Cody Himes wrote:
Gaira1966 wrote:
I've been looking at the Universal versions of the Kong movies, and I know that Universal heavily recut vs Godzilla with added footage from American actors and earthquake shots from the Mysterians, plus they added all new music except one and redubbed the whole thing in the US. So a region 2 DVD with international English subtitles would complement the Universal DVD. However I can't find any mention of edits or which dubbing they used for the US release of Escapes? So I'm wondering if the Universal DVD is the international dub of Escapes?
Universal's release of KING KONG ESCAPES featured American-produced dubbing with Paul Frees as Dr. Huu, so that's what you'll get on the DVD. According to various Toho sales materials, there does appear to be a different international dubbed version of KING KONG ESCAPES, but it's never been released on video or DVD. (An international dubbed trailer for KONG VS. GODZILLA is included as an extra on the Japanese DVD, but the full dubbed film is similarly unreleased.)

The American version of KKE is about eight minutes shorter than the Japanese version, but the edits really are minimal. I favor the US version for its quicker pace.

If you want to watch the Toho Kongs in their original Japanese with English subtitles, you'll have to settle for a bootleg. There are no official English-friendly releases of the Japanese versions as of yet.

It's also worth pointing out that the international dubs for GIGAN and MECHAGODZILLA are the same dubs used for initial US distribution, so no matter how you've seen those films, the dubs will sound familiar. (Unless you've only seen the Japanese versions, of course.)

I knew Vs Mecha I and Terror of Mecha were the international dubs when distributed (with some editing), but I didn't know that Vs Gigan was too.  I know Cinema Shares had distributed both Vs Megalon and Vs Mecha I in 1977, and distributed Vs Gigan in 1978.  Vs Megalon was US dubbed, but Vs Mecha I was the international dub so it would make sense that they did the same with Vs Gigan afterwards.  I'm not sure who distributed Vs Hedorah in 1972 and what dub it was.