was immediately won over when Harryhausen's creation, Mr. Joseph Young, was credited as himself even receiving the all-important "AND" credit.

I expected a King Kong knockoff and it definitely treads in that territory but finds its own niche with humor and heart. In Africa, 8-year-old Jill Young scrapes together her most valuable toys and her father's speckling chrome flashlight to trade two passing hunters have captured. 12 years later, little Joe is now a massively oversized gorilla but he's still Jill's doting pet. What a bold introduction it is for Joe, a stop-motion creation paired in his first…

This is a wildly entertaining movie that is a much friendlier and sappier version of the King Kong mythos, but it charms because of those very facts. In this film Joe Young, love that they gave him a proper name, is given the chance to be a hero without the whole dying for love aspect of it that broke the hearts of viewers of KING KONG.
A gorilla grows up loved by a young lady in Africa and they live a peaceful life until a night club owner arrives to find something new to spice up his night club. Upon finding the giant that is controlled by this lovely girl he woos her to Hollywood for fame and fortune. Life…

This one’s going out for Helen Luella Koford (aka Terry Moore), born January 7, 1929.

“Introducing Mr. Joseph Young as Himself.”

Mighty Joe Young was one of my favorite films when I was a wee bairn. Not only is it a rousing adventure with cowboys, but Joe is misunderstood and mistreated, as many kids see themselves. Sure, it lacks the originality, iconic status, and Freudian overtones of King Kong, but it’s a sweeter tale, though some might not see that as a virtue.

On the negative side, lots of stuff in the screenplay by Ruth Rose, wife of director Ernest B. Schoedsack, is questionable. Would John Young (Regis Toomey) go to the big African plantation in the sky leaving his…

“Can you imagine the size of his hangover?”

Siri play “Beautiful Dreamer.” When they started throwing oversized fake money at poor Joe, I felt that. Afterwards, captive, depressed Joe gets drunk on stolen wine. I felt that, too.

More than a bit of a redo of King Kong, with the same creative team, the same special effects master (plus a new protege), and Robert Armstrong again (he can’t escape his gorilla fate). The rest of the cast is a mixed RKO bag: Ben Johnson is absolutely forgettable as the leading man, a half-human, half-wooden cowboy; Terry Moore, bless her heart, is given the character traits of sheltered, dumb, naïve and blonde—and performs them admirably.

Better availing themselves are the veterans:…

The first time i ever saw Mighty Joe Young was on BBC2 one tea time i think when i was a child and i was wowed by it. Now i'm no longer a child but i'm still wowed by it.

It's a film that seems lost in the mists of time probably because of what it's not. It's not King Kong. Other than it being a gorilla that's removed from it's home land and put on show that's all the similarities really.

Joe isn't some god to a lost tribe, he was an orphan who was brought up by a girl called Jill (Terry Young) at her home in Africa who then twelve years later both end up in as…