Review of Gorgo (1961) by Jean-Francois V — 06 Aug 2009

As the movie poster says, "Gorgo" is "like nothing you've ever seen before." It's not like "King Kong", because it stars Godzilla. And it's not like "Godzilla" either, because it has the same story as "King Kong". So it's really a different sort of movie.

I'm glad I saw this film a second time, even though it's not worth seeing even once, because I'd felt really bad for not liking it in the early eighties. I was a teenager then, and I'd read a review in my favorite movie magazine which praised it as a profound and sensitive monster movie, a hidden gem of British cinema, a classic. I found it boring and ridiculous, and it made me think there was something wrong with me. Maybe I was just one of those shallow kids who can only appreciate the latest trendy movie and are unable to relate to the better, less commercial, earlier stuff.

So it felt almost like a personal vindication to watch this again at 42, with the MST3K commentary, and to realise that I was right and the grown up who wrote the magazine article was wrong: "Gorgo" is laughably bad and pretentious. Lourie may have studied painting in Paris. He may have started his career as an art director and a production designer in the 1930s. He may have collaborated with the likes of Jean Renoir and Charles Chaplin. But "Gorgo" is not the kind of movie you should pretend to like in order to pass for a discerning film buff.

Some of my favorite lines from the MST3K commentary include: "Here's the script. You take my part in the movie for a while"; "I didn't know elephants exploded on impact"; and "I don't think he was the first officer ever" "That's exactly what they're saying!".