King Kong Escapes
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| King Kong Escapes | |
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 Theatrical Poster for King Kong Escapes (1967) |
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| Directed by | Ishirō Honda |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Written by | Takeshi Kimura(screenplay) (as Kaoru Mabuchi) Arthur Rankin Jr.(concept) |
| Starring | Akira Takarada Rhodes Reason Mie Hama Linda Miller Eisei Amamoto |
| Music by | Akira Ifukube |
| Cinematography | Hajime Koizumi |
| Editing by | Ryohei Fujii |
| Distributed by | Toho Universal Studios (USA) |
| Release date(s) | July 22, 1967 (Japan) June 19, 1968 (USA) |
| Running time | 104 min. 96 min. (USA) |
| Language | Japanese English |
| Preceded by | King Kong vs. Godzilla |
| IMDb profile | |
King Kong Escapes, released in Japan as King Kong no Gyakushū (キングコングの逆襲 Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū?, literally "King Kong'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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] 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..."
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
- Yuu Sekita ................ 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
- King Kong ................ Haruo Nakajima
- Mechani-Kong ................ Yuu Sekita
- Gorosaurus ............... Yuu Sekita
[edit] Trivia
- Akira Ifukube would reuse and rewrite Mechani-Kong's theme for his score to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.
[edit] References
- Canby, Vincent. "New King Kong:Ape-Hero Is Uncle Tom in Japanese Version" (film review) The New York Times. July 11, 1968.
- King Kong Escapes at Toho Kingdom.
- Kingukongu no gyakushu at the Internet Movie Database
- Variety June 26, 1968.
- キングコングの逆襲 (Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū) (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
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