King Kong Escapes
King Kong Escapes is a 1967 Japanese-American science-fiction fantasy action spy kaiju film. It was produced by Toho and Rankin/Bass Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures in 1968. It is the fourth King Kong movie and the second Japanese King Kong movie. This film's SFX were done by Eiji Tsuburaya. It features a giant ape named Kong. A man from Mondo Island tries to stop the terrorist leader Dr. Who, who has been creating a giant robot called Mechani-Kong (or Robot Kong in the English-dub), a 20-metre tall ape robot.
| King Kong Escapes | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ishirō Honda |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Written by | Kaoru Mabuchi Willis O'Brien (original idea) |
| Story by | Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Starring | Rhodes Reason Linda Miller Mie Hama Akira Takarada Mie Hama Hideyo Amamoto Haruo Nakajima Yu Sekida |
| Music by | Akira Ifukube |
| Cinematography | Hajime Koizumi |
Production company | Toho Company, Ltd. Rankin/Bass Productions |
| Distributed by | Toho (Japan) Universal Pictures (United States) |
Release date | Japan: July 22, 1967 United States: June 19, 1968 |
Running time | 104 minutes (Japanese) 96 minutes (USA) |
| Country | Japan United States |
| Language | Japanese English |
Plot
In 1966, at an arctic headquarters, Dr. Who creates a giant robotic gorilla, a recreation of King Kong. This robot, called Mechani-Kong, is for the purpose of digging for a mysterious and highly radioactive substance known as Element X, only found in the North Pole. Then, on Mondo Island, a group of United Nations submarine groups, then Susan caught by a Gorosaurus who tries to eat her, Kong awakes to fight the Gorosaurus to death. Dr. Who arrives at Mondo Island to hunt Kong to imprison. those helicopters launched a gassed bomb to render the ape unconscious and carried by an larger ship. Kong watches Mechani-[Kong as a real aside], then hypnotized Kong to dig an Element X, and escaped. Kong goes on a rampage to Tokyo, [an JSDF tanks surrounded the ape.] Mechani-Kong catches Susan and kidnaps her, to then take her to the Tokyo Tower. Kong grabs Mechani-Kong's leg, who drops Susan and [hold her onto the place, Mechani-Kong steps an tower and electrocutes Mechani-Kong, which] fell off the tower and is destroyed. After those occurrences, Kong attacks Dr. Who inside the giant ship. Kong wins and returns to Mondo Island.
Cast
- Rhodes Reason as Carl Nelson
- Linda Miller as Susan Watson
- Akira Takarada as Jiro
- Haruo Nakajima as King Kong
- Hideyo Amamoto as Dr. Satoshi Who
- Mie Hama as Madame X/Madame Aran X
- Yu Sekida as Mechani-Kong/Gorosaurus
- Yoshifumi Tajima - Chief
- Shoichi Hirose, Toru Ibuki, Nadao Kirino, Susumu Kurobe, Sachio Sakai, Kazuo Suzuki and Yoshifumi Tajima - Dr. Who's Henchmen
- Andrew Hughes - United Nations journalist
- Ryūji Kita - Police inspector
- Osman Yusuf - Submariner
- Yasuhisa Tsutsumi - General
- Masaaki Tachibana - Self-Defense Force soldier
- Ikio Sawamura - Mondo Islander
- Nadao Kirino - Dr. Who's assistant
- Seishiro Kuno, Haruya Sakamoto, Masaaki Tachibana - JSDF soldiers
- Kamayuki Tsubono - Security headquarters guard
- Ryu Kuze - Killer
In the American version of the film, voices include, Paul Frees, Julie Bennett, Hal Smith, and Pat Woodell.
Release
The film was released in Japan in July 22, 1967 by Toho, and released to the United States in June 19, 1968 by Universal Pictures and Rankin/Bass Productions.