I have them both on DVD and prefer the dubbed version with Burr. You can miss a lot of what's happening onscreen by having to constantly read off the bottom.

@Quincey_Morris said:

I have them both on DVD and prefer the dubbed version with Burr. You can miss a lot of what's happening onscreen by having to constantly read off the bottom.

Say whaaaat!?! I MUCH prefer the original language with subs ANYTIME over horrible dubbing. To me, performances get lost severely when dubbed.

I agree with Mon-Star, I grew up watching the Raymond Burr version and when I finally bought the original Gojira on DVD..wow...what a serious and dark tone it took. No breaks, no goofy monster scenes, a movie that really moves. The scene alone during the rampage where the mother tells her child "Don't cry, we'll be with daddy soon, just a few more minutes and we'll be with daddy again."...OUCH! Harkens back to WWII and the tragedy of war. Gimme Gojira anyday of the week!

Having watched both versions many, many times I prefer the 1954 original to the Americanized version, but not because one is dubbed and one has subtitles. I just think the original is deeper, darker and simply a better movie. To me, the dub vs sub debate is a matter of personal preference. The people who prefer subtitles are not a bunch of uneducated mouth breathers, but there are a lot of dub snobs who definitely think that way.