[ljacone]

No surprise that these are barebones releases; Universal did the same thing with KKvG and KKE when they released them on DVD. As budget releases, they were perfectly nice DVDs of the American versions of the films; I expect these BRDs to be of similar quality and scope. I like both of these films quite a bit, and as budget releases ($13.99 each according to Dread Central), I may pick them up.

I have boots of the Japanese versions of both films, and it is always interesting to see what was cut and what was not.

KKvG is almost like a different movie for whole sections of it, with the major cuts-and-inserts in the first half, before the second half gets more in line with the original. I will say that I do like the use of the stock footage of the destruction when Kong and Goji crash into the ocean (from The Mysterians IIRC).

King Kong Escapes is more subtle with what was cut. The sequence on Tokyo Tower is the main bit which is changed, as the bit where Linda Miller is hanging off the edge and has to be saved by Akira Takarada is much longer in the uncut film. I mean, they have to get a bunch of engineers there and rig up a harness and the whole nine, all while Kong and Mechanikong are fighting. In the US version, she's hanging, she gets grabbed, and it's all over much quicker. Overall the US version is a bit more tightly put together, but not a huge departure from the original film in the grand scheme of things.