King Kong Escapes - With the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who rolling around, I decided to pull out an old film I watched back when I was younger. Youre probably IMMEDIATLY wondering what this has to do with the Doctor... well its simple, hes in this movie. YEAH, Doctor Who actually has a roll in a monster movie starring the Eighth Wonder of the World Himself... and its a truck load of cheese. During a return trip to New York, a research submarine is forced to make a pit stop at the remote Mondo Island for repairs. The ships captain, first mate, and head nurse take a scouting trip and discover he mighty Kong along with other massive prehistoric creatures. Elsewhere, the treacherous Dr. Who is mining in the Artic for a mineral thats strong with radiation and infinitely priceless. He constructs a robot replica of Kong to dig it up from the Earth. When things go wrong, he is forced to kidnap Kong and have him mine the element. Our heroes must now free Kong and out a stop to Whos schemes. Its your typical cornball monster flick plot. The fact that this features a character named Dr. Who (spelled JUST like that) sort of beefs up the intrigue a little just because it can be seen as a way to sucker in the Whovians (like what I JUST did). This movie made in 1960s Japan, so dont expect revolutionary storytelling or acting here. The characters are your stock bunch for the time. However Akira Takarada of the Godzilla series does play a good role, taking up more of the screen and doing more vital actions than his top-billed superior/friend. The Dr. Who character you can guess isnt as cool as The Doctor. Hes just a cliché mad scientist, nothing special. The special effects are okay for the time. The model sets and miniatures are decent as well as many of the monsters. Robot Kong is an interesting monster in my eyes. After observing MechaGodzilla for so long, I have always wondered about a mechanical counterpart for Kong. He looks okay and has a nice selection of characteristics. As for Kong himself, hes at his most laughable. The suits that were designed look goofy, either looking like a complete DUNDERHEAD or Diddy Kong. Luckily the monster battles are good fun and even call back to the 1933 King Kong film at points. So aside from the fact Dr. Who is in this movie, there isnt much thats special about this movie. Its a fun but cheesy monster film starring King Kong, a robot imposter and some R/C army tanks. This does leave a great question up in the air though: when will The Doctor make his foray into giant monster battles? Make it happen BBC!
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 01:36:03 +0000
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