King Kong Escapes is one of my favorite Japanese kaiju films. It was co-produced by Rankin/Bass, creators of animated holiday specials such as Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, as a tie-in to the aforementioned animated series.
The story involves an evil scientist, Dr. Who (no relation...I think), who plots to mine a tremendously radioactive ore using his robotic copy of the original Kong. Unfortunately, the intense radiation fries the robot ape, which means that Plan B is to kidnap the real Kong.
King Kong Escapes is pure, delirious fun. In the American version, Dr. Who is voiced by the mellifluous Paul Frees, best known as Bullwinkle's nemesis Boris Badenov, as well as the "Ghost Host" of Disney's "Haunted Mansion" ride. The slinky spy Madame X is played by Mie Hama, who was Kissy Suzuki in the James Bond chapter You Only Live Twice. There's some especially good giant monster action, and the suits for both Mechani-Kong and the dinosaur Gorosaurus (who later appeared in the Godzilla epic Destroy All Monsters) are among Toho Studios' best.
Kong himself, unfortunately, is not one of their better efforts. While they used a different suit from that seen in King Kong vs. Godzilla, it's equally mangy and goofy. How is it that the Japanese can build such wonderful devices, but can't design a decent gorilla suit?
Ratings Guide |
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| Zero | What the hell were they thinking? Even Ed Wood was more entertaining. |
| 1/2 |
Dear God in Heaven. Probable involvement of Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. |
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Seriously shit. Based upon a Saturday Night Live skit. |
| 1/2 |
Mildly crap. Eddie Murphy made another family comedy. |
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It's not good. It's not bad. It's just there. |
| 1/2 |
Has its moments. A bonus half star for a particularly cool robot or perky breast. |
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Solid entertainment. Exploding robots and/or multiple bare breasts. |
| 1/2 |
As good as most movies can hope to achieve. May include full-frontal nudity. |
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Like Mary Poppins herself, practically perfect in every way. |
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