King Kong Vs Godzilla/King Kong Escapes

Description

It's King Kong to the rescue when a giant robot threatens to destroy Tokyo in the gripping King Kong Escapes! The action begins when the conniving Dr. Who builds a robot Kong in order to retrieve a highly radioactive element for his mysterious benefactor, Madame X. When the robot proves less than reliable, the devious duo scheme to kidnap the real Kong from his remote island home of Mondo. But interfering with their plans are the heroic trio of U.S. Cmdr. Carl Nelson, Lt. Jiro Nomura, and Kong's current crush, Lt. Susan Miller. It's up to them to outwit the greedy ape-nappers in this sci-fi adventure that takes Kong to unprecedented heights of excitement.

The two mightiest monsters of all time battle in the thrilling adventure classic, King Kong vs. Godzilla. When an underhanded pharmaceutical company goes to a remote tropical island to steal King Kong for advertising purposes, they get more than they bargained for when the gigantic ape attacks an unsuspecting village and an enormous octopus. Meanwhile, far below the sea, a submarine crew unleashes reptilian terror when they melt a block of ice and release the ferocious Godzilla from his icy lair. When both destructive monsters descend on Tokyo, it's a fight that holds the future of mankind in the balance in this knock-out film that was the first theatrical release to bring its larger-than-life contenders to the big screen in glorious color.

Customer Reviews:

King Kong vs Godzilla/King Kong Escapes.............2007-07-07

I recall seeing both these movies way back when I first started watching Godzilla movies. Both are among my favorites to watch every now and then. I mean, who wouldn't want to see an American icon like King Kong go up against the 'King of Monsters'? or see Kong go up against a Mecha-version of himself? I'll admit, by today's standards, both of the movies are kinda cheesy and the plots are 'out there' but they are still fun to watch. Makes me wish that Toho could/would make more up-to-date versions of these two movies. From what I've read online, Toho did try that back in '91 -especially with King Kong vs Godzilla- but Turner Entertainment(owners of the original film) asked for too much money for King Kong's use in the film to which Toho declined & instead made Godzilla vs King Ghidorah as part of the Heisei series. With the recent success of Peter Jackson's King Kong, I think it would benefit both parties quite well. Not only making Godzilla fans happy but generating interest in the original Kong film as well as the rest of movies in the franchise. At any rate; we can hope that one day, in the near future, both companies can come to some agreement so our favorite giant monsters from opposite ends of the globe can battle it out once again.

Both of these movies were directed by Ishiro Honda with visual effects either done by or directed by Eiji Tsuburaya.

King Kong vs Godzilla was made in 1962 and tells the story about Mr. Tako who is head over a pharmaceuticals company. Frustrated with the tv shows his company is sponsoring, he tries to come up with something to boost the ratings. He soon finds out about a giant monster that was discovered on Faro Island. Believing it would give him the publicity he needs, he sends two men to find and bring the monster back. Meantime, an American submarine gets caught in an iceberg. The same iceberg that Godzilla was trapped in the movie, Godzilla Raids Again. Godzilla eventually breaks out and head toward a nearby Japanese Artic base to which he obliterates. On Faro Island, Kong is captured by Tako's men and brought back to Japan. Kong breaks free and meets up with Godzilla & the rest is history. You know what happens, lol, just by looking at the title. Guess who comes out the winner. It sold 11.2 million tickets during it's inital theatrical run in Japan and holds the title of having the highest attendance records ever on any Godzilla movie to date.

King Kong Escapes was made in 1967(hehe.. the year I was born). A mean genius named Dr. Who creates a Mecha-Kong in order to dig for a highly radioactive element dubbed "Element X". When Mecha-Kong fails, he decides to kidnap the real Kong and hypnotize him to dig for it. Kong soon snaps out of it and heads off for Tokyo. Kong and Mecha-Kong end up fighting on Tokyo Tower with the city hanging in the balance. This is also the first film to feature Gorosaurus(who played a part in Destroy All Monsters and made a cameo in Godzilla's Revenge) who is a fan favorite from Toho Films.

While there is no special features to speak of nor no extras, any respectful Godzilla or King Kong fan owes it to themselves to add these films to their collection just to have them. The way things stand right now, we might never see any more films featuring Kong & Godzilla duking it out or Kong battling a mecha version of himself. That, in itself, makes these two films worth collecting. My only gripe is that you're unable to see it in its' original Japanese dialogue with subtitles. I would've loved to have seen it that way.

Nice films, but just AWFUL DVDs!.......2007-06-16

These discs are terrible, although the tranfers may not be that bad, threre are no extras at all. No feturetts, no deleted Scenes, no Original Japaneses versions, not even Theatrical trailers. Unlike Sony who provide some features for there Godzilla titles, or Warner Brothers for there King Kong titles. Universal usauly provides wonderful extras for there DVDs and HD-DVDs. This is wrong!

There Really is a Mechi-Kong!.......2007-03-21

When I was a kid and saw King Kong Escapes, I was mesmerized by the Mechi-Kong robot. What a great idea! He looks so cool! It had been so many years since I saw the film, I thought I had dreamt the movie. Imagine my suprise with this two-pack release! It is a pristine wide screen presentation. The film is as fun as I remembered it. Not to be taken too seriously, it is a rubber monster movie with cool ideas and plenty of monsters clashing, all within the trademark cheapo effects of the time. Utterly charming.
The Toho version of Kong (his rubber suit, that is) is truly awful, but this only adds to the fun of the film. As this is a Japanese movie overdubbed in English, we also have the voice talents of Paul Frees ("Winter Warlock" from the Rankin / Bass production of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer") providing the voice of the villian. What more could you ask for? How about the bonus of getting Godzilla vs. King Kong? You got it! What a bargain!

Awesome twin pack!.......2007-03-21

Truly a killer twin pack King Kong movies. Get it for the "King Kong vs Godzilla" alone, a very awesome movie that hardly gets air play and great for any movie monster collection...highly recommended!!

The Two Mightiest Monsters Of All Time!.......2007-03-16

KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (1962)

PLOT: Mr. Tako, head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, is frustrated with the television shows his company is sponsoring and wants something to boost his ratings. Tako is informed by a special type of berry that only grows on a small Pacific island called Faro Island. The natives there process the berries into a juice that they use as a medicine. They also use the juice as an offering to their giant god named "Kong". Tako sees potential in the berries and decides to set up an expedition to Faro Island. When Tako's men arrive at Faro Island, the natives there claim that "Kong" is real being. Meanwhile, an American submarine named Seahawk gets caught in an iceberg. Something goes wrong and the submarine blows up. An American helicopter hovering above watch as the iceberg breaks open and Godzilla crawls out. Godzilla heads toward a nearby army base. The base is no match for the mighty power of Godzilla. Back at Faro, a giant octopus attacks the village and the natives quickly throw spears at it. Unfortunately, the spears are no match for the giant creature. Suddenly, Kong shows up and beats up the giant octopus, sending it crawling back into the sea. Kong drinks some of the giant containers of berry juice and falls asleep. Tako's men then inform him of Kong. Tako makes plans to take Kong back to Tokyo, as a publicity stunt for Pacific Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Tako arrives on the ship transporting Kong, but unfortunately, the monster then wakes up and breaks free from the raft. Kong finally reaches Tokyo and meets up with Godzilla in a valley. This is a match between the mightiest monsters of all time. Who will win?

COMMENTS: This film marked the first time that two famous monsters from separate film franchises were teamed up since Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943). This film acted as both a sequel to Son Of Kong (1933) as well as Godzilla Raids Again (1955). The film marked the first time either monster was seen in color and also the first time Kong was created using suitmation rather than a stop-motion model. For Godzilla, King Of The Monsters (1954), Toho Studios had originally planned on making Godzilla as a stop-motion model, but the process proved to be too extensive for the tight budget. For that film, and every other one to follow, it became traditional to create Toho's monsters through suitmation. The film was directed by Ishiro Hondo, who directed most of the classic Godzilla films. He purposely made the film campy and comical in order to entertain (and not frighten) children. The film itself is not exactly an Oscar-worthy film, but it featured two very popular monsters in a death match and several people went to see it. In Japan, it became the highest grossing Godzilla film to date. Many King Kong fans hate the comical appearance of Kong in the film. For the American film poster, they used a cropped photo of Kong from the original film rather than the way he looked in this film. Kong was made to look comical so the audiences would root for him over Godzilla. Many fans have noticed that King Kong is much larger in this film than he was in the original King Kong film. The film states that the reason for this was because the narcotic berries that Kong ate also contained growth hormones, which would explain him growing to the equal enormous size of Godzilla. At one point during the fight sequence, Kong shoves a tree down Godzilla's throat. This was a tribute to the original King Kong film, in which Kong shoved a tree down a Tyrannosaurus Rex's throat. Several rumours exist between the Japanese and American versions of the film. It is claimed that the film is called King Kong vs. Godzilla in the U.S. and Godzilla vs. King Kong in Japan. This is untrue; the film has the same title in both countries. Also, it is also claimed that Kong won the fight in the American version and that Godzilla won the fight in the Japanese version. This is also untrue; King Kong won in both films. Some fans also argue that King Kong swims away at the end because he is frightened of Godzilla, who didn't resurface from the ocean because he lives underwater anyay. Just the same, Toho Studios announced that King Kong was always meant to be the victor. At the time, King Kong was more popular in Japan, even though Godzilla was a Japanese creation. The film sparked sequels from the point of view of both monsters. Godzilla made his return in Mothra vs. Godzilla (a.k.a. Godzilla vs. The Thing) (1964); King Kong made his return in King Kong Escapes (1967). This DVD presents the film in the original widescreen theatrical ratio. There are no special features.

KING KONG ESCAPES (1967)

PLOT: The film begins with a UN submarine searching for oil. The ship is under the command of Commander Carl Nelson (Rhodes Reason). Susan Watson (Linda Miller) finds Nelson in his quarters with Lt. Hiro Nomura (Akira Takarada). The two are studying photographs of gorillas and they inform her of the legend of King Kong, who supposedly inhabits the nearby Mondo Island. Meanwhile at the North Pole, strange things are going on at a secret base. The base is run by the evil genius Dr. Who (Eisei Amamoto). Dr. Who is being employed by the mysterious Madame X (Mia Hama). Madame X has hired Dr. Who to dig up a mineral called Element X, which makes uranium look like gravel. In order to do the job, Dr. Who and his men have built a giant robot version of King Kong, called Mechani-Kong, to dig up the Element X. Unfortunately, the radiation from the deposit short out the robot's circuits. Mechani-Kong must be redesigned so that this doesn't happen again. Back in the sub, an underwater rockslide damages the rudder. The sub docks at Mondo Island for repairs. Nelson takes the opportunity to explore the island with Nomura and Susan. A native on the island tells them to leave, for they are trespassing on the territory of King Kong. Nelson and Nomura go after the native to ask him more questions, leaving Susan behind at their hovercraft. Suddenly, a large dinosaur called Gorosaurus comes out of the jungle. Susan screams in terror and the mighty King Kong comes to her rescue. Kong fights with the Gorosaurus and eventually kills it by breaking its jaw. Nelson and the others make it back to the submarine. Kong, who has has become smitten with Susan, follows. A large sea serpant attacks the sub, but Kong quicky attacks and kills it. Later on, the three UN explorers hold a press conference to discuss the events involving King Kong. Madame X attends the conference disguised as a reporter. She then sends her information back to Dr. Who, who decides to capture the real King Kong for digging up Element X. Is Dr. Who brilliant enough to capture the mighty King Kong?

COMMENTS: This film was produced by both Toho Studios and Rankin/Bass Productions. Rankin & Bass were famous at the time for producing Christmas TV specials such as Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), Frosty The Snowman (1969), and Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (1970). The film acted as a sequel to King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) while at the same time being a spin-off of the Rankin/Bass animated series The King Kong Show. Ishiro Honda once again returned as director. The character of Mechani-Kong was first used in the animated King Kong show. It later served as the inspiration for Mecha-Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Mecha-Godzilla (1974). The Gorosaurus dinosaur also returned in other Toho Godzilla films, including Destroy All Monsters (1969). The scene in where Kong kills the Gorosaurus by breaking its jaw is actually a tribute to the original King Kong (1933), in which Kong kills a Tyrannosaurus Rex the same way. The fight scene between Kong and the sea serpent is also a tribute to a similar scene in the original King Kong. There is also much confusion about the character of Dr. Who, who bears the same name as a TV series and titular character on British television. Despite the fact that both characters have the same name, they are not related. This film isn't exactly the best King Kong film, but it is entertaining for children and it serves as a nice follow-up to King Kong vs. Godzilla. Plus, Mechani-Kong is a really cool character. This DVD presents the film in the original widescreen theatrical ratio. There are no special features.

Average customer rating:

junnkkk
Rockem sockem goliaths
GET THE JAPANESE SUBTITLED VERSION INSTEAD!!
Campy, silly, cheap, badly dubbed...AND I LOVE IT!
8th Wonder of the World vs. King of the Monsters

King Kong vs. Godzilla
Starring: Tadao Takashima , Kenji Sahara , Yu Fujiki , Ichirô Arishima , and Jun Tazaki
Director: Ishirô Honda
Manufacturer: Good Times Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 6305137250
Release Date: 2001-05-15

Customer Reviews:

junnkkk.......2007-06-28

Why would someone buy this pan & scan trash? do yourself a favor and recycle it!! The igonorance of some of these companies is overwhelming. This isn't the '80's any more, is it? Boycott rip-offs like this!

Rockem sockem goliaths.......2007-01-17

King Kong and Godzilla meet for the first time in this film about man once again messing around and exploiting the earth's stuff. One side tries to exploit King Kong and the other side's use of atomic power awakens Godzilla. The two meet and they fight destroying all in their wake. What has science done?

GET THE JAPANESE SUBTITLED VERSION INSTEAD!!.......2006-08-26

While the American version of this movie is somewhat entertaining, I realized how much it was butchered and altered when I acquired the Japanese subtitled version, which is wide screen, and hi-fi stereo. Ishiro Honda's original Japanese music score, especially the important "Godzilla" theme music was replaced in the American version with stock music from Universal, mostly from "The Creature From The Black Lagoon". There's no annoying U.N reports, which leads to another inaccuracy. When the helicopter pilot sees Godzilla breaking out of the iceberg, he shouts, "GODZILLA"! The scene then switches to U.N. reporter Eric Carter stating.."The world is stunned to discover that prehistoric creatures exist in the 20th century"...If that's the case, how did the helicopter pilot even know who Godzilla was? How did anyone know who Godzilla was? In the Japanese version, which, by the way, in the iceberg scene, the pilot gasps..Ahhhh...it's GOJIRA!" The "Godzilla" theme music stars, and the scene switches quickly to the scene where Godzilla is crossing the Bearing Sea, and attacks the military base. Godzilla's previous entrapment in the iceberg is also referenced to by one of the scientists, something to the effect of "We knew he would not remain frozen in the iceberg forever, even if it took 200 years, we knew he would return to us eventually". OK, it's not an epic flick like the original "King Kong", but it's a fun movie, and the Japanese version moves along a lot better than the American version, and makes more sense, if a movie like this can make any kind of sense! It runs about 10 minutes longer, and there's a little more detail to certain cast members concerning the "plot". It just makes more sense than the American version, as much sense as a low budget cult classic can make, I guess. Oh..yeah, and the ending is the SAME as the American version, except that you hear Godzilla's roar right before Kong's roar.

Campy, silly, cheap, badly dubbed...AND I LOVE IT!.......2006-06-28

Where do I begin?

The special effects are very cheaply done, even for 1962, when we already had the stop and go motion technology that made the original KING KONG so famous. The ape suit for KONG is so bad, it makes the one in the 1976 version look like CGI. Just watch the scenes where Kong bats his eye lids like some raging queen. The dubbing is expectedly bad and the performances from the Japanese actors are very campy.

So, it's amazing that given all that, this monster movie has become an irresistable cult classic! You can't help but feel a shiver of excitement in your spine when you see these two classic movie monsters (cheap suits) clash on screen.

For me personnally, this movie brings back memories of "Godzilla Day" on Channel 9, WOR TV, when I was a kid; every Friday after Thanksgiving.

Now; just imagine a spectacular remake of this movie with Peter Jackson's KING KONG and Roland Emmerich's GODZILLA! Ooooh, I shiver at the thought!

8th Wonder of the World vs. King of the Monsters.......2006-06-18

I love it! This is my favorite Godzilla movie. That doesn't make it good of course. I just have good memories of this movie. (sitting of the floor of my room, watching this movie with my friend, eating Dominos Pizza, betting on who would win.)

For King Kong Fans- This MIGHT not be the movie for you. The reason why is becuase this is NOT the King Kong from the 1933 classic. This is the Toho version. King King's size, apppearance, and powers have been drasticly altured for this movie. Although King Kong's look is kinda funky for this movie, you get used to it. Still King Kong fans should get over it and see the awesome match up between Kong and Godzilla.

Godzilla fans- See Godzilla in his first color appearance; as well as one of the last of the original look before he gets slimmed down and tail gets shorter. This is a classic movie for Godzilla. Many people say it is very silly (witch it is), but all-in-all it is a good movie. A must have for Godzilla fans.

KING KONG VS GODZILLA & KING KONG ESCAPES (2PC) - KING KONG VS GODZILLA & KING KONG ESCAPES (2PC)

Average customer rating:

widescreen but still cut and in english

KING KONG VS GODZILLA & KING KONG ESCAPES (2PC) - KING KONG VS GODZILLA & KING KONG ESCAPES (2PC)

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Gojira / Godzilla Deluxe Collector's Edition (Gojira/Godzilla [1954] / Godzilla, King of the Monsters [1956])

ASIN: B000BISBD4

Customer Reviews:

widescreen but still cut and in english.......2005-09-27

while this is a step up from what was previosly available ( a full screen king kong vs godzilla and no release of king kong escapes), it is still majorly lacking. it will be widescreen, but it will be in english and king kong vs godzilla will be the terribly mangled american version. so if you want a copy of these films with hopefully decent video quality than i recomend it but if you want the real thing steer clear.

Average customer rating:

King Kong VS Godzilla

Manufacturer: Universal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

ASIN: B000P24FAE

{9 Movies / Over 13 Hours} Gamera Vs. Monster X / Gamera Vs. Gaos / Yongary, Monster From the Deep / Warning From Space / Destroy All Planets / War of the Monsters / Gamera the Invincible / the Giant Gila Monster / Monster From a Prehistoric Planet

Average customer rating:

Gamera Strikes Again
a great collection of old japanese and other big monster movies

{9 Movies / Over 13 Hours} Gamera Vs. Monster X / Gamera Vs. Gaos / Yongary, Monster From the Deep / Warning From Space / Destroy All Planets / War of the Monsters / Gamera the Invincible / the Giant Gila Monster / Monster From a Prehistoric Planet

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

Gamera Strikes Again.......2006-06-24

If memory serves, 4 or 5 of these are Gamera movies from the 70's. (He was the flying turtle with those two big teeth.) Yongary was Korea's answer to Godzilla, and Warning from Space was a Toho Studio space opera. Monster from a Prehistoric Planet, I believe, was the other name for Gappa, the triphibian monster, this was a family monster movire with a mamma, daddy and baby. If you liked the giant rubber-suited monsters of the 70's this looks like a good collection. While I have seen all these movies, I have not previewed this set so I have no idea what the quality might be like. Since these, Gamera and Godzilla (no big-G movies in this collection) have grown up and there are much better outings filmed in the late 90's and 00's.

a great collection of old japanese and other big monster movies.......2006-05-09

growing up i would have loved to of had this set of movies. they are silly but fun movies and as cheese as i remember them. these bring back the days of rushing home after school and watching the afternoon movie.
the best thing about this collection is the transfers,they look very good and the company that puts out these sets put extras with them and that makes them even better. give these a try,the price is right.

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