After I had completed the reconstruction for Tidal Wave I knew I wanted to work on other projects that I could source from film prints. When a 4K scan of King Kong vs. Godzilla was available I immediately wanted to make that my next project. I’ve loved this film since I was a child. How could I not appreciate a movie with my two favorite monsters.
Once I had the 4K scan of the film, some of the drawbacks of a project like this immediately became apparent. The film showed significant damage and other challenges. Not to be intimidated, here’s how I approached the daunting task of restoring such a heavily worn film print.
Unlike restorations that often start with original camera negatives, this release print had been through countless screenings, accumulating dirt, scratches, and broken sections. I found missing frames ranging from 1-2 frames to gaps of 7, 21, and even 70+ frames in various shots. Vertical scratches and hairs further complicated the process, testing every skill I’d learned over the years of doing reconstructions.
Restoration began with cleaning dirt and scratches from the US scenes, as I planned to integrate Japanese footage from Toho’s 2021 UHD release. I used software to replace these flaws with pixels from adjacent frames, but the software often overcorrected, requiring frame-by-frame manual adjustments to preserve details. For larger marks, like hairs that confused the software, I carefully cleaned each frame one at a time.
Missing frames posed another challenge. Small gaps of 1-2 frames were filled using CGI to recreate in-between frames. Larger gaps, like a 7-frame cut in the opening US footage of Rodrigo Infanta discussing an earthquake, required upscaling Blu-ray frames. I was reluctant to lose any of the larger picture area available in the film scan though, so I successfully matted the upscaled footage into the print’s background. A 21-frame gap in the final shot of Eric Carter watching Kong swim away was similarly patched by blending Blu-ray and film footage. The most severe damage—a 70+ frame gap in a shot of Yutaka Omura—forced me to upscale that entire shot, carefully matching it to surrounding footage.
Vertical scratches, persistent across many frames, were particularly tough. With no adjacent pixels in other frames to borrow from, I minimized their visibility as best I could, though some faint scratches remain.
After cleaning, I color-graded the footage to enhance its vibrancy. Although the print had held up considerably well color-wise, its appearance was faded. The Japanese footage, sourced from Toho’s 2021 UHD, had originally been graded by Isato Komori (the original colorist for the 2008 “Hi-Vision” restorations), then tweaked slightly for the UHD release. I felt this still lifeless, and didn’t match the feel of the more recent restorations, so I adjusted it shot by shot for a brighter, more vibrant palette to match the film’s fun tone. The US footage was similarly graded to blend seamlessly.
Audio presented its own issues. The print’s audio was too damaged, so I primarily used the Universal Blu-ray as my source, patching in film audio for the minor gaps in the Blu-ray. Conforming the film print to the Universal Blu-ray revealed the extent of the damage and guided my patching process. This approach ensured the most complete version of the film possible.
After addressing all visual and audio issues, I combined the restored US and Japanese footage into a cohesive 4K edit. With a final review and polish I felt it was time to share the details of this project with others. I certainly would never claim to be a restoration expert, but this project tested and refined my skills. Others might disagree with some of the restoration decisions, but I stand by them, as this is the version I wanted to present and watch on a Saturday night. The final 4K version of the US King Kong vs. Godzilla is the best I’ve ever seen it, with vibrant colors and a nearly seamless flow despite any challenges the print’s wear may have caused.
Finally, I know there have also been a few versions of the audio that restored Akira Ifukube’s score, but I had never been entirely happy with those. So I collaborated with
Prince Tyler, to create a new custom English dub audio track featuring Akira Ifukube’s score, replacing the stock music. This is featured as a secondary audio track.
I wouldn’t have made it through this project without the support of G-Man, ultrase7en, canofhumdingers and Prince Tyler, whose input and contributions were invaluable.
Restoring King Kong vs. Godzilla has been a journey of passion and perseverance. As always, please reach out via DM for further details.
Here's an example of the restoration work. More examples, including before & after videos can be found on my X/Twitter page.
#PreserveTheDubs