King Kong Escapes
King Kong Escapes (Japanese: キングコングの逆襲, Hepburn: Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū, lit. 'King Kong's Counterattack') is a 1967 kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film was a Japanese–American co-production between Toho and Rankin/Bass,[1] and stars Rhodes Reason, Linda Miller, Akira Takarada, Mie Hama, Eisei Amamoto, with Haruo Nakajima as King Kong and Hiroshi Sekita as Mechani-Kong and Gorosaurus. The film is loosely based on Rankin/Bass' series The King Kong Show, and was the second and final Toho-produced film featuring King Kong, until its 2021 collaboration with Warner Bros on Godzilla vs. Kong. King Kong Escapes was released in Japan on July 22, 1967, and released in the United States on June 19, 1968. It is the fourth entry in the King Kong franchise.
King Kong Escapes
キングコングの逆襲
Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū
Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Arthur Rankin Jr.
Hajime Koizumi
Ryohei Fujii
Toho (Japan)
Universal Pictures (United States)
- July 22, 1967 (Japan)
- June 19, 1968 (United States)
104 minutes (Japan)
96 minutes (United States)
- Japan
- United States
English
Japanese
$1 million (US/Canada rentals)
1 million tickets (France)
Plot[edit]
An evil genius named Dr. Who creates Mechani-Kong, a mecha version of King Kong, to dig for the highly radioactive Element X, found only at the North Pole. Mechani-Kong enters an ice cave and begins to dig into a glacier, but the radiation destroys its brain circuits and the robot shuts down. Dr. Who then sets his sights on getting the real Kong to finish the job. The scientist is taken to task by a female overseer, Madame Piranha, whose country's government is financing the doctor's schemes, and frequently berates him for his failure to get results.
Meanwhile, a submarine commanded by Carl Nelson arrives at Mondo Island, where the legendary King Kong lives. Here, the giant ape gets into an intense fight with a giant dinosaur Gorosaurus and a sea serpent. He falls in love with Lt. Susan Watson (played by Linda Jo Miller) following in the footsteps of Ann Darrow from the 1933 film.
Dr. Who subsequently goes to Mondo Island, abducts Kong, and brings him back to his base at the North Pole. Kong is hypnotized by a flashing light device and fitted with a radio earpiece. Who commands Kong to retrieve Element X from the cave. Problems with the earpiece ensue and Who has to kidnap Susan Watson, the only person who can control Kong.
After Watson and her fellow officers are captured by Who, Madame Piranha unsuccessfully tries to seduce Nelson to bring him over to her side. Eventually Kong escapes and swims all the way to Japan where the climactic battle with Mechani-Kong transpires. The two giants face off at the Tokyo Tower in the finale. Kong prevails and destroys Mechani-Kong and kills Who and his men. Then Kong triumphantly swims back to his island home.
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
The film opened in the United States in June 1968 as a double feature with the Don Knotts comedy/Western film The Shakiest Gun in the West (itself a remake of the 1948 Bob Hope comedy/Western film The Paleface). The film earned American and Canadian theatrical rentals of $1 million,[16] equivalent to estimated box office gross receipts of approximately $3 million.[17] In France, the film sold 1,014,593 tickets.[18]
Critical response[edit]
Contemporary American reviews were mixed. New York Times film critic Vincent Canby gave it a negative review, commenting, "The Japanese ... are all thumbs when it comes to making monster movies like 'King Kong Escapes.' The Toho moviemakers are quite good in building miniature sets, but much of the process photography—matching the miniatures with the full-scale shots—is just bad ... the plotting is hopelessly primitive ..."
The July 15, 1968, issue of Film Bulletin, however, gave it a more positive review, saying, "Grown-ups who like their entertainments on a comic-strip level will find this good fun and the Universal release (made in Japan) has plenty of ballyhoo angles to draw the school-free youngsters in large numbers."
On Rotten Tomatoes, an approval rating of 63% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10.[19]
Notes
Bibliography