The evil scientist Dr Who captures King Kong and forces him to mine the mysterious Element X when his own mechanical ape malfunctions. King Kong rebels and escapes to Tokyo where his giant robot doppelganger Mechani-Kong, supercharged by the strange minerals of Who’s mine, manages to hunt him down. The two clash in a tremendous battle atop Tokyo Tower.

Honda’s second King Kong feature, and the first not to feature the director’s mascot monster, Godzilla. King Kong Escapes is another co-production with an American studio, this time Rankin/Bass, and acts as a loose adaptation of the anime series, The King Kong Show.

The ‘Father of Tokusatsu’, Eiji Tsuburaya returns as visual effects supervisor while Toho veteran Akira Ifukube provides another memorable score. With Rankin/Bass also overseeing production King Kong Escapes results in one of the most wildly entertaining, weird and curious films in the entire Showa kaiju catalogue.

Kaijuly: Planet - Meltdown

For Kaijuly’s third year at the Showroom, we’re going bigger and better, with a weekend-long concentrated dose of seven kaiju classics.

Explore Kaijuly: Planet - Meltdown

Director Ishirō Honda
Year 1967
Duration 1h 44m
Language English - Dubbed
Cast Hiroshi Nawa, Tanie Kitabayashi, Yukio Horikita, Chikara Hashimoto