The Japanese version is apparently not only a comedy, but a "heightened" version of a particular Japanese comedy genre, the "Salaryman comedy". These movies haven't been exported much if at all, but I understand that a common element is the clueless boss giving his underlings an impossible task. "Go out and capture King Kong" is the ultimate example of the trope.
@@bruhmingo No matter what his reasons are The Japanese intended for this to be more of a disaster war epic. Godzilla and King Kong are from Japan the writers wrote it from that framework and it’s a metaphor for nuclear war there’s no comedy in that😂 yes the the Japanese have corky lines in the original movie and there’s a few goofy scenes but that’s not a comedy. And you certainly cannot call it an action comedy movie either not even by western Hollywood standard😂 he himself admits how the Japanese focus so much on human casualty and how the American version does not that alone right there tells you the Japanese identity comes through in the original😂 and that part is not funny nor goofy nor would it ever be classified as a comedy not even an Asia😂
@@literaryebooks you have to deliberately misinterpret the film to arrive at that conclusion. Do some research on sekizawa’s style of screenwriting. The film is first and foremost a satire, and by definition they are comedic. The film does not present itself as a “war epic”. No conflict with the United States is used, it is entirely a satire on the commercialization of japanese society at the time. The destruction caused is what adds to the satire as Mr. Tako’s relentless pushing for capitalization on the event is intentional juxtaposed with it. The concept of east vs West is entirely created by the fanbase, the film never tries to create that theme.
The Universal version was funny in it's own way (as I recall it). There was always a high school kids do a film project quality to Godzilla and that came through in Universal version. While the Japanese have produced many fine movies, on some of their comedies you are left wondering if it was wise to let these people have a movie camera. I am still getting over RoboGeisha.
The line about Kong being a "real animal" while Godzilla being "a monster born of radiation" is unfortunately a false translation of the dialogue that has been perpetuated in the Anglosphere since the mid-1990s, when the bootleg video label Video Daikaiju released a quote unquote "subtitled" version that was based on guesswork around an extremely limited knowledge of Japanese, and it also used dubtitles from John Beck's American cut on occasion. An accurate translation surfaced in 2013 based on German subtitles from Anolis' DVD release in Germany. The Criterion release also yields an accurate translation, but unfortunately, the false translation is still the most widespread version online.
Another casualty of the VDK "translation" is that they DO mention using nuclear weapons against Godzilla at the advice of the U.N. in the Toho cut, but the Commanding General's aides advise against this and advocate for the Burial and Million Volt strategies instead.
@@arcmen2275 The line the newscaster says is as follows: "According to Dr. Shigesawa, King Kong is guided by animalistic instincts. He has sensed Godzilla's presence and is approaching him." In the Criterion subs, it's: "Dr. Shigezawa says King Kong instinctively senses Godzilla's presence and is moving in his direction.". The equivalent in the John Beck cut is essentially the same meaning with some exaggeration added. The raw Japanese lines are: これについて 重沢博士は― “キングコングが動物本能によって ゴジラの存在を知り―”
@@cerridianempire1653 Well there certainly isn’t any motivation to give a shit about the plots of the new movies given how they’re so goddamm ridiculous.
You're mostly correct about comedy in American cinema. Likely this is because studios don't make $150M comedies, so they don't have to recoup costs. People still eat them up in the cinema, but agreed, not like the hyper-promoted non comedies. But on TV and streaming, comedy is the king here.
@@johnjekyllson28 I was about to point this out in here. The most successful western movies in recent years (marvel) have got there by incorporating humor throughout. That's their secret - DC movies have great action, but they just cannot get the humor right for some reason, so they are not as popular and do not do as well. Western audiences love humor, when combined with the spectacle, suspense, and the rest of the things pointed out in this video.
@@TechnoLawyer I think DC characters are naturally more larger than life archetypes, whereas Marvel characters are more down to Earth. DC characters are older while Marvel characters were created in a more self aware era and where they wanted the characters to have human foibles and issues and angst. So I think that's why Marvel movies naturally lend themselves more to humor than DC. Superman is a larger than life demi-god like character, the big blue boy scout, and doesn't lend himself to humor as much as say Thor. Although the Christopher Reeves movies did do a good job on humor with Superman's exaggerated intentional bumbling as Kent, IMO. And Batman is of course a very serious business character, the Dark Knight. Some of the DC movies do have a lot of humor, but it's probably not as natural as with Marvel.
@@johnjekyllson28 Yeah but the comedy is more to break the tension a bit, it's not the main point of the film. I feel like in Hollywood specifically they box "comedy" into it's own kind of movie and think that everything has to be about making jokes and they can't tell a story or have other elements too.
That reminds me of how a common criticism that some western reviewers have when they review asian cinema and media in general is that "It's tonally all over the place", because a lot of popular asian media even when it's "supposed to be" serious and dramatic has moments of comedy and general silliness in it (A good example being Takeshi Kitano films or the Yakuza game series). I always feel that, in that decision of sprinkling "serious" storytelling with a bit of wacky happenings and jokes, asian movies and whatnot feel more lifelike. More all-encompassing. But it is as you said. There's not really a better or worse approach.
What actually annoys me to a certain degree is de music used in comedic scenes on Asian movies. I don't watch a lot of them, but usually there's a silly music changing the tone right after something serious.
The Metal Gear series also does this and to people not so used to Japanese storytelling it comes across as jarring. Because many Western players "can't take it seriously". In western storytelling, if something is to be cool or badass then it must be almost entirely so, you can't have a bunch of wacky hijinks going on throughout it.
This is honestly just as if not more apparent in games, Japanese games tend to have a certain silliness to them blended in with the serious bits which throws people who aren't familiar with the style of story telling off. Games like Metal Gear, Devil May Cry, and Yakuza are probably the top 3 that come to mind, each has a serious story but there's almost spontaneous bits of humor thrown in throughout.
@@ghounna1585 The question is, wether is this original job or not. DBZ in the West for example had genrally horrendous, unmatching and unskilled score with silly intrusive music in dialogue scenes, while in Japanese version there is some good epic music in the battles, but almost no music in dialogue scenes, and definitely no silly music at all.
Gotta say, its pretty ironic how the original Japanese King Kong vs Godzilla is poking fun at rampant commercialism, and now in 2021 you can buy burgers and funko pops based off the new Godzilla vs Kong
@@fahmiibrahim3477 100x better than Filmento! Filmento is too "by-the-book" yk? Doesn't really say anything we don't know or that isn't the general public's opinion...
We could also make the comaprison between Battle Royale & Hunger Games. Both films had broadly speaking the same subject matter but the Japanese one was a satire while the American one was a straight up epic.
this comment is more accurate that's right one is more of a war epic and the other one is political satire I appreciate your honesty about Honda's movies of Godzilla this whole idea that his Godzilla movies are comedies is laughable at this rate😂
@@literaryebooks It wasn’t a war epic, it was political revolution. Hence was there weren’t any large scale battles between two armies. Most of the shots were either of the hunger games or a small group trying to kill the leader to destroy the system, not kill the other side.
@@Liliquan 😂 wrong the epic war battles are between Godzilla and King Kong not any countries in the East orWest : The battles between Kong and Godzilla are what the movie is all about😂the movie showcases the Japanese military in almost every scene King Kong is humanity’s protector against the unstoppable force of Godzilla not even the Japanese military can stop Godzilla only Kong can defeat him in BATTLE😂
@@Liliquan Political revolution pleaseeeeee😂 as if Godzilla & Kong were protesters on the streets of Tokyo😂 Rewatch the movie Godzilla & Kong are to busy destroying everything in sight
@@Liliquan as they fight an epic BATTLE (metaphor for war)😂 the Japanese military is powerless as they flap fish around Tokyo, fly military planes in circles while Godzilla strikes them down w/his tail & nuclear blasts Tokyo, the Japanese watch the BATTLE royale between Godzilla/Kong & hide in the bushes😂
The fact that the movie was too focused on the people was one of the biggest western criticisms of Godzilla 2014, so I think you're very correct about what the west wants to see in this type of movie.
Well the problem is also that the Legendary Godzilla movies don't have a purpose for the humam characters outside of exposition dumping and fluffing the screen time. Like mentioned here the humans actually have a subplot in the og GvK which plays into the salaryman comedy genre which in itself is a satirization of Japanese business culture. Even in Shin Godzilla the most recent Toho film the human subplot serves to satirize the incompetence of the Japanese government in response to disasters. If the human subplots in the Legendary films actually had something to say I'm sure people wouldn't criticize them as much.
@@PrettyDamnDandy I would understand a person that dislikes the themes of godzilla 2014, with the troop loving and being much less categorical and more wishy-washy about nuclear, but claiming that it didn't have any social commentary at all is pretty crazy. Also, i wouldn't really say that social commentary is a must for godzilla movies, especially thinking about how crazy things get in the showa era, where godzilla is a movie series for tiny children. I'd actually say that godzilla 2014 is very similar in structure to one of the more serious japanese godzilla movies. Which would be one of the factors in why Japan in general loved it and the west didn't really
When you say that "Western culture prefers spectacle over comedy" I think it needs to be said that it's more "North American culture". Humour and satire is massive for us in Australia and New Zealand. Australians love a pisstake, and I'm not sure I've seen a piece of Kiwi entertainment in my life that took itself 100% seriously. I get the impression that the UK is a bit like this as well, but can't really speak for them.
Hey! No reason, just good-old-fashioned Drive to share Fun/Knowledge, driving me to say: If you like Criticism-Essays, try Madvocate, Jay Exci, and Hbomberguy, especially those about Shows. But enough of me 'speaking in General', so let me say something more video-specific now: 'Heroes dont Struggle' is of course a very broken Mindset of Today. The idea that the world's so hard that all Hope is lost. Hope aint lost, we just need to embrace grounded, good Coverage of Problems: Some More News, Real-Life-Lore, Illuminaughtiii, Holy Koolaid and those that constructively criticize Politics and Religion.
Probably a mainly American thing. I think people underestimate the impact of going through many wars without feeling any impact at home for them beyond materials and lives. It's constant propaganda and profits. Satire is deeply under appreciated in America as it's seen as insincere or dishonest. Satire tends to favored by the fringe groups who don't benefit from the system's military industrial complex. Explosions mean bombs, which means money for bomb makers, and that means money for the rest of us. Solve all our problems and profit without ever knowing what really being bombed is about. We get natural disasters, but when has America faced air raid and missile incoming sirens? When have we faced a meaningful threat to interior of the mainland? The Cold War and that caused us to embrace the propaganda and profits even more.
Personally I don't think the "thriller and spectacle vs humour and comfort" will be the right words. I think it is more about plot driven vs character driven. The west focus on classic 3 act structure with set-up, confrontation and resolution, which creates spectacle and thriller (and in a sense it is comfort for western audience, due to structural similarity). On the other side, the East focus on characters and settings, like journey to the West or as you said, Naruto. It's more about how character will react with the settings and what that reflects on the society.
I do think that the west tends to lean towards drama and the east tend lean towards comfort/comedy. Mainstream TV in the west is like CSI Miami or Hell's Kitchen. Even comedies like The Bachelorette have tons of drama (maybe a little too much lol). Whereas from what I know in Japan, variety shows make up a lot of mainstream TV, and those have like zero drama. Not to mention the popularity of "slice of life" anime, which also tends to be drama-free.
@@games_on_phone89 Watch My Neighbor Totoro some time. It's one of the most beloved animated films of all time in Japan, but it really doesn't have much in the way of a plot. To the extent it has a narrative at all, it's much more an exploration of setting and character.
“The reason I showed the monster battle through the prism of a ratings war was to depict the reality of the times. When you think of King Kong just plain fighting Godzilla, it is stupid. But how you stage it, the times in which it takes place, that’s the thought process of the filmmaker." - Ishiro Honda (Director of King Kong vs Godzilla [1962])
Just realized something ... Aside from the detail interpretation of scenes and plots, I just realized that video essays in this channel really follows the basic structure of a written essay. He opened the video with general statement and the core problem, then continued with structured arguments and finished with a conclusion. Dang, so cool
I think the phrase subverted expectations has been used incorrectly for awhile... wanting twists/surprises is not the same as subverting expectations which in my view since Rian Johnson;'s use... is an example of intentionally doing something to not only surprise but to frustrate fans and not replace it with anything worthy... it;'s just a troll job in story form
Whelp, this audience person kinda liked the Last Jedi, but I do agree it came out of legit nowhere, and considering it was sandwhiched between two COMPLETELY different movies ... yeah, not good ...
@@chucheeness7817 haha yes... Rian Johnson's picture holding up the infamous "Your Snoke Theory Sucks"... was all I needed to know the whole movie was that picture personified
Eversince I was a child I had a deep appreciation for good cinema. You can't even imagine how every single video that you post makes me happy!!! They are all so well thought through, organized and executed! And it is just amazing how you make people feel more interested in "foreign" aka non-american cinema! Love your work :-)
4:28 it's interesting to note that Original and in many of the older films, as you said, Godzilla was a Consequence of Man's meddling in technology. Born from radiation. And in this film Kong is the representation of nature and the underdog. But many later Godzilla movies would go on to show Godzilla as a guardian of nature, and transfer his role from villain to hero. Originally he was a cautionary tale of nuclear weapons but eventually became the defender of humanity against other monsters, especially ones from space. It's interesting to see how a single character represents so many different things and is used in so many different roles over the decades.
Depends which period of Godzilla movies are you talking about. He's a defender in Showa series and the new US movies, but for example in the Heisei series which, however poorly made at times, chose a much more serious tone, Godzilla isn't either a hero or a villain. He's actually a victim of human stupidity who ends up saving humanity only because it's a side-effect of his self-defence. (Except for the Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 2 movie, where it's humans who are villains, and Godzilla only fights to reclaim an egg that humans stolen, and in self-defence). However bad these movies were made in some aspects (terrible acting by human actors, naive storylines, illogical moments), they brought a lot of wise depth to Godzilla's character. Plus the Godzilla's scenes were made really well. They even had animatronic face that was used extensively. It's interesting how Heisei Godzilla is a great actor when it comes to moves and face mimics, while remaining to be a believable animal in behaviour, while human actors had their faces fixed solid through these movies. Like they had photos of their faces sticked to heads, instead of actual faces- that's something I could never understand and irritated me while watching otherwise great Godzilla movies. Personally I'd like to see a movie in which Godzilla gets pissed after seeing Taiji dolphin dive hunt, and destroys Japan.
Good video essay as always. But imho, most US style epic movies somehow trying to mimic the very clear good vs evil narrative. And Japanese tend to focus on individual struggles, and what is right and wrong is kinda situational and blurred. Very WW2 esque which is difficult to discuss.
actually I feel the exact opposite. American superhero movies love to create anti-heroes and moral grey areas. Examples: The Boys, Invincible, Joker, Deadpool, etc. Whereas in Japanese shounen, the distinction tends to be much more clear. I think it's because american media likes to humanize the villain to balance the playing field and add more drama (as Accented Cinema talks about), whereas japanese media focuses more on the underdog story so they set up the villain to be as strong and evil as possible.
@person well death note and evangelion are rather old animes (2007 and 1996), I was pulling from recent years. I'm not saying that Japan always has a clear division of right/wrong, just that they do so more often. If we increase the scope all the way to the 1990s, I'm sure there are some animes that are as morally ambiguous as western TV likes to be. But are there any recent animes that compare?
Saiyans power themselves up by becoming big monke, like King Kong. They also get stronger when they're in the verge of death and come back alive, just like King Kong.
Well both have incredible film like Godfather,Internal Affair (Hongkong),Saving Private Ryan,Mr Vampire(Hongkong) and many 80 or 90s film west and Hongkong.Now when i look China and West film nowday...Oh Well
@@tyronechillifoot5573 the quality of the humor in those movies is kind of debatable since they cut good emotional moment with a cringy joke. The only marvel movie who knows how to balance the humor and emotional momments is Guardians of the Galaxy and the second one.
Ahhhh, that's why Rajang has a Thunder element and become Super Saiyan, it's just a monkey that gets struck by lightning. And that's why Deviljho gets to slam thunder monkey then get punched in the throat. Very nice.
@@AccentedCinema Yeah, when you place the scene of Underdog King Kong and Dragon Ball side by side, my brain just clicks. Btw, as always, very good video essay man. Keep up the good work.
I wouldn't say the American version was pretending Kong wasn't an underdog. I think an advantage that a lot of underdogs have is their brains when they're physically outmatched. I know the UN scenes drag, but the whole brain size thing I find kind of neat, even if a bit dumb. It just does something for the kaiju nerd in me, though I do agree that the American version does make Godzilla another animal. But I like animals anyway. While I think the American version is worse overall, I do think trying to make King Kong vs. Godzilla more epic in tone is more appropriate than making it a comedy when you consider the legacies of these two iconic monsters. I'm kind of disappointed with the modern American Godzilla not being a product of human science, because then the fight could have served as a kind of allegory of nature vs science, a prehistoric creature of nature fighting against an abomination of human science. Both of these monsters and their original movies are about ways that humanity has harmed nature, and I wish that theme was a focus in these films.
I actually think the 2014 'Godzilla' reboot did well in having it to represent nature. But now in 2021 we have it going against Kong, it does seem like a missed oppurtunity to not go with the "nature vs science" allegory.
@@peterfrank3365 ironically enough Toho Kong with his thunder powers and worshippers seems more like a classic god than Godzilla. I want a story where Kong is called upon to cleanse the Earth of the radioactive mutant birthed from man's hubris. But I guess that's what Mothra was for.
If the West vs East theme interest you, there is movie titled 'Dragon Blade' with Jackie Chan. The story tells about a clash of ancient cultures, between Chinese and Roman Empire.
In the burning heart, just about to burst There's a quest for answers, an unquenchable thirst In the darkest night, rising like a spire In the burning heart, the unmistakable fire, in the burning heart
Good video. Im cautiously looking forward to the modern film because its directed by adam wingard, who didnt get criticism for his DeathNote film since Netflix doesnt release numbers, and, Wingard could use DeathNote to show he knows how to handle Japanese properties - when he doesnt, and just makes horror movies with needlessly violent imagery.
i cannot stress enough how underrated you r. Your essays are phenomenal, so detailed yet so passionate. i hope your channel grows and be successful. I never really interested in movies until i met you.
I think its an important distinction to add - american's tend to not want to spend money at a theater unless its an action block-buster and "demands" the theater experiences. comedies are view mostly in homes and not in theaters. I don't know its it considered lesser, but is for a different setting and experience.
Different people prefer different things, such a new discover. "America generally considers comedy as a lesser form of entertainment". I have to say strongly disagree.
Thanks for the insightful video, I also love seeing differences in east vs western storytelling. One thing (not solely related to cinema) is the maybe propensity for eastern stories to be about journeys more than some central tension. Like Journey to the West, or long-running anime (Naruto), many mini-arcs but the overall "objective" of a character isn't the primary interest. Whereas western stories tend to be around one dramatic moment or scene that has acts and is resolved, also potentially with mini arcs but you feel the central plot thread guiding the entire way. Not to say these don't mix; this time, anime/manga Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an interesting merger of both structures' tendencies in one of the best executed stories I've ever witnessed. I'm kind of disappointed I can't easily wrap my head around writing stories about journeys of characters that are still compelling and interesting while on the journey; but I'm probably generalizing a lot anyway. Thanks again, love the videos!
It's funny when you compare king kong vs godzilla to dragon ball fights especially goku vs frieza because, goku is an ape and frieza is a genderless alien lizard
I now know why I didn't enjoy 'Godzilla: King of Monsters'; it wasn't as self-aware silly as it could've been nor was it as gritty as its predecessor. But now I'll also try to keep a more open mind on the shiny and new 'Godzilla vs Kong'. So far, it's been looking like it's to repeat 'King of Monsters' but hopefully it settles on a more definite tone as you said. Thanks for the video!
I can't recall much of the original King Kong film, but the '74 remake very much plays up the capitalism what with an oil magnate bringing Kong to New York to be a mascot.
OG King Kong features a greedy filmmaker in much the same vein. But this message is definitely a lot more prominent in the '74 remake, almost a bit too much.
"Man our daytime comedy show is really slowing down in ratings lately, Lets go kidnap a giant monkey! " "You mean the one that died in New York?" "The very same" I guess that's kind of the plot of the original King Kong, they need an act for a show and know where to find something interesting. Difference now is Godzilla is out on his walk through downtown. It's a good set up for their fight, underdog wins and they go their separate ways, but I'm still bitter Godzilla is pretty much a giant wrestler in a suit during this era rather than an unstoppable force of nature given the upmost respect, but what can you do. Okay I like Avengers as much as the next guy but they had the effects to make the fights interesting and still had some control over their comedy. If the American version was going to steal footage they might as well have taken advantage of 'double the budget' and make less cheap scenes. Also I guess they didn't really care about the opening satire, Godzilla fights Kong lets get to that, again they already stole the movie but rather than make it good they just coast. Though I can say I'm more invested in the story if it's played straight, with or without a bigger scale of threat. But again Avengers had some comedy thrown in to keep dialogue engaging and add character, or even give a wink to the absurdity. I can at least respect keeping the fight as a battle and not a slapstick wrestling match. 100% agree on America's view on comedy, it's good but when you have spectacle and intrigue it feels... low brow? Good comedy takes skill and finesse but it's also easy to get most people to enjoy it. But honestly the way movies are going now they might as well give that up when they already try to appeal to everyone and copy what worked last year. Also subverting expectations is golden, you just listed all the characters Americans often criticize for being the only ones who can solve the final fight, meanwhile a lot of fans fall in love with moments where Gohan steps up, Rock Lee gets a chance to fight, and yes Arnold who played the monster last movie is now the hero tasked with protecting John Connor against a superior machine. Underdog rule still applies like a number of tropes and twists, that seems to be universal where people prefer someone starting or brought low and defeats a greater threat.
I honestly believe that japanese comedy would be more appreciated in the west if properly introduced and explained, I find a lot of japanese comedians funny, but at the moment of my inception into the setting, it was extremely confusing: "Salary man? Straight man? What does it mean? It's funny, but I can't quite grasp it." More than ever it would be amazing to see both schools of comedy work together and see what comes out of it, good or bad, at least we'll have a reference from wich to work from.
I wonder how much of this difference is due to Hollywood's place as the world's center of high-production value cinema, leading to greater specialization into more culture-specific genres such as romance, musicals, period pieces and comedy by local movie industries thorough the world.
Talking about strange and super-natural creatures, I am curious about the snake as a symbol. I have spotted a lot of Chinese movies focused on the snake as a powerful, but always “a bad character”. Could you share some thoughts on that? Thanks.
It's a draw king Kong didn't win even Godzilla didn't win because the sequel (mothra vs Godzilla 1964) Godzilla appears the same one from king Kong vs Godzilla. just called it a draw
2:36 Stop, wait. I like your idea but it's not quite right. King Kong versus Godzilla isn't Toho's "Avengers", that title goes to Ghidrah the Three Headed Monster. Here's my own breakdown... this make take some time. Godzilla Raids Again: Serious. King Kong versus Godzilla: Silly. Mothra versus Godzilla: Serious. Ghidrah: Back to silly and the Showa series tended to stay there. But is Kong the odd monkey out or it Mothra? Here's the answer: Rodan.... or rather "Why wasn't there a Godzilla versus Rodan film?" There was one, though. It's the first half of Ghidrah and it goes as much as Kong one does: Godzilla attacks Rodan, Rodan flies away, Godzilla chases Rodan down, Rodan demolishes him. However, all of this is played serious somehow. But once the rest of the movie's cast catches up to the two, their previous epic battle is reframed in just one shot as nothing more than trash talking one another via use of puppets. Then all three monsters settle down to have a chat and the Godzilla series was never the same. But then there's the question: If the other early "Godzilla V Monster" fights are serious, why is his fight against Kong silly, why is only that fight mismatched? The Mothra fight shouldn't be taken seriously at all and the Anguirus fight should be a joke as well yet only Kong gets called the "underdog" or "weak"? I'd say the reason isn't that Kong is an animal or a monster but that he's a movie star. In essence, King Kong versus Godzilla isn't the Avengers, it's a Marvel versus DC non canon crossover, you know, for the fans.... but rather hero versus hero, it's hero versus villain.
A remake of the Japanese version could totally work today as a satire about social media, deep fakes, capitalism, war, climate change, AI, etc. Imagine setting up the fight between 2 Kaiju just for likes and subs
Thanks for making this video. Ishiro honda is my favourite director and i love king kong vs godzilla 1962 japanese version. Yet to watch american version for analyzing differences
I just realized frieza vs goku is just Godzilla and King Kong respectively; Goku and Santana literally turn into big apes and is a reference to Son Wukong, the most famous ape in the east; and frieza’s last form is all lizard like
Kong was originally suppose to be only 50 tall hence why he climbed up the Empire State Building compared to just reaching up it or standing down on it where as Godzilla has ALWAYS been able to tower above most sky scrappers
This is not the first time US localizations have dumbed down the Asian orginals. In the 1994 Fist of Fury they changed several crucial lines from the main character significantly altering his personality. Treating Godzilla vs Kong as anything other than a comedy is just stupid. That's like taking the onion literally.
I'm an asian french, i do agree USA values more spectacular than parody comedy, i like comedy but i don't like japonese humor which is more like a parody, i laugh more in korean comedy
Godzilla has a brain like a Pea Kong has a full grown brain. That's the most shit explanation I have ever heard which favours Kong. What will Kong do with his big brain..? Make Gadgets like Batman..? Kong is an animal he will make weapon with trees at most. While Godzilla is like Brute Force Ka ng don't have a chance
looking at the highest grossing films i think its a hard sell to say westerners dont value comfort as much. theyre all super safe and predictable, only pretending to be intense
The 2021 movie for once stayed true to the power curve. The monkey can never beat Godzilla. the movie was too rushed. Also that lightning is still used in the 2021 version.
I'm not sure about the Western audience's preference for suspense and unpredictability, I mean in theory and ideal yes but in practice Hollywood rehashes predictable story formulas like top 40 pop music. Western critics and cinephiles perhaps?
Would you be willing to address the elephant in the room the long standing myth that Godzilla won in the Japanese version and Kong won in the American version? And well it’s definitely just a myth the ending is the same
Hunh, I grew up believing that in the Japanese version, Godzilla wins, but that it was edited to have Kong win in the American cut. I guess that was an urban legend or common misconception, since Kong wins in both!
