Released to capitalize on the theatrical debut of Godzilla (2014), King Kong Escapes gets its first Blu-ray release in any market. This disc is a close proximity to its DVD counterpart with improved quality, displaying the American version of the film with a good video and audio presentation, while offering no extras at all.
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I was pretty disappointed with Universal's performance on their King Kong vs. Godzilla Blu-ray. Their release was way too dark, overpowering the colors and obscuring a lot of details. I expected a similar job on this release and had it sitting on a pile because of that. I'm ecstatic to report, though, that the video quality is infinitely better on this release. The brightness is perfectly managed on this Blu-ray, not obscuring the colors or details. The black levels, especially during the night scenes, are spot on as well so its not too bright either.
The colors on this release are pretty fantastic. While not as vibrant as the DVD edition, they aren't over saturated either.
They are lush, distinct but natural looking and are one of the best aspects of this Blu-ray. Details are also rich, with a lot of finer points visible in any specific frame. The negative aspect is that the print is in far from pristine condition, with a fair amount of scratches through out. They are noticeable, but not enough to distract from the viewing experience.
As with the earlier Universal release, the version used here is the US one. This is pretty close to the Japanese version, although like the American version of King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) it does add some sequences. This includes a chauvinist introduction to Susan and a few stock footage sequences from The War of the Gargantuas (1966). It's not a heavily altered cut, though, and the few changes are minor.
King Kong Escapes is presented in its
original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
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This disc has one audio track, which is a double channel mono presentation of the English version of the movie.
Nothing stunning here, with Akira Ifukube's opening march sounding a little flat but dialogue and sound effects fair much better. There are no pops or crackles to be heard as well, so while no large praise to be given it doesn't have any major faults either. The biggest fault of this release is the lack of Japanese audio option. Given the fact that Universal's rights are for the American version only, it's not exactly expected to be included. However, it's still worth docking points for as its now standard to see it on these kaiju releases.
The movie can be accompanied by, removable, English or French subtitles. Just like the King Kong vs. Godzilla Blu-ray from Universal, the Spanish subtitles that were previously available on the DVD edition were removed for this Blu-ray version.
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Not a single extra to be found. In fact, the the disc doesn't even have a menu, rather just a popup overlay that can be accessed to enable the chapter selection.
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I can't stress how much better this release is than the King Kong vs. Godzilla Blu-ray from Universal. It's surprising that more effort was placed in this one, and that the results are so much better compared to the more famous of the two movies. Regardless, while the 1962 movie was an iffy purchase, this one is a no brainer for kaiju fans who enjoy the 1967 production and have a Blu-ray player.
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