Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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ReiwaGodzilla
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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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Also, i love how Godzilla behaves in the movie, i love how he looks and i love how the movie treats him too, it's one of best Godzillas I've seen.
When those fleeting lives destined to die, forget their humbleness and sing praises of their glory, such will shake the very heavens and split the earth, and they shall know the wrath of the divine. The inevitable incarnation of destruction. So, you show yourself at last. Since we last saw each other, it has been 20 years for us and 20,000 years for you. It's been a while... Oh, King of Destruction.

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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ReiwaGodzilla wrote:Also, i love how Godzilla behaves in the movie, i love how he looks and i love how the movie treats him too, it's one of best Godzillas I've seen.
Yeah, this was one of the definitive versions of Godzilla himself for me as a kid. I love how, in what is largely such a comical movie, they still treat Godzilla very seriously, and it doesn't seem jarring at all.
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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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eabaker wrote:
ReiwaGodzilla wrote:Also, i love how Godzilla behaves in the movie, i love how he looks and i love how the movie treats him too, it's one of best Godzillas I've seen.
Yeah, this was one of the definitive versions of Godzilla himself for me as a kid. I love how, in what is largely such a comical movie, they still treat Godzilla very seriously, and it doesn't seem jarring at all.
Oh, yes, i love the part where that kid says he wants to see Godzilla lol
When those fleeting lives destined to die, forget their humbleness and sing praises of their glory, such will shake the very heavens and split the earth, and they shall know the wrath of the divine. The inevitable incarnation of destruction. So, you show yourself at last. Since we last saw each other, it has been 20 years for us and 20,000 years for you. It's been a while... Oh, King of Destruction.

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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ReiwaGodzilla wrote:
eabaker wrote:
ReiwaGodzilla wrote:Also, i love how Godzilla behaves in the movie, i love how he looks and i love how the movie treats him too, it's one of best Godzillas I've seen.
Yeah, this was one of the definitive versions of Godzilla himself for me as a kid. I love how, in what is largely such a comical movie, they still treat Godzilla very seriously, and it doesn't seem jarring at all.
Oh, yes, i love the part where that kid says he wants to see Godzilla lol
That scene serves to emphasis how the film is a parody of itself, ie bringing together two iconic monsters. More specifically the film is divided into two segments, with Kong’s “leads”(Tako and the explorers, being more comedic, in contrast to Godzilla’s narrative which is darker). The American cut guts a lot of this unfortunately.

However it also cuts a lot of scenes that make Godzilla more seriously. Mainly early on there’s a scene in the Japanese cut where one of the characters boards a naval boat to search for Godzilla. The boat goes missing later, only for the female character to worry sick and head to look for him as one of the survivors. He shows up later in front of the apartment (this is where the eggs drop). The scene is almost incomprehensible in the American cut.
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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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LSD Jellyfish wrote:
ReiwaGodzilla wrote:
eabaker wrote:
Yeah, this was one of the definitive versions of Godzilla himself for me as a kid. I love how, in what is largely such a comical movie, they still treat Godzilla very seriously, and it doesn't seem jarring at all.
Oh, yes, i love the part where that kid says he wants to see Godzilla lol
That scene serves to emphasis how the film is a parody of itself, ie bringing together two iconic monsters. More specifically the film is divided into two segments, with Kong’s “leads”(Tako and the explorers, being more comedic, in contrast to Godzilla’s narrative which is darker). The American cut guts a lot of this unfortunately.

However it also cuts a lot of scenes that make Godzilla more seriously. Mainly early on there’s a scene in the Japanese cut where one of the characters boards a naval boat to search for Godzilla. The boat goes missing later, only for the female character to worry sick and head to look for him as one of the survivors. He shows up later in front of the apartment (this is where the eggs drop). The scene is almost incomprehensible in the American cut.
Oh, yes, i love that fact that it's a parody of itself. It's really disappointing that they cutted a lot of content that makes Godzilla more seriously, i hope they didn't cut that line of dialogue that says something like King Kong is just a normal animal, while Godzilla is a monster, that's easily one of my favorite lines of dialogue from Godzilla movies
When those fleeting lives destined to die, forget their humbleness and sing praises of their glory, such will shake the very heavens and split the earth, and they shall know the wrath of the divine. The inevitable incarnation of destruction. So, you show yourself at last. Since we last saw each other, it has been 20 years for us and 20,000 years for you. It's been a while... Oh, King of Destruction.

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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ReiwaGodzilla wrote:i hope they didn't cut that line of dialogue that says something like King Kong is just a normal animal, while Godzilla is a monster, that's easily one of my favorite lines of dialogue from Godzilla movies
This is not actually a real line. It's a fabrication from the '90s bootleg subtitles. The Japanese line is more or less the same as what Dr. Johnson says in the U.S. version:

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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Finally got around to watching the Japanese cut for the first time last night and didn't expect to like it as much as I did. The satire was wonderfully hilarious (and ahead of its time in my opinion) and served as a prelude to the greatness the next three movies would achieve in terms of quality. Though some of Godzilla and Kong's scenes felt a tad aimless at moments, final battle more than makes up for it. Speaking of which, I had forgotten how great the final fight was. Perfect combination of badass and funny when it needs to be. Loved those shots of them battling among the flames.
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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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Kaltes-Herzeleid wrote:Finally got around to watching the Japanese cut for the first time last night and didn't expect to like it as much as I did. The satire was wonderfully hilarious (and ahead of its time in my opinion) and served as a prelude to the greatness the next three movies would achieve in terms of quality. Though some of Godzilla and Kong's scenes felt a tad aimless at moments, final battle more than makes up for it. Speaking of which, I had forgotten how great the final fight was. Perfect combination of badass and funny when it needs to be. Loved those shots of them battling among the flames.
I felt exactly the same way. KKvG was among my least favorite Godzilla movies for most of my life but seeing the Japanese cut was a wholly different experience. Honestly, I think this is probably the Godzilla film where the Japanese version is the most superior to the "Americanized" version. "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" was still a good movie in its own right despite being inferior to Gojira. "Gigantis the Fire-Monster" sucks pretty hard but Godzilla Raids Again wasn't all that great to begin with. "The Terror of Godzilla" neutered ToMG for sure (at least in the release I owned a VHS copy of, I know there are different dubs and edits) but I can still enjoy the movie. "Godzilla 1985" and "Godzilla 2000" arguably have better pacing than their Japanese counterparts. The Universal version of KKvG, however, really just strips away the soul of the movie. All of the great, fun satire and characterization is lost, the score is replaced with unfitting stock music and the pacing is destroyed. It's unfortunate that it took so long for a physical copy of the Japanese version to become available to Western fans.
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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Post by MekaGojira3k »

As somebody who's had both cuts for years it's probably heresy but I love both equally. While it shifts the intent of the film the American version is still functional as a scifi adventure flick with flourishes of comedy that work for me. For years I didn't care about this film but lately I've grown more affectionate toward it. There are some iffy effects moments (mostly things like kong's puppet not necessarily matching the suit all that well) but other than those small problems I think it's a helluva Godzilla film that has slowly made its way into my top 10.

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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I always thought this drawing was cute even though Im not sure what Godzilla's is saying.
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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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Space Hunter M wrote:
ReiwaGodzilla wrote:i hope they didn't cut that line of dialogue that says something like King Kong is just a normal animal, while Godzilla is a monster, that's easily one of my favorite lines of dialogue from Godzilla movies
This is not actually a real line. It's a fabrication from the '90s bootleg subtitles. The Japanese line is more or less the same as what Dr. Johnson says in the U.S. version:

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I always thought the line in the U.S. version was: "...sensing the presence of a hated enemy,...".

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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mikelcho wrote:
Space Hunter M wrote:
ReiwaGodzilla wrote:i hope they didn't cut that line of dialogue that says something like King Kong is just a normal animal, while Godzilla is a monster, that's easily one of my favorite lines of dialogue from Godzilla movies
This is not actually a real line. It's a fabrication from the '90s bootleg subtitles. The Japanese line is more or less the same as what Dr. Johnson says in the U.S. version:

Image

Image
Image
Image
I always thought the line in the U.S. version was: "...sensing the presence of a hated enemy,...".
Yeah, that's either a typo or a strange misunderstanding by the translator...
Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world.

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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eabaker wrote:
mikelcho wrote:
Space Hunter M wrote: This is not actually a real line. It's a fabrication from the '90s bootleg subtitles. The Japanese line is more or less the same as what Dr. Johnson says in the U.S. version:

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I always thought the line in the U.S. version was: "...sensing the presence of a hated enemy,...".
Yeah, that's either a typo or a strange misunderstanding by the translator...
Yeah, I thought so.

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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I've got a question.

Could someone review the Japanese version of this film in its entry in the Movies section now that it's available in this country? I'd like to see how it compares to the American version.

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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mikelcho wrote:I've got a question.

Could someone review the Japanese version of this film in its entry in the Movies section now that it's available in this country? I'd like to see how it compares to the American version.
Why don't you just...look up other reviews online?
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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Post by Terasawa »

Or watch it on Internet Archive? Admittedly that's not the ideal way to watch it, but it's out there where people can watch it for free.
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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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To answer both your questions, first, I have a high respect for the reviews on this forum and I think a review on this film is long since overdue. Second, I didn't even know the Japanese version of KKvG was on the Internet Archive. Thanks! Just please tell me where it is on the site and I'll watch it.

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Post by Logan268 »

There technically was a review on the film already.
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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

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Logan268 wrote:There technically was a review on the film already.
Yes, but the one on here is the American version.

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Re: Talkback: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Post by Desghidorah »

Has anyone else heard the rumor that the Kong suit for the film was a refurbishing of the Snowman suit from Half-Human? I'm fairly certain it's not true and the resemblance is more just due to being made by the same creators making a very similar suit twice, but this seems very pervasive of a rumor.
Last edited by Desghidorah on Thu Aug 27, 2020 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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