OVERALL: Draw

The Region 2 Japanese release has the original version and some nice extras but no English subtitles.

R1 Universal, R2 UK and R0 Australia are next in line and both are the US version.

Two versions exist: The original Japanese version (97 minutes) and the drastically altered US version (91 minutes); for details see below.

General notes:
The US version is dubbed and re-edited from the original Japanese version and the US version is more radically different from the original Japanese version, than any other entries of the Godzilla series. The newsroom scenes of U.N. anchor Eric Carter (Michael Keith), Dr. Arnold Johnson (Harry Holcombe) and Japanese anchor Utaka Omora (James Yagi) are not part of the Japanese version but were added for the sake of Americanisation. To make room for this new footage, numerous scenes were removed from the Japanese version. Most of Akira Ifukube's score is deleted and replaced.

A comparison between the US Version and Japanese Version is available on Movie Censorship.

CUTS:

• R0 Australia- Shock/Siren Visual - No cuts. Dubbed and re-edited US version.
• R1 America- Universal Pictures - No Cuts. Dubbed and re-edited US-version.
• R1 35th Anniversary Edition America- Goodtimes Home Video - No cuts. Dubbed and re-edited US Version (91 mins NTSC).
• R2 Germany- Cine Plus - Seems to be cut (80 mins - PAL).
• R2 Japan- Toho Entertainment - No cuts. Original Japanese Version (96:54 NTSC)
• R2 United Kingdom- Universal Pictures - No cuts. Dubbed and re-edited US Version.

Do you own a release not listed? Then please visit our forums and let us know!

Comparison added by Jari_Kovalainen on 02/01/04
Comparison last updated by Matthew_B_Harrah on 21/11/22

UPDATE LOG:

07/04/11: Fixed numerous typos, Minor Comparison clean-up and removed a dead link from the Overall.
12/04/11: Addition of the R1 Universal release and minor clean-up.
01/04/12: Added R2 UK.
08/03/17: Added note about versions, added Amazon links where possible and accurate Japanese running time to Japanese version.
02/09/19: Clean-Up.
21/11/22: Movie Censorship.