After my parents divorced, I got to spend every other weekend with my dad, and almost every Friday that he picked me up, we’d stop at one of the video rental stores on the way to his house. I got to see a lot of movies this way. For awhile, I was hooked on Godzilla movies, and was determined to see every title the place had.
At some point I came across King Kong vs. Godzilla. Just standing there looking at the box art made my imagination race. What kind of knock-down, drag-out brawl would these two titans have? Much to Dad’s chagrin (he thinks all Godzilla movies are stupid), I chose it as my rental for the weekend.
Art by Loston Wallace
I don’t remember much about the movie itself, just the outcome. King Kong had won. I was furious! There was no way that stupid ape could beat Godzilla! He should’ve been a smoldering pile of ash and fur!
Then I heard about a Japanese version where Godzilla won. I never got to see that movie, but knowing it existed was enough for my angry, younger self. I didn’t realize it was only a myth.
Taken from Wikipedia:
Dual ending myth
For many years a popular myth has persisted that in the Japanese version of this film, Godzilla emerges as the winner. It isn’t known where this myth of the dual endings actually originated, but it’s been reported as far back as Famous Monsters of Filmland in the early 1960s. Decades later in the 1980s, the myth was still going strong. The Genus III edition of the popular board game Trivial Pursuit had a question that asked “Who wins in the Japanese version of King Kong vs. Godzilla”, and states that the correct answer is “Godzilla”. As well, through the years, this myth has been misreported by various members of the media[5], and has been misreported by reputable news organizations.[8]
But as more Westerners were able to view the original version of the film especially after its availability on home video during the late 1980s, the myth became dispelled. Both versions of the film end the same way. Kong and Godzilla crash into the ocean, and Kong is the only monster to emerge and swims home. The only differences between the two endings of the film are extremely minor and trivial ones:
* In the Japanese version, as Kong and Godzilla are fighting underwater, a very small earthquake occurs. In the American version, producer John Beck tacked on stock footage of a violent earthquake from the film The Mysterians to make the climactic earthquake seem far more violent and destructive.
* The dialogue is slightly different. In the Japanese version onlookers are speculating that Godzilla might be dead as they watch Kong swim home and speculate that it’s possible he survived. In the American version, onlookers simply say, “Godzilla has disappeared without a trace” and newly shot scenes of reporter Eric Carter have him watching Kong swim home on a viewscreen and wishing him luck on his long journey home.
* As the film ends and the screen fades to black, Owari (The End) appears on screen. Godzilla’s roar followed by Kong’s is on the Japanese soundtrack. This was akin to the monsters’ “taking a bow” or saying goodbye to the audience, as at this point the film is over. In the American version, only Kong’s roar is present on the soundtrack.
Obviously, Wikipedia can’t be seen as an “official” source, but the information presented does make sense. It’s just a shame. Stupid monkey…
