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Did you know there are two versions of King Kong vs. Godzilla?
No, not the remake
Next Time
In 1962
Toho released their seminal classic
King Kong vs. Godzilla
It was a match made in cinematic heaven
Two of the most iconic monsters smack it down on the big screen
In color!
It's East vs.West
Reptile vs. Mammal
God vs. King
If that sounds like an over the top wrestling match
The movie is way ahead of you
Yeah! Dropkick, b*tch!
One more time!
While all these shenanigans were happening
Universal secured the rights to distribute the movie
For audiences outside of Asia
Instead of just dubbing the movie, however
Universal re-edited it
And added about 14 minutes worth of original footage
Sort of like what Power Rangers did to Super Sentai
This resulted in a vastly different film
With massive tonal differences
It really feels like two different movies
This offers great insights into the differences
Between the Japanese way and the American way of storytelling
I don't know about you
But I'm hyped to see a Monkey fighting a Lizard again
So, this is going to be a two-part series
In part 1, we compare the two versions of the 1962 classic
And check out the differences in story philosophy
Between Japan and America
And in part 2, we'll check out the new and shiny Godzilla vs. Kong
And see how this philosophy changes with time
It's the battle of the century
It's the East vs. the West
This is King Kong vs. Godzilla
[EAST VS. WEST: DIFFERENCES IN STORY PHILOSOPHY]
[CHAPTER ONE]
Let's start with the Japanese original
Made 8 years after the first Godzilla film
By the time King Kong vs. Godzilla hit theatres
The Dai-kaiju genre was already well established
Rodan and Mothra hit the silver screen some years back
And in a few more years
Toho would release some of its best Godzilla films
The genre was about to enter its first golden age
When a genre matures
It tends to get meta with itself The first
Iron Man movie was surprisingly gritty and straightforward
Whereas The Avengers has a lot more humor to it
And by the end of the MCU
Fat Thor is playing Fortnite
King Kong vs. Godzilla IS Toho's Avengers
So, it's no surprise that It turns out to be a self-aware piece of satire
In the story, Mr. Tako is the head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals
Frustrated with the low ratings of their sponsored TV show
Mr. Tako send his two employees to Faro Island down South
And tell them to bring back King Kong
As a publicity stunt
Ridiculous, but that is the point
Meanwhile, to the north, Godzilla wakes up
And is headed straight for Japan
With two monsters approaching
And the army failing to stop either of them
They come up with the plan that makes the most in box office
"Let them fight"
It's that simple
So, what's the theme, the goal, and the philosophy of this movie?
Point number 1:
It is a criticism of Japanese TV culture
From the inclusion of some overly enthusiastic commercials
To the absurd premise of fighting for TV ratings
"Pacific Pharmaceuticals demands advertising..."
"You two will travel to Faro Island"
"To see if this monster exists or not!"
When Kong is about to wake up
Sane people try to kill Kong
Mr. Tako still refuses to give up
"King Kong is our sponsor!"
"We can't lose him!"
Oh and this
"A request to allow King Kong into the country was not presented"
"He is considered to be smuggled goods"
Everything has a price tag
Director Ishiro Honda confirmed this, quote:
The reason I showed the monster battle
Through the prism of a ratings war
Was to depict the reality of the times
In the director's eyes
Japanese TV culture had taken over people's lives
And that people will do anything to get ahead in ratings
It's ridiculous, but that is the point
Point number 2:
It's a self-aware parody of itself
The film basically has two parallel stories
For Godzilla, it's the danger of nuclear destruction
And man's inability to stop it
For Kong, it's about the danger of capitalism
And how the greed of a man puts everyone in danger
Both stories mirror the two's original outings
WIth numerous iconic moments recreated
With... sometimes wonky results
Anyway, it's one big fan-service movie
And when the two finally meet
"Which one do you think will win?"
"Godzilla is much stronger. He won't stand a chance!"
Sounds familiar?
The fights are also filmed and choreographed like a wrestling match
With both of them taunting like wrestlers
The movie is referencing itself
When showing this fight of the century
King Kong vs. Godzilla prioritizes humor And fun
Embracing the absurdity of it
Just look at how goofy Kong looks
This brings us to point number 3:
It's absurd, because Kong is just a giant ape
"We must make it clear that King Kong is a real animal"
"Whereas Godzilla is a monster born from radiation"
It's not a fair fight, and the film knows it
Godzilla, despite some anthropomorphic qualities
Is still treated with a lot more reverence
His landing is still epic and scary
Whereas Kong is at least somewhat sentient
His first appearance is to protect the island natives
Almost like he is mother nature's guardian
Oh right.. the natives
(Yikes)
Although the movie never really commits to this idea
There is at least some intention to build Kong as the underdog
Overcoming insurmountable odds
The final fight is obviously one-sided
And for a moment
(Actually a couple of moments)
King Kong appears to be down for good
Until he gets struck by lightning and gets more powerful
If you watch any shonen anime
You'd recognize this pattern of storytelling
Hero fights an extremely strong foe
Hero almost dies
Hero gets a power boost last minute
Hero wins
Kong wins
Because King Kong vs. Godzilla is an underdog story
It's predictable, but satisfying
It's a comfortable way to tell a story
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[CHAPTER TWO]
In the American edit
The broad strokes of the story remain the same
Godzilla wakes up in the north
"Godzilla!"
King Kong gets kidnapped by a company in the South
But a large chunk of the human stories are edited out
In its place are these dry and draft news segments
Featuring a "United Nation reporter"
And it is really badly acted...
"I have a message from the president of Chile"
Dude just looks like he doesn't want to be there
These news segments frame the movie as a pseudo-documentary
It's much more about tracking the monsters
And not so much about the human characters
Instead of Kong being categorized as smuggled goods
He is denied entry because of the danger he represents
"Considered a menace"
"King Kong must be taken back to Faro Island at once"
The movie plays it straight
This points to our first difference in story philosophy
Instead of prioritizing playful fun like the Japanese version
The American version puts awesome spectacle at the forefront
That's not to say the film is without humor
"Stop it, you are not Tarzan"
A lot of jokes are still here
And the voice acting is pretty good
"Corns!"
"I don’t wanna hear about your corns!'
What the film did cut out is the sarcasm
Partly because the Japanese TV culture parody is hard to translate
But also because the silliness of it gets in the way
"Which one do you think will win?"
"Pictures!“
”Get some pictures!"
The American version doesn't want a comedy
It wants to tell an epic story
And so the movie does everything to make things feel bigger
Additional wide shots of the city are added
There are also shots of an earthquake caused by the monster fights
Amping up the scale and intensity
The fight against the monsters is also escalated into a global effort
With the whole "UN news" thing
And discussions of using a nuke
Something that was never mentioned in the original
"Then you have discussed using the atom bomb?"
"The atom bomb is ready and waiting"
The sequence of events is also rearranged
In the original
Godzilla's awakening is told slowly, through 4 sequences
Intercut with many character moments
In the US cut, those 4 sequences are arranged into a single long one
Allowing the audience to build their suspense
Giving it more weight and scale
Edits like these are all over the film
Once the monster action is going
Rarely does the movie cut back to the human characters
In the American version
The monsters take center stage
And the humans are supporting characters
Every detail is made in service of a spectacular showdown
Not a self-aware wrestling match
But a fight akin to Kong's original outing against the dinosaur
This is just my personal interpretation
But I think the changes were made
Because America generally considers comedy
As a lesser form of entertainment
The American way, especially the cinematic way of storytelling
Values intrigue, thrill, spectacle
More than humor
Basically every single Nolan movie
Of the top 20 highest-grossing films of all time
All of which are made by Hollywood, of course
Only the Incredibles 2 and Iron Man 3 count as comedy
And they barely count
Universal had to re-edited King Kong vs. Godzilla
As a straight-faced epic
Because silly movies are not as valuable in the west
"No more!"
And that brings us to the second major difference
They had to downplay the silliness of the premise
To do that, the US edit tries to place Kong and Godzilla on equal footing
"Godzilla has a brain about this size"
"He is sheer brute force"
"While Kong is a thinking animal"
But because of this, the underdog narrative is also gone
"I tend to classify him as a prehistoric species of dinosaur"
"Possibly cross between the gigantic tyrannosaurus rex"
"And the stegosaurus"
Godzilla is, now, also an animal
This is just a guess
But if they weren't limited by the footage available
I think they will make Kong into an actual equal
Instead of just pretending they are
This is another reflection on the American audience's preference
For suspense and unpredictability
In a lot of Japanese stories
Knowing a character will overcome incredible odds
And watching them do it slowly
Is a satisfying experience
No one would doubt Goku will win at the end
Or that Naruto will become Hokage
But for American cinema
We love it when movies subvert our expectations
"Get down"
When the main characters die half-way through
When the most famous actress dies in the opening scene
When the main character isn't alive to begin with
When the one that kills your father is your father
Even when it doesn't make sense, we still love it
"Somehow..."
"I've always known"
That's not to say America doesn't love a good underdog story
But even in this underdog story
The underdog wins by losing
King Kong vs. Godzilla became the way it is outside of Japan
Because western audience values spectacle, thrill, and suspense
Over humor and comfort
[CONCLUSION]
That's not to say one way is better than the other
Because, ultimately, I think both edits have their merits
Personally, I'm the rare case who prefers the American cut
I find the arrangement of scenes flows better
Even though, like many, I do hate those news segments
They grind the momentum to a halt every time they appear
Conversely, the Japanese edit has more personality
Is bolder, more willing to have fun
It's more colorful
It has more of an edge
It's a joy to watch
This split between funny self-aware and serious epic
Is a problem the Godzilla franchise struggles with to this day
And I don't know if we will ever find a balance
That satisfies both types of audience
But, as far as I know
Among fans, both versions are well liked enough
And I think that's because they are consistent in their philosophy
If you want to have fun
Have fun all the way
If you want an epic
Then don't hold back and make that monkey strong
Filmgoers appreciate a good and consistent movie
Even if the language is unfamiliar
It would be interesting to see how the new film handles this
In all honestly, I don't think it'll be all that great
But I'm still excited
Because... well, big monsters go boom
But also, it's another chance for me to see cinematic cultures collide
It's another East vs. West
Has our cinematic tone and philosophy changed?
We'll find out
Next time.