King Kong Vs. Godzilla - Preservation

Preservation

This film is infamous for being one of the most poorly preserved tokusatsu films. In 1970, director Ishiro Honda prepared an edited version of the film for the Champion Matsuri, a film festival that showed edited re-releases of older kaiju films along with cartoons and newer kaiju films aimed at children. Twenty-four minutes were cut in total. Unfortunately, this has become the only Japanese language version for which 35mm materials are available to Toho, and it is unclear what happened to the uncut original version's 35mm elements. Fifteen of the missing twenty-four minutes can be found in 35mm prints of the US version, while the remaining nine are only known to exist in badly faded 16mm prints of the 1962 uncut version.

For the film's 1991 laserdisc release, Toho completed a crude reconstruction of the original 1962 version. A 35mm Champion Matsuri copy was used for the majority of the film and the uncut 16mm internegative was spliced in for all the missing portions, on many occasions within the same shot as an incomplete Matsuri shot, resulting in missing frames and inconsistent quality. This laserdisc transfer has been the basis for all home video editions of the uncut Japanese version since 1991.

Read more about this topic:  King Kong Vs. Godzilla

Famous quotes containing the word preservation:

    I do seriously believe that if we can measure among the States the benefits resulting from the preservation of the Union, the rebellious States have the larger share. It destroyed an institution that was their destruction. It opened the way for a commercial life that, if they will only embrace it and face the light, means to them a development that shall rival the best attainments of the greatest of our States.
    Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)

    The reason why men enter into society, is the preservation of their property; and the end why they choose and authorize a legislative, is, that there may be laws made, and rules set, as guards and fences to the properties of all the members of the society: to limit the power, and moderate the dominion, of every part and member of the society.
    John Locke (1632–1704)

    The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.
    Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)