King Kong - Il gigante della foresta

As it states under 'Trivia', 'King Kong Escapes' was a tie-in to the Rankin-Bass 'King Kong' cartoon series, and to be honest, this film is very much a children's movie, featuring a cartoonish super-villain, a faintly ridiculous plot and comical fight scenes. This shouldn't be taken to mean that I hate the film, however. While it's not as good as Toho's previous Kong outing, 'King Kong VS Godzilla', it's still okay if you're in the mood for that kind of thing. I've never seen the cartoon, but the plot of this film is straightforward enough that you don't need to.

The film does have a number of flaws, the most notable being King Kong himself. I personally thought the ape suit from KKVG looked pretty impressive, but KKE's version is more than a little silly, particularly the face, with its wide, staring eyes and permanently open mouth, which makes Kong look like he's high. Also, the fights with the other monsters aren't overly impressive; the battle on Mondo Island (Kong had obviously moved from Skull Island after it was destroyed at the end of Son of Kong) with Gorosaurus is actually quite funny, particularly when Kong gets repeatedly drop-kicked, but the showdown with Mecha-Kong is a bit anticlimactic, particularly compared to the city-destroying smackdowns of KKVG and the best of the Godzilla series.

The plot is some silly gubbins about mining a radioactive element, and King Kong comes into the story after the evil Dr Who (not the time-travelling character from the long-running British T.V series) builds a robot ape, only for it to fail. He then kidnaps the real Kong, but he escapes (hence the title) and the usual Kaiju action ensues. The human element is rather bland, although this is probably the fault of the script rather than the actors. Linda Miller is the ersatz Fay Wray of this picture, her role generally consisting of being picked up by Kong and trying to save the big ape from getting into trouble. Rhodes Reason is solid if unspectacular, and Dr. Who makes a good, over-the-top villain.

Having said that, I do think it's a shame Toho never made any more Kong movies. Personally, I would have loved to have seen Mecha-Kong come back, perhaps in a Godzilla movie. Given that Godzilla battled so many monsters over the years, it might have been interesting if he had come up against King Kong again, maybe in a scenario that forced them to work together against one or more of the many monster that big G faced.

This is the second film to feature the "Toho Kong". This film features plenty of action and is pretty much a copy of the original Kong (especially the scene where Kong and his Mecha double climb Tokyo Tower a la the Empire State Building). The big difference is that the girl isn't scared of Kong like Fay Wray was (note, there is no evidence that proves that this Linda Miller is Jackie Gleason's daughter. By all accounts she was a teen-aged model living in Japan at the time who was cast in this film.). Despite the fact that the film lifts several elements from the original, it stands on its own as a pure escapist fun.

Yes, there is a difference in American King Kong and Japanese King Kong. Japanese Kong is much bigger and stronger and would be ashamed to be taken down by planes. Also, he would not climb the Empire State building, he would most likely annihilate it. He is back after his fight with Godzilla to once again save the day to some extent. It has been awhile since he last grace the screen since that fight, but somehow he manages to get tangled in a plot by some madman to dig up stuff in a mine. This madman already has the formidable MechaKong at his disposal, but MechaKong is incapable of digging in said mine thanks to something down there that causes it to malfunction. So they capture the real monkey and somehow hypnotize it to dig for them. Still you know in the end there is going to be a showdown between Kong and his mechanical counterpart. A fairly decent movie from the company of Toho, however I will always like Godzilla the best. Still, they have enough monsters and some pretty good fights to keep one entertained. I do believe this was Japanese King Kong's last movie, which is a bit sad, I would have loved to have seen a reemergence during the Hensei Godzilla movies and had Godzilla get some revenge for that earlier loss. MechaKong is rather cool, but not as cool as MechaGodzilla, mainly because MechaGodzilla just had way to many cool weapons and was a way more impressive fighting machine.

This movie is a follow-up to 1962's "King Kong vs. Godzilla." This time, King Kong was kidnapped by a mad scientist, who planned to use him to dig up Element X (a key ingredient for a nuclear bomb). Along the way Kong battles a giant sea snake, Gorosaurus (Godzilla's buddy) and a replica of himself called Mecha-Kong. The directing and special effects were OK, and the story was serviceable. I think that Toho intended to give this movie a James Bondish treatment, since "You Only Live Twice" (1967) was released the same year and actress Mie Hama, who appeared as bond girl Kissy in the 007 flick, appeared in this movie.

The movie could have used more suspense and human action. The monster scenes were OK, though some scenes, especially with the helicopters, were really cheesy. If Kong was almost the same size as Godzilla, I wouldn't think that he would be dwarfed by the Tokyo Tower (and having the ability to climb it). Nonetheless, I think the tower scene where the two monsters duke it out was a pretty remarkable special effect.

Four major problems I have with this movie are about the characters. First of all, Commander Nelson (Rhodes Reason) is supposed to be one of the heroes in the story, but he basically didn't do anything important. He lost a little Karate-fight to the main villain, and then played chess with him afterward while his two friends were confined to a below 0 degree cell! Also, his acting was plain. Second, Lieutenant Watson (Linda Miller) was a very annoying character and had such an irritating voice. However, her role is of some importance (especially in the parts where she told Kong to stop shaking the sub she and the crew were in and where she calmed Kong down while he was on the loose in Tokyo). Third, the part where Lt. Nomura (Akira Takarada) told an official he's Lieutenant Nomura (he's not in uniform) and asked to let him take command is a bit awkward. How would the official be sure he's who he claimed to be? Fourth, the henchmen in the movie were just stupid. To sum it all, the better acting actually goes to the two main villains! Dr. Who (Eisei Anamoto) gave an outrageously cruel performance. He's wildly funny, with his wild white hair and long black cape, and he's pretty darned skillful with the trigger. And, Madame Piranha (Mie Hama) steals the show. She's bewitching, spellbinding and beautiful. She is the true hero of the movie *spoiler* since it was she who destroyed Mecha-Kong's control system, thereby, defeating the robot completely. I wish she would have had a better fate in the movie.

The monster action was OK. City destruction was limited, though, and King Kong looked pretty dumb. The costume used for the monster was hideous, but still better than the one used in "King Kong vs. Godzilla."

Above all, this movie was very average - not the best from Toho. The plot lines really go all over the place. What made up for this movie was Akira Ifukube's great, haunting music score and Mie Hama.

Grade C+

I had to move this review over from "Kingu Kongu tai Gojira." Hard to keep the Japanese movies straight when the same monsters keep reappearing. I saw this one under the title "King Kong versus Doctor Who" (that's this one, right?) and cheap though the movie was-- and evidently completely unrelated to the famous Doctor Who of British TV-- I was impressed that Kong and his karma are faithfully characterized in a new story. The writers here understand that the thing about Kong is how his power makes him attractive to ignoble exploiters who, although he could crush them with a finger, have technology and craftiness that level the playing field for them against Kong, more or less. The "more or less" is where the tension of the story comes from. That and the second thoughts about whether civilization is using its dominion over nature wisely. In the original movie Kong was exploited by humans for entertainment; here he is exploited for labor and finds himself in the role of a John Henry whose strength is matched against that of his mechanical counterpart. The symbolism of the original film is not violated but only enriched.