The first DVD in Universal's King Kong Two Pack, King Kong vs. Godzilla pits two of cinema's most recognizable icons against each other for the first, and only, time. Unfortunately, in comparison to the other disc in the pack, King Kong vs. Godzilla was restored nearly as well as the title contains noticeable film damage at points and pockets of color distortion, while it also lacks the far more enjoyable Japanese edit. Thankfully, the audio track here is of good quality, version of the film considering, but there are no extras to speak of, which is to be expected with the $15 price for the two DVDs.

The video quality on King Kong vs. Godzilla is slightly uneven, which is nothing new for the title; in fact, even Toho's region 2 release of the film has moments were the quality dips due to the different prints used. In terms of this DVD, there are some segments that look amazing as they feature great, vibrant, colors with little film damage and a wonderful degree of detail, as the sharpness is extraordinary. Sadly, there are also scenes that sport a lot of film damage or discoloring (often yellow in hue, but occasionally green) while rarely the brightness just completely gives out. More often then not, though, the video looks good, but the sudden changes in quality make the inconsistencies painfully noticeable.

Sadly, this is also the US version of the film only, which removes a great deal of footage from the Japanese cut while also adding newly constructed sequences done by an American film unit. Some stock footage from The Mysterians (1957) is also added to the version. Overall, the differences between the two are night and day, and it's very disheartening that the Japanese cut isn't present, or Akira Ifukube's wonderful score for that matter, but the low price point and moments where the film looks great, better then it ever has, make this more tolerable. It should be noted that, despite the problems, this is easily the best the film has looked on a DVD release, which is probably something many people will be interested to know, as the quality on the previous region 1 and Toho's region 2 release of King Kong vs. Godzilla are both fairly lacking it this regard.

King Kong vs. Godzilla is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and is Anamorphic for widescreen TVs.

King Kong vs. Godzilla contains one audio track which is a 2.0 mono presentation of the English version of the film. The quality of the track is generally good, with no pops or crackles. Although, I was disappointed that the main title theme, which is stock music from Universal's library, wasn't as rich in depth as I was hoping, but that's one of the confinements of the mono format. Of course it goes without saying that the lack of a Japanese audio track is disappointing as well.

The movie can be accompanied by, removable, English, Spanish, or French subtitles.

This disc has nothing to boast in this area, but it's not surprising given the disc's budget price point.

Bottom line, the disc is uneven and fails to live up to the potential that it could have achieved. However, it's far better than Goodtimes long out of print King Kong vs. Godzilla DVD, while the good spots on the video are sometimes jaw dropping in clarity. Purchasing the pack is also the only way to get the rather nice (region 1) King Kong Escapes DVD, and, at a price of about $7 per disc in the pak, the quality here is more than sufficient.