Favorite Version of Each Godzilla Film

[Darth Kiryu]

I'm pretty vanilla and prefer the Japanese originals for all of them.

I especially avoid the Heisei dubs like the second coming of the Black Plague. The Showa dubs are charmingly cheesy, the Millennium dubs are okay, but the Heisei dubs are just bad.

outside of G2000 the millennium dubs are not better than the heisei ones. It's literally the same team doing the dub

Suppose that shows my recall. Only watched the dubbed versions of the Millennium movies once before switching to subs.

[szmigiel]

I generally enjoy the Japanese cuts of the films for the most part. I also enjoy the Tetra and AIP dubs of the golden age with Invasion of the Astro Monsters dub being my favorite. Both the Godzilla Raids Again and King Kong Vs Godzilla dubs as the worst and best avoided. I think many of the international dubs are pretty mediocre and I pretty much only watch them when they are on TV. In fact I avoided the late 90's Heisei DVD releases since they were dub only, and only picked up the Blue-ray versions once they was a subtitled option available.

On a side note I have yet to watch Shin Godzilla or Anime dub versions. The Anime I have only watched once, so maybe next viewing will be dubbed. Shin Godzilla I have watched a dozen times and still haven't given the dub a try.

[Chrispy_G]

Quick Notes - US and Japanese Cut ALMOST equally - Godzilla/Godzilla, King of the Monsters! and King Kong vs Godzilla
US cut definitively - Godzilla 2000
Everything else - Original Japanese cut, with Dubs vs Subs depending on my mood at the time of viewing.

In depth thoughts.
Godzilla/King of the Monsters - G54 although I really enjoy KOTM.....it is such a classic, sterling example of a 1950s monster movie. Gotta go with the original, but I seriously consider the two to be almost completely equal, there are some very strong things the 56 version does.

Godzilla Raids Again - Japanese Original, 100%....far to frustrating to go through a film that has him called Gigantis the whole time, gives him Anguirus' roar most of the time, and does such a hack-job editing the film, splicing in weird stock footage, and narrating the WHOLE DAMN THING.

King Kong vs Godzilla - Again, I like both.....the cutaways and sort of 'informational bits' about the monsters found in the US cut give the film a pseudo-documentary/mockumentary feel........and almost have shades of "media cutaways" that you get in films like Robocop and Starship Troopers.

BUT again, I have to go with the original purely on the focus of the linear narrative, as well as the fact that the score isn't re-jiggered and tampered with whatsoever. I'm firmly in the camp of "Ifukube's score is gold and should not be touched"

Mothra vs Godzilla - I LOVE the Frontier Missile sequence....although I have certain feelings about "regular human weapons" ever being so effective against Godzilla, let alone US missiles in a Japanese Godzilla film....feels a little forced.

But aside from that, it is a matter of pro vs con. Cosnsistently, or rather, inconsistently, referring to Mothra, an iconic and storied character as "The Thing" is on the level of calling Godzilla Gigantis, and the film even being called "Godzilla vs The Thing" is even more annoying.

And while I understand efforts of tightening the pace, for me, shortening the iconic Mothra songs in the name of speeding up the pace just doesn't work for me....I like those songs too much, hearing them play out is fun! It adds this whole mini-musical element to the film.

I'm also not a fan of censoring the violence when one of the villains shoots another. Those moments stand out and give the film a sense of edge and help drive the whole "ugly side of humanity" angle.

So the original wins out for me.

Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster - Again, you get that leaner pace, and you get some aspects smoothed in the editing in the US cut....but at what cost? They tamper with Ifukube's music a lot, and like I said "Ifukube music = gold"....you wouldn't go and replace the worst track in a John Williams Star Wars score with something "better" or "flashier" just to enhance one scene or moment. The score should stand.

Also, not to be a stickler on names, but it is "King Ghidorah", and to so consistently just use "Ghidrah" is a LITTLE irksome. Referring to Mothra as a male is a type of little thing I can't stand. Also, shortening/"Dubbing over" any of the songs sung by the Shobijin is annoying to me. Any scenarios where even a second of monster footage is deleted....I can't really approve.

Original wins for me

Invasion of Astro-Monster - I think the difference between the two cuts is something like 80 seconds. At that point, there is virtually no difference. You are basically asking to watch the film subbed or dubbed, which is a completely arbitrary choice. I like getting Nick Adams' English lines....and if I could get a version of the film that was like Final Wars....where EVERYONE was speaking their native Language, I would watch it in a heartbeat, but oh well.

The opening cue being changed is annoying to me. Opening with the Monster march starts the film with a bang, with a sense of energy. I know what they were going for with the "ominous" music, but I prefer the tone in the original opening.

When the differences are so non-existent in the "versions" it hardly matters, but for the sake of consistency I would probably go Original/Subtitled.

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep - The differences are quite minor. It is about 4 minutes or so? They amount to a few deletions of early scenes and opening credits, and basically an alternate dub....where you never even get a name for Ebirah. Again, a little thing, but something like naming the monster is a bit of a sticking point in a film originally named after that monster.

But this is very much like Astro-Monster, the differences are so little, why bother? I never even realized there was an "alternate cut" until many years later, and this was one of my most watched VHS tapes as a kid.

Son of Godzilla - Again, when you talk about just removing the opening credits/titles/pre-title sequence....are we truly talking about an "alternate version" or just an "Alternate Dub".....at which point it is a matter of how much you like Kamacuras and Kumonga having their official names changed to "Gimantis" and "Spiega".

I don't like the name changes, so original cut for me.

Destroy All Monsters - Just the deletion of a few shots and moving the credits is not another "version", it is another Dub. Not a discussion worth having, original cut.

All Monsters Attack - I like "Crime Fiction" but hate Minilla's("Minya") US voice. Original cut.

Godzilla vs Hedorah - In general, I like a title with a unique monster name included as opposed to something tacky like "The Smog Monster"

Outside of that, the difference amounts to whether or not you want the English "Save the Earth" or not....I couldn't care less about the inclusion. Original Cut

Godzilla vs Gigan - The English voices of Godzilla and Anguirus are hilarious and iconic in their own way....but completely nonsensical. When I heard that the original version of the film had comic-book style speech bubbles for the monsters, I have been DYING to get that cut. The only reason I watch the Dub is because the Blu Ray does not include the speech bubbles or subtitles for the monster talking scenes....so you are left with nothing but roars and gestures and are "Forced" to watch the English Cut.

I like that the speech bubbles fit with the "comic book artist" theme of the film. Really keeping fingers crossed that the Criterion version is the one with speech bubbles.

Godzilla vs Megalon - I'll take the unedited version. Not that including shots with random background pinup nudity impacts the film one bit, but I always air on the side of "no censorship".

Terror of Mechagodzilla - Uncensored version please

The Return of Godzilla/Godzilla 1985 - Fun to have Raymond Burr back....but not all Raymond Burr G films are created equally. His speech at the end and Godzilla's Death scream add some impact......but again, it is a matter of the cost.

I can never approve of any serious removal of Godzilla/destruction scenes. Raymond Burr's sub-plot is not organically integrated into the film in any way, and Burr is the only one really playing things straight, while the US characters seem more corny. I'm a USA loving patriot all the way....but I can't say that I really care for jiggering the film to be more overtly anti-russian and more overtly pro-USA. I prefer the more neutral Japanese angle of the original.

Godzilla 2000 - I hands down prefer the US version here. First of all, I like the idea that all of the changes went through Toho, and apparently the Director's approval(going by comments in the audio commentary). When I finally saw the Japanese version, I was shocked at how QUIET the Sound Design and the film overall was.

So they punched up the sound effects significantly. They added in pieces of new music, and even added in some classic Ifukube scenes in certain moments, which I ALWAYS approve of more Ifukube.

The trims to the film largely help improve the pacing and overall structure of the film.

We lose some Godzilla footage in the process which I don't like. But that gets offset by the sheer amount of energy added to the movie, the Japanese cut feels a little "phoned in" and almost bland in some ways. The US version has a fun Dub with a sense of personality, tight pacing, great sound design, and an energetic score. The entire thing just feels enhanced and beefed up and I love it.

[Terasawa]

I'm down with watching any Godzilla movie in English or Japanese, at least up to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. After that point, the available Hong Kong dubs are all pretty lame, but even then the dubbed versions of GvSG and GvD are at least somewhat nostalgic. Godzilla 2000 is the only post-93 dubbed version I outright prefer but I'm not crazy about either the U.S. or Japanese versions of that film.

The footage deleted from the original U.S. releases of Godzilla versus the Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla isn't very important and I think those dubbed performances are very strong, so those are probably my preferred versions of those two films. And while I'm not a huge fans of the dubbing in Monster Zero, at least there you can hear Nick Adams' original performance, and the cuts are sensible. Godzilla vs the Thing is another entry that works nearly as well as the Japanese version; I'd argue Biollante is too just because you're spared the horrible Engrish performances.

The dubbed version of Godzilla vs. Gigan is a masterpiece.

[Stump Feet]

^ I almost agree with every statement except the Heisei one, Biollante is the last Heisei dub I can stomach.

I'm rather fond of the US cut of 2000 and Monster Zero's dub is absolute nostalgic for me.

Definitely glad to see some love for Gigan's dub.

[eabaker]

^ I almost agree with every statement except the Heisei one, Biollante is the last Heisei dub I can stomach.

Ditto. After that point, both the performances and the mixing go way downhill.

[Terasawa]

I think the '91 and '92 dubs are so bad they're good, especially the latter. The almost totally lost original dub of GvMGII was done by most of the same cast and I'd kill to hear the whole thing.

[Chrispy_G]

For whatever reason, I can work with the Heisei Dubs, once I get past G2000 I usually go Sub.

With Biollante and Shin Godzilla I often go Dub specifically to avoid the "Engrish". In fact, it is often why I go Dub for all of the Heisei films, even though the Dub performances are not of a high quality, there is a level of charm that helps them fit with the rather tongue-in-cheek comic-book style tone of a lot of those films. They are big colorful laser light shows with time travel and space monsters....and the Dubs being sort of B-grade works and in my opinion does not subtract from the experiences, mostly.

Also, in Destoroyah the "He can't understand why he's lost his family" Dub line just hits me in a way that the Sub line does not.

[MaxRebo320]

Godzilla (1954) - Original Japanese version, but King of the Monsters! is still great, of course.

Godzilla Raids Again - Kind of a tough one...I don't dislike GRA as much as some others do, but it can be a bit of a slog. Gigantis is pretty funny, but I will ultimately have to go with Raids Again.

King Kong vs. Godzilla - Japanese version, provided you have proper subtitles.

Mothra vs. Godzilla - Tied. For a while, I would have said Japanese, largely due to all of the copies of The Thing looking terrible. But with RedMenace's recon available, I've definitely grown more fond of it.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster - Ghidrah. The pacing is improved, some of the rearranging and editing of scenes are quite clever (Particularly the shootout during the climax) and I'll admit to enjoying the newly added library tracks. I guess my only gripe is Salno describing Ghidorah AFTER he's revealed, kind of ruining any build-up, but its a pretty minor gripe.

Invasion of Astro Monster - International, "Invasion of the Astro-Monsters" version

Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster - Probably the Titan dub, though I'll admit to not being super familiar with it. The Frontier dub ain't bad, though Nita's voice is pretty grating.

Son of Godzilla - No preference - I like both dubs (Though am more nostalgic for the Frontier one) and it in Japanese.

Destroy All Monsters - Once again, no preference.

All Monsters Attack - Godzilla's Revenge

Godzilla vs. Hedorah - No preference.

Godzilla vs. Gigan - International dub (Provided all are uncut, of course)

Godzilla vs. Megalon - International dub

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - International dub

Terror of Mechagodzilla - International dub

Return of Godzilla - Japanese. The international dub is still good, but I do prefer it in Japanese. 1985 is fun, but is inferior.

Godzilla vs. Biollante - International dub (For obvious reasons)

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah - International dub

Godzilla vs. Mothra - International dub

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II - Japanese. If the original dub were around, that'd probably be my preferred version, but the new dub just isn't good.

Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla - No preference. Its a shitty movie either way.

Godzilla vs. Destroyah - Japanese

Godzilla 2000 - Tristar version, 'nuff said. I'll admit, I haven't even seen the Japanese version, but I honestly have no desire to. I can't imagine the lost international dub being any better.

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus - No preference (Kind of the same deal with Spacegodzilla)

GMK - Japanese, again, provided you have decent subs.

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla - No preference

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. - No preference

Godzilla: Final Wars - International dub

Shin Godzilla - I actually have not seen it dubbed, but I honestly don't care that much.

Anime Trilogy - TV turned off.