Directed by:
Ishirō HondaComposer:
Akira IfukubeCast:
Rhodes Reason, Mie Hama, Ryûji Kita, Akira Takarada, Hideyo Amamoto, Ikio Sawamura, Shigeo Katô, Osman YusufPlots(1)
Ishiro Honda directs this Japanese adventure sequel featuring the gigantic ape Kong. A team of scientists have built a mechanical version of Kong in order to extract a radioactive element at the Earth's core. When the robot Kong fails in its mission, the scientists decide to capture the real thing to finish the task. However, events rapidly spiral out of control when Kong escapes, resulting in a city-destroying showdown between King Kong and Mechani-Kong in central Tokyo. (Universal Pictures UK)
(more)Reviews (2)
King Kong Escapes. Do you know how to calm a horny King Kong? You just ask him nicely. In other words, Kong is on the rampage again, and again under the baton of Ishiro Honda!! No, it's nowhere near as good as its predecessor King Kong vs Godzilla, it has a lot of deaf spots, but there are still some nice cinematic nuggets to be found. The story begins at the North Pole, where the evil Professor Who constructs Mecha-Kong, a steel robot the size and shape of King Kong, to mine precious gems. But Mecha Kong, girded by the bombs he throws into the ice crust to get to the coveted minerals, can do nothing. Meanwhile, a military submarine anchors off an island somewhere in the Pacific, out of which flies a hovercraft (all cute little models) that goes into the island jungle manned by two commanders and one lieutenant named Susan. While the gentlemen go to explore the terrain, the lady stays with the hovercraft. Out of nowhere a prehistoric lizard (an actor in a costume) appears, Susan starts screaming and wakes up Kong in a nearby cave. He steps on the lizard and the fight begins. If you're wondering how such a lizard fights, well: it jumps up and with both feet in the air kicks Kong in the stomach, who does a backwards roll. This is repeated about three times until Kong gets pissed off, chokes the lizard and puts it out of commission with precisely aimed fists to the stomach. Meanwhile our heroes flee the island, on their way back to the submarine they are attacked by a sea serpent, Kong again comes to the rescue, kills the serpent and then comes to the submarine in which Susan, with whom he has fallen hopelessly in love, is hiding. The horny Kong shakes the submarine, pounding it with his fists and making it impossible for it to leave. Susan comes out and says: "Kong, please dontt shake the ship. I sleep and I eat on this ship." And Kong stops. The submarine sets sail, Susan and her colleagues announce to the world that they have discovered Kong, and Professor Who decides to kidnap the ape to help him mine the gems. With adorable helicopters he puts Kong to sleep with ether bombs, loads him on a ship and takes him to the North Pole. He also takes Susan, who had happened to return to Kong’s island. Kong, controlled by some kind of antennae stuck on his skull, digs through the ice like a madman, looking for gems, but after he sees the kidnapped Susan, he rebels, breaks through and runs away through the polar landscape, towards Tokyo (why Tokyo, I have no idea), where the army attacks him with tank models. Who brings Mecha Kong in to see him off, and the final battle can begin. Then Susan, who has escaped from the mad professor's clutches with her kidnapped colleagues, runs up to Kong and says: "Calm down, Kong. We’re your friends!" voluntarily allows herself to be drawn into his paw, all to the amazement of the onlooking soldiers. The ape, with Susan in his paw, climbs the local TV tower together with Mecha, where a fierce fight ensues, in which a nice blow on the head with a ripped out railing is the least of it. Who do you think wins?
()
(less)
(more)
Ishirô Honda may have become too dominant in the kaiju genre over time, repeating himself and neglecting elaborate special effects, but with King Kong Escapes, he managed to create a great action movie where the characters are engaging and which is enjoyable to watch. There's always something happening, and your attention stays glued to the film, even to that strange King Kong that just didn't quite work.
()