Line #47 Film/KingKongVsGodzilla


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/91iwcnrlzl_sy679_2.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The most colossal conflict the screen has ever known! The two mightiest monsters of all time!]]
3	->"''But nothing, nobody can stop the great showdown, when King Kong and Godzilla meet, to fight for survival of the fittest!''"
4	-->-- Universal-International's trailer for the film.
5
6	The 8th Wonder of the World vs. The King of the Monsters.
7
8	The third entry of the Showa ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' series. After going on to helm numerous science fiction and [[Main/{{Kaiju}} kaiju]] films in the intervening years after the [[Film/Godzilla1954 original movie]], ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' is the second film to be directed by Creator/IshiroHonda. Known in Japan as ''Kingu Kongu Tai Gojira.''
9
10	''King Kong vs. Godzilla'', is notable for many things. First, it was the first movie to feature both Film/KingKong and Godzilla in color and widescreen. Second, and this is really important, [[RuleOfCool it had both King Kong and Godzilla sharing the screen at the same time.]] Thirdly, because of how much things had changed in the studio production-wise in the seven years after ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain'', it can be considered somewhat of a "soft reboot" to the franchise as a whole.
11
12	[[Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain Seven years after Godzilla's defeat]], Mr. Tako, a television executive bored of a science program show with very low ratings, decides he wants to raise his ratings when he discovers a creature known as King Kong living on a charted island known as Faro Island, and so enlists TTV to find and capture the creature in order to do so. However, outside of the former Kamiko Island, a nuclear submarine is set to investigate an iceberg with high radiation. To the horror to many, the iceberg contains the radioactive creature Godzilla. With two monsters on the loose, Japan decides King Kong should be the one to defeat Godzilla, but which of these monsters will emerge victorious?
13
14	Originally released in 1962, Creator/{{Toho}}'s 30th anniversary, ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' was the most commercially successful film in the franchise until the release of ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' in 2016. The Japanese version of the film had a satirical tone, while the American version excised it in favor of a more conventional approach. The biggest difference between the two versions of the movie is the removal of most of Music/AkiraIfukube's score, which is usually regarded today as one of the maestro's greatest works ever. The only pieces of music to survive this alternate edit were the natives' chants and a brief piece that plays during the jungle trek. It was in this film that Godzilla's theme would be properly introduced, although it was first heard by American audiences in 1964 with the release of ''Film/MothraVsGodzilla'', although the ''Godzilla'' theme in that film was also a modified version of the theme heard here. Fortunately, La-La-Land Records released the original Japanese version of the score, in its original stereo along with two bonus tracks, in America in 2005.
15
16	The original idea for the film was actually conceived by Willis O'Brien, although it didn't feature Godzilla at all. It was only through numerous rewrites that Godzilla eventually became King Kong's adversary, and that was only after the script was bought by John Beck, who then sold it to Toho. The differences between the Japanese version of the film and the American version are discussed on the trivia page. The plot description in the recap page will cover the Japanese version of the film.
17
18	The film was a commercial success back in 1962, and made over 350,000,000 yen at the box office, with a budget of 5,000,000 yen. At the time the movie was made, King Kong was still more popular than Godzilla. The Godzilla suit used in the film, named the [=KinGoji=] suit by fans, remains very popular, and the design was used for some of the earliest Godzilla merchandise stateside. In the [[Film/MothraVsGodzilla following installment]], the costume was reused for a few "big pool" scenes, namely when Godzilla is seen swimming towards Iwa Island, and later when Godzilla falls into the sea, covered in the webbing of Mothra's larvae.
19
20	''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' also remains notorious for being one of the most poorly preserved Kaiju Films from the 1960s and has had a rough history on video. In the 1970s, the film was edited down to 74 minutes for the Toho Champion film festival... on the original negative. As consequence, the cut 24 minutes went missing. In the 1980s, Toho's first video release used an awful 16mm print for all cut shots, but in 1991, the cut portions magically reappeared in 35mm, which Toho used for a marginally better restoration. Then those elements went missing again, somehow, and Toho's DVD is just an upscale of the laserdisc master. For Toho's Blu-Ray release, most of the rediscovered segments were finally integrated again along with footage from the U.S. cut. Finally, in 2014, the uncut version of the film underwent a serious digital 4K restoration that finally used the entirety of the available Japanese camera negative, as the shots from the first reel were uncovered again. The restoration was simulcast on TV and in Toho-owned theaters in the summer of 2016, and was met with very positive reception from audiences.
21
22	Followed by ''Film/MothraVsGodzilla''.
23
24	See also 2021's ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', a modernized take on the showdown that's part of the Film/MonsterVerse.
25
26	----
27	!!This film contains examples of the following:
28
29	* AbortedArc: From this film to ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla'' (or chronologically, ''Film/DestroyAllMonsters''), the events of ''Film/{{Godzilla\|1954}}'' are never brought up again (The Heisei series did it as well, except in certain cases). In Honda-specific entries, he always reminds us that Godzilla's a radioactive dinosaur.
30	* AchillesHeel: Showa Godzilla's aversion to high-voltage/lightning-based attacks started with this film.
31	* AdaptationalBadass: Justified since the [[Film/KingKong1933 original Kong]] would stand no chance against Godzilla, barely reaching the height of the average buildings at best and easily killed by regular machine guns. To make it a fair fight, Kong is beefed up to Godzilla's height, immune to bullets, and can harness the power of lightning.
32	* AdaptationalHeroism: While he does kill a few people, Kong is less destructive than Godzilla and most of his rampages were due to confusion over some strange land he doesn't know or aware of. This actually makes his victory over Godzilla easier to swallow, since Godzilla remains a villain until his HeelFaceTurn in ''Film/GhidorahTheThreeHeadedMonster''.
33	* AnthropomorphicShift: This film started the trend of making the kaiju more human-like than bestial, a trend which would continue for the rest of the Showa Era, with Godzilla and Kong having somewhat humorous body language (such as Godzilla's gleeful "clapping" and Kong scratching his head in confusion), and fighting more than wrestlers than animals.
34	* ATeamFiring: In the Arctic base scene, the military ''really'' missed Godzilla. Only two shells hit him, but to no avail.
35	* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: How the first rampage scene goes. All the tanks hightail back to the hangar after Godzilla roasts just one.
36	* BehemothBattle: The entire point of the movie is to get King Kong to fight Godzilla. They both face other obstacles in their path before they meet.
37	* BigBudgetBeefUp: Production value for special effects films had changed dramatically at Toho in the intervening years between 1955 and 1962.
38	%%* TheBrigadier: General Masami Shinzo.
39	* BumblingSidekick: Obayashi, Mr. Tako's secretary, who is regularly chewed out by his boss.
40	* CantHoldHisLiquor: Kong appears to be quite a lightweight when it comes to the Farolacton juice, as within a few minutes of drinking it, he's fast asleep. However, he bounces back quite quickly.
41	* CharacterTics: Godzilla's "clap" seen throughout the course of the two battles. It even has its own sound effect. This was improvised by Haruo Nakajima in imitation of the gestures used by professional wrestlers during those days.
42	* ChekhovsGun: Fujita's super strong thread comes in useful for lifting King Kong up to Mt. Fuji.
43	* ChekhovsSkill: During the making of a commercial at the beginning of the movie, Sakurai is playing the drums. This comes in handy later on when rescuing Fumiko from Kong's clutches.
44	* ContinuityReboot:
45	** On Kong's side. He lives on a place called Faro Island instead of Skull Island, and the events of the original ''Film/KingKong1933'' are never brought up; other than the tribe, humanity seems to be encountering him for the very first time. Averted on Godzilla's side, as he is introduced escaping from the iceberg that he was trapped in at the end of ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain''.
46	** Despite a helicopter pilot clearly identifying the monster, the U.S. version ignores the previous two films completely (also note that ''Gigantis'' wasn't really considered a Godzilla film in those days for obvious reasons), presenting Godzilla as a generic frozen dinosaur with no connections to the H-Bomb.
47	* CowardlySidekick: Furue is initially more confident in going to Faro Island than Sakurai, but immediately loses all courage upon arrival.
48	* CuriosityKilledTheCast: The crew of the Seahawk investigate the glowing iceberg containing Godzilla, and get killed for their trouble.
49	* DamselInDistress: Fumiko, who is menaced by both monsters, each time while on board a train.
50	* DeusExMachina: Just as Kong is being finished off by Godzilla in the FinalBattle, a random bolt of lightning strikes Kong, giving him the strength he needs to fight Godzilla evenly now.
51	%%* DiabolusExNihilo: The Giant Octopus Kong battles on Faro Island.
52	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Mr. Tako orders his subordinates to capture Kong and bring him back to Japan as a publicity stunt to boost their company's ratings. As they're shipping the unconscious Kong to Japan, the [=JDSF=] stops them midway because, unsurprisingly, they don't want Tako bringing a giant monster to Tokyo.
53	* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: Harold Conway is seen with one aboard the submarine at one point.
54	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: A small example, but this is the only known Godzilla film where the English speaking cast pronounces Godzilla as the way it’s spelt in Japan (''Gojira''). Later entries would keep his name as Godzilla.
55	** Also, in this film, Godzilla is not immune to electricity. In later films such as Ebirah: Horror of the Deep and Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, Godzilla actually draws strength from electricity.
56	* EleventhHourSuperPower: Kong's [[ShockAndAwe ability to harness electricity]] against Godzilla. Ironic, as Godzilla would gain an electricity based power in a [[Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla later film]].
57	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: General Shinzo at one point mentions that according to the U.N., Godzilla's continued existence would eventually lead to this.
58	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Kong and Godzilla both have one. Godzilla trashes a nuclear submarine and attacks a military base, where he melts tanks and sets the entire complex ablaze with his heat-ray. Kong battles a giant octopus that is terrorizing a native village, which sets him up as the [[NominalHero "hero"]] and also shows that he is indeed powerful, but clearly outmatched by Godzilla.
59	* EurekaMoment:
60	-->'''Co-worker:''' Say, which one is stronger between Godzilla and King Kong?
61	-->'''Obayashi:''' That's stupid. It's not a wrestling match.
62	-->'''Tako:''' Fantastic! There's an idea. King Kong versus Godzilla...
63	* EvasiveFightThreadEpisode: The reason why this movie exists is to show the two most famous giant movie monsters from America and Japan duking it out. In terms of who is actually stronger, Godzilla's atomic breath gives him a ranged edge and he holds the upper hand in most of the slugfests the two engage in, Kong's intelligence and use of Godzilla's kryptonite factor helps turn the tide. While the ending is ambiguous to a degree, Kong is officially the victor. Notably, the [[Film/GodzillaVsKong American version]] [[spoiler:[[AvertedTrope doesn't do this]], clearly showing the Big G as the winner.]]
64	* EverybodySmokes: In an effort to win over the tribe, Sakurai hands out cigarettes to all in reach, even handing two to a persistent boy. His mother grabs one away, seeking to light it up.
65	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The plot of the film is, sure enough, King Kong having a fight with Godzilla.
66	* ExecutiveMeddling: In-universe. Mr. Tako enlists TTV to replace the boring low viewer count science show with a documentary program about Faro Island and Kong to gain his competitive pharmaceutical company more advertising revenue and publicity, and he wants Kong brought back to Japan as a mascot...
67	* FantasticDrug: What prompts the expedition to Faro Island is a type of medicinal berry known as Farolacton (or Soma), which acts as a potent oneirogenic narcotic that knocks out Kong. This allows the humans to capture Kong relatively easily, to take him to Japan and then to fight Godzilla.
68	* FinalBattle: Godzilla and King Kong battle it out in one of the most physically taxing and carefully choreographed fights of the series.
69	%%* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Fumiko and Osamu Sakurai, somewhat.
70	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Godzilla is shown to be weak against prolonged exposure to high-voltage electricity. The following [[Film/MothraVsGodzilla film]] would take it a step further and had the JSDF nearly kill him with it.
71	* FunWithHomophones: Furue is puzzled when Sakurai alerts him about the octopus (''tako'') during the village attack.
72	* GenreShift: The first two films were essentially horror films (and the first film being a literal metaphor for the nuclear holocaust and the events of the nuclear bombings and the ''Daigo Fukuryū Maru'' incident). This film becomes LighterAndSofter with satirical elements for both Godzilla and King Kong films.
73	* GlobalWarming: The reason the Seahawk was sent to investigate the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas and the initial focus of the Pacific Pharmaceuticals sponsored Wonderful World Series. Everyone at the beginning of the film is in a tizzy from the bizarre temperature changes occurring there.
74	* GodzillaThreshold: Crossed the first time in the series when the JSDF effectively uses Kong to finish off Godzilla.
75	* GratuitousPanning: Being a relatively early, pre-Dolby film, the theatrical stereo mix has sparse centered dialogue or sound effects. Everything is directional. The monaural mix has a different center focused recording of the score and a few less sound effects (Godzilla doesn't growl when he gets the tree down his throat, for instance).
76	* HarmlessFreezing: Godzilla breaks free of the "iceberg" he was [[HumanPopsicle trapped in]] (originally Kamiko Island) at the end of ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain'' and immediately resumes his rampage like nothing happened.
77	* HeadsOrTails: Mr. Tako habitually does this to make decisions. He even does it when the two monsters first confront each other in an attempt to predict the winner.
78	* HelicopterFlyswatter: Although he doesn't actually touch it, Godzilla does down a helicopter with his heat-ray.
79	%%* HollywoodNatives: The Faro Islanders.
80	* HongKongDub: The ADR for the helicopter pilots is not particularly well done. The U.S. version appears to be closer to what was said on set.
81	* IndecisiveParody: The film contains numerous, humorous homages to the original ''Godzilla'' and ''King Kong'', but at the same time tries to plays itself as its own thing. An example of this is the scene where Kong ascends the Diet Building, Fumiko in tow. It’s an obvious reference to the climax of ''King Kong'', but Kong's performance is more in the vein of a confused animal instead of a jungle king asserting its dominance.
82	* {{Jerkass}}: Godzilla, or at least the closest thing the movie has to one. Has good fun taunting Kong with his superior firepower.
83	* HumanPopsicle: Kaiju Popsicle, rather -- years after being buried in ice at the end of ''Godzilla Raids Again'', Godzilla emerges from the ice completely unharmed.
84	%%* LargeHam: Mr. Tako. Godzilla's goofy theatrics can qualify him as one too.
85	* LighterAndSofter: The first two films, ''Film/Godzilla1954'' and ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain'', were more or less intended to be {{Horror}} films, with the former having a greater emphasis on tragedy of post-war Japan, the aftermath of Hirohima and Nagasaki's destruction of two nuclear bombs, and victimizes Godzilla as a victim of the same nuclear warfare Japan did. This film whisked the series off in a more whimsical, fantasy driven direction, and fewer moments of entirely serious drama are seen throughout the film. Godzilla himself has moved from being a tragic monster villain to just more of a general [[JerkAss jackass]].
86	* LostWorld: Although it's easily accessible and has been mapped and charted, Faro Island is certainly one.
87	* MarketBasedTitle: Was released in Germany during 1974 as ''Die Rückkehr des King Kong'', while ''[[Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla Mechagodzilla]]'' was released as ''King Kong gegen Godzila'' later in the same year (in which Mechagodzilla ''actually'' is called King Kong). Italy similarly changed the title to ''Il Trionfo Di King Kong'' to avoid confusion with the earlier ''King Kong contro Godzilla'' (''Film/GameraVsGuiron'').
88	%%* MrExposition: Dr. Shigezawa, played by Akihiko Hirata.
89	* MobileShrubbery: Sakurai and the others attempt to sneak past the JSDF to film King Kong and Godzilla by hiding in the grass and holding branches over their heads.
90	* MonumentalBattle: Kong and Godzilla duel to the death atop Mt. Fuji before working their way to the Pacific.
91	* MonumentalDamage:
92	** Godzilla and Kong do their best to smash the Atami Castle to rubble.
93	** Kong crushes the front entrance of the National Diet Building in his drugged descent from the structure.
94	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Kong conveniently gains the ability to harness electricity to put him more on par with Godzilla, who severely outclasses him otherwise. At the same time and just as conveniently, electricity becomes Godzilla's AchillesHeel in this film.
95	* NonMaliciousMonster: King Kong is disoriented from being thrust into civilization and in the end mainly just wants to go home.
96	* NukeEm: This standard B-movie plan is considered by the authorities, but is dropped in favor of the film's title. This is also touched upon in the Japanese cut, albeit more briefly. It should be noted that during the first scene with Shigezawa (which was shifted ''before'' Godzilla attacks the army base), he is talking about how no one should really be surprised about Godzilla's return.
97	* ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation: The script never really makes it clear what Prof. Shigesawa's profession is (in the Japanese script he seems to be just a civilian scientific adviser). In one scene, he's the Minister of Defense, and in another he's given the vague title of premier.
98	* OpeningMonologue: Parodied. It's revealed the ominous narration was only part of the show Tako was sponsoring and the host laughs before shifting focus to the Arctic Ocean. Played straight in the U.S. cut, complete with the same fake spinning globe and a stock quote from ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. Averted in the Champion Festival edit, which begins with Tako watching the show on TV instead.
99	* PitTrap: The Self-Defence Force's plan to defeat Godzilla, coupled with StuffBlowingUp and DeadlyGas. Naturally, neither the explosives or the gas work and he simply ''climbs'' out of it.
100	* PopularityPower: At the time, King Kong was definitely the more popular of the two monsters, so of course he ends up winning the climactic duel, despite being much weaker (necessitating bulking him and giving him electricity powers, and giving Godzilla more of a weakness to electricity, to make it more of a match, but even then Kong's clearly the underdog).
101	* PrimateVersusReptile: The TropeCodifier -- King Kong, the primate, fights Godzilla, the reptile. It's even deliberately engineered in-universe.
102	* ProductPlacement: Kong walks past a conspicuously placed Bireley's Orange Drink sign. This kind of sponsorship was something Toho started doing around ''Film/{{Mothra}}''.
103	* PunnyName: Tako is a homophone of Octopus in Japanese and Furue literally means "trembling".
104	* ScreamingWoman: Fumiko, although Mie Hama's Japanese performance is considerably subdued compared to the English version and dubs based on it.
105	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
106	** After Godzilla melts a tank with his heat ray, the rest of the tanks head back the way they came.
107	** At their first meeting, after Godzilla lets off a few blasts of atomic breath at King Kong and the ground in front of him, Kong realizes he's outmatched and executes a strategic withdrawal.
108	* SealedBadassInACan: Godzilla, who's been trapped in ice for several years and finally emerges to begin his rampage again.
109	* ShoutOut:
110	--> '''Sakurai''': The storm will awaken Kong's inner strength. You'll see.
111	--> '''Fujita''': Like spinach does for ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}?
112	--> '''Sakurai''': Exactly.
113	* ShownTheirWork: The first Godzilla movie in color, it makes perfect sense on why Godzilla's Atomic Breath is blue rather than red or green. Cherenkov Radiation is blue when radiation is ionizing the air, which gives its visible light the color blue.
114	* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: On European posters for the film, Godzilla was often greatly reduced or completely absence, and [[MarketBasedTitle even the titles were changed to omit mention of Godzilla completely]], becoming ''The Return of King Kong'' in Germany, and ''The Triumph of King Kong'' in Italy.
115	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In the Japanese version of the film:
116	--> '''(After Godzilla breaks free) Helicopter pilot: IT'S ''GOJIRA''!!!'''
117	** To note this, he says this in ''English''.
118	%%* StarCrossedLovers: Kazuo and Fumiko.
119	* StatingTheSimpleSolution: A soldier points out when the military is preparing to fight Kong that their attack isn't going to work and will do nothing but make him mad. He's unfortunately ignored by his superior.
120	%%* ThisIsMyBoomstick: Sakurai's transistor radio and cigarettes serve this purpose.
121	* TitleDrop: Mentioned above when Mr. Tako's trying to gain publicity. In the U.S. version, Prof. Onuki is the one who drops it much later during the third act.
122	* TranslationTrainwreck: The common old bootleg subtitles convey about 0% percent of what the characters are actually saying. Half of it seems to have been made up on the spot.
123	* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: King Kong and Godzilla are quite possibly the two most famous giant cinema monsters ever, and this is a movie about them fighting.
124	* UnbuiltTrope: While not the [[Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain first]] it popularized movies with giant monsters fighting each other and one of the earliest examples of [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny two popular icons duking it out.]] but the movie feels like a parody of these two tropes. The entire joke of the movie's crossover is a greedy businessman by the name of Mr. Tako brings King Kong to Japan to fight Godzilla for ratings but when Kong and Godzilla first meet Godzilla just shoots Atomic breath at King Kong, and the ape leaves seeing no point in fighting another strong monster for no reason, like most animals would. The only reason they do fight is that humanity slides King Kong down a hill into Godzilla. Also unlike most crossovers fights, there's an actual winner: [[spoiler: King Kong]]
125	* WaistDeepOcean: Captured by bumbling corporate executive Mr. Tako, King Kong is en route to Japan from the Solomon Islands when the dynamite on the raft he's secured to is blown up. The 45-meter-tall Kong stands upright waist-deep in the Pacific Ocean -- a fair distance outside of Japanese maritime boundaries -- and wades the rest of the way to Japan.
126	* WheresTheKaboom: A classic example occurs during a scene aboard the ship, when Tako tries to wrestle Sakurai free of the plunger before accidentally operating it himself, to no avail as the wires had already been cut. So when that doesn't work, Sakurai and Kinsaburo try blowing up the charges with rifle fire, and succeed.
127	* WidescreenShot: King Kong and Godzilla first share the same frame in such a composition.
128
129	!!Tropes exclusive to the U.S. version:
130
131	* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Dr. Arnold Johnson, curator of the New York Museum of Natural History, classifies Godzilla as a dinosaur "possibly crossed between the tyrannosaurus and the stegosaurus". A carnivore and a herbivore separated by millions of years of evolution can interbreed? What!? Made worse when the doctor holds up a children's dinosaur book to support his theories. It seems he couldn't even afford a copy of ''[[Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain Anguillosaurus, Killer of the Living.]]''
132	* ContinuityReboot: Despite a helicopter pilot clearly identifying the monster, the U.S. version ignores the previous two films completely (also note that ''Gigantis'' wasn't really considered a Godzilla film in those days for obvious reasons), presenting Godzilla as a generic frozen dinosaur with no connections to the H-Bomb.
133	* DubInducedPlothole: In a cut subplot, Fujita is running experiments on his tensile strength wire aboard a ship, departing at Nemuro shortly before Godzilla destroys the same ship off screen. A plane crash is what motivates Fumiko to look for him in Hokkaido in the English script, even though the newspaper she's reading clearly shows a ship.
134	* DubInducedPlotlineChange: The "corns" exchange only serves to coverup the fact that the scene has been shifted. In the Japanese version, Furue is talking about Godzilla's sudden return, which took place ''after'' the expedition party reached Faro Island.
135	* DumbDinos: Dr. Johnson claims that Godzilla's brain is the size of a small marble (as in the marble that he's literally holding in his hand) while Kong's brain is about 10 times the size of a real gorilla's. This is playing into the stereotype that the [[PrimateVersusReptile dinosaur is a dumb brute while the primate is a thinking animal]], never mind the [[ArtisticLicenseBiology astonishing claim]] that a marble-sized brain can properly handle a 50-meter tall radioactive {{Kaiju}}.
136	* HollywoodDarkness: Some scenes that originally took place during the day were tinted to match surrounding shots, but for some reason, in foreign prints no color grading was applied.
137	* InconsistentDub:
138	** General Shinzo (who is unnamed in the Japanese script) is called Kenzo during one loop.
139	** Almost every dub actor repeatedly pronounces Hokkaido as "Hokka-yahdo". The only individual to pronounce it properly is James Yagi during the added U.N. scenes.
140	* MrExposition: The U.S. version adds newspaper reporter Eric Carter and his interviewees, Yutaka Omura and Dr. Arnold Johnson, who spend a lot of time talking about King Kong and Godzilla and explaining things to the audience.
141	* ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation: The script never really makes it clear what Prof. Shigesawa's profession is (in the Japanese script he seems to be just a civilian scientific adviser). In one scene, he's the Minister of Defense, and in another he's given the vague title of premier.
142	* RecycledSoundtrack: With Ifukube's score almost entirely out of the picture, [[Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon the Gillman's]] three note leitmotif now serves as both monsters' theme. Some cues go back as far as 1941's ''Man-Made Monster''.
143	* SameLanguageDub: The original voices of the Seahawk's crew were not retained and Harold S. Conway was given a foreign accent for whatever reason, [[Film/TheMysterians again]]. A bit of dialogue changes occur too: In the Japanese version, the captain utters "Oh my god" after the engine fails, while in the dub he says [[{{Bowdlerise}} "Oh, great"]] instead. The helicopter pilots' dialogue was changed as well.
144	* {{Slurpasaur}}: In addition to being portrayed by a set of props, the Giant Octopus was played by several real octopuses. Trying to get them to move around the set was quite difficult, but this was eventually accomplished by using lighting equipment and a pin filter to shine light on them. After the filming was complete, most were set free, but a few of them were cooked and eaten by the crew.
145	* StockFootage: In addition to the U.S. produced scenes, footage lifted from ''Film/TheMysterians'' is thrown in for good measure. The invaders' otherworldly orbiting mothership stands in for the U.N.'s International Communications Satellite, scenes of panicking civilians obviously not tinted to match the rest of the scene pad out Kong's rampage through the suburbs, and by far the most notable usage occurs during the ending, where scenes of entire villages sinking into the ground and tidal waves flooding valleys were used to make Godzilla and King Kong's fall into the water and the following tremor seem more climactic.
146	%%* UncreditedRole: Much like the rest of the films in the franchise, the English dub cast is completely uncredited. Unlike many of the other films however, the dub cast for this one has not been identified even after all this time.
147
148	!!Tropes exclusive to the Japanese version:
149
150	* {{Retool}}: Ishiro Honda originally did not want the monsters in a LighterAndSofter approach, as most of his kaiju films are serious in nature. From this film onwards, he chose to not direct anymore films after ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla''.

Context Film / KingKongVsGodzilla