King Kong Escapes

Infobox_Film
name =Kingkong Escapes


caption = Theatrical Poster for "King Kong Escapes" (1967)
director =Ishirō Honda
producer =Tomoyuki Tanaka
Arthur Rankin Jr.
writer =Takeshi Kimura(screenplay) (as Kaoru Mabuchi)
Arthur Rankin Jr.(concept)
starring =Akira Takarada
Rhodes Reason
Mie Hama
Linda Miller
Eisei Amamoto
music =Akira Ifukube
cinematography =Hajime Koizumi
editing =Ryohei Fujii
distributor =Toho
Universal Studios (USA)
released =July 22, 1967 (Japan)
June 19, 1968 (USA)
runtime =104 min.
96 min. (USA)
language =Japanese
English
budget =
imdb_id =0061868
preceded_by = "King Kong vs. Godzilla"
followed_by = "King Kong (1976)"

"King Kong Escapes", released in Japan as nihongo|"Kingkongu no Gyakushū"|キングコングの逆襲|Kingukongu no Gyakushū|literally "Kingkong's Counterattack", is a Japanese/American tokusatsu film. A co-production from Toho and Rankin/Bass, it was released in Japan in 1967, and in the United States by Universal Studios the following year.

The film was an adaptation of episodes of Rankin/Bass and Toei Animation's "The King Kong Show" cartoon series. As with "King Kong vs. Godzilla", Eiji Tsuburaya served as director of special effects.

Plot summary

An evil genius named Dr. Who/Dr.Huu in the Japanese version (not to be confused with "Doctor Who", a long running British television series) has created a robotic Kong (sometimes referred to as Mechani-Kong in the Japanese version) in order to dig for a highly radioactive element called "Element X". When it fails they kidnap the real King Kong from his island and hypnotize him to dig for Element X. He soon snaps out of it and swims off to Tokyo. King Kong and Mechani-Kong fight on Tokyo Tower, with the fate of the city hanging in the balance. This was also the first film to feature "Gorosaurus".

U.S. release

The film opened in the United States in June 1968 on a double-bill with the Don Knotts comedy, "The Shakiest Gun in the West" Contemporary American reviews were mixed. "New York Times" film critic, Vincent Canby gave it a particularly insulting review, calling Toho's Kong an "Uncle Tom," and 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 "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..."

Additional Credits

*Eiji Tsuburaya- Special effects director
*Sadamasa Arikawa- Secondary Special effects director
* Teruyoshi Nakano- Assistant Special Effects director
*Takeo Kita- Art Direction
*Fumio Nakadai- Wireworks Director
*Yasuyuki Inoue- Special Effects Sets

Cast

*Rhodes Reason 　................ Commander Carl Nelson　(voice actor: Kei　Taguchi)
*Akira Takarada ................. Lt. Commander Jiro Nomura　
*Linda Miller　................. Lt. Susan Watson　(voice actor: Akiko Santou)
*Eisei Amamoto ................ Dr. Huu
*Mie Hama　　　　　................. Madame Piranha
*Ikio Sawamura　　 ................. Old man of Mond Island
*Yosihumi Tajima　 .................Chief, Dr. Who’s assistant
*Nadao Kirino　　　　.................Dr. Huu’s assistant
*Sachio Sakai 　　　 ................ Dr. Huu’s assistant
*Naoya Kusakawa ................　Dr. Huu’s assistant
*Susumu Kurobe　 ................. Dr. Huu’s subordinate
*Tooru Ibuki 　　　　.................Dr. Huu’s subordinate
*Kazuo Suzuki 　　　................ Dr. Huu’s subordinate
*Shigemi Sagawa 　................ Dr. Huu’s subordinate
*Yoshio Katsube 　................ Dr. Huu’s subordinate
*Haruo Suzuki 　　................ Dr. Who’s subordinate
*Jun Kuroki 　　　　................ Dr. Huu’s subordinate, Jet helicopter crewman
*Takuya Yuki 　　　................ Dr. Huu’s　subordinate, Jet helicopter crewman
*Masaki Shinohara　................ Dr. Huu’s　subordinate, Carrier sailor
*Andrew Hughes　................　 United Nations journalist
*Al Kramer　　　　 ................ United Nations journalist
*Ryuuji Kita 　　　　................ Police inspector
*Syouichi Hirose ............... Submarine Explore crewman
*Rinsaku Ogata ................ Submarine Explore crewman
*Ousmane Yusef　................ Submarine Explore crewman
*Yutaka Oka　　　　................ Submarine Explore crewman
*Yū Sekida 　　　................ Headquarters guard
*Kazuo Hinata　　　................ Headquarters guard
*Akio Kusama　　　................ Headquarters guard
*Masaaki Tachibana................ Self-Defense Force soldier
*Tadashi Okabe　　　................ Self-Defense Force soldier
*Hideo Shibuya　　　................ Self-Defense Force soldier
*Haruya Sakamoto................ Self-Defense Force soldier
*Keiichirou Katsumoto.......... Curious spectator
*Haruo Nakajima　............ Curious spectator

*Kingkong 　　　　................ Haruo Nakajima
*Mechani-Kong　　　................ Yū Sekida
*"Gorosaurus"　 　　　............... Yū Sekida

Trivia

*Akira Ifukube would reuse and rewrite Mechani-Kong's theme for his score to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.

References

*Canby, Vincent. " [http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?_r=1&title1=King%20Kong%20Escapes%20(Movie)&title2=&reviewer=VINCENT%20CANBY&pdate=19680711&v_id=&oref=slogin New King Kong:Ape-Hero Is Uncle Tom in Japanese Version] " (film review) "The New York Times". July 11, 1968.
* [http://www.tohokingdom.com/movies/king_kong_escapes.htm "King Kong Escapes"] at Toho Kingdom.
*imdb title|id=0061868|title=Kingukongu no gyakushu
*"Variety" June 26, 1968.
*