Scrappedathon Reviews: Operation Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah

Hello everyone and welcome back to Scrappedathon. Today were going to be taking a look at the 1966 film Operation Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah

Discription: Originally planned as a joint production between Toho and Rankin-Bass, this concept was first piched by Shinichi Sekizawa in 1966. Approving his idea, Sekizawa then set about creating a more fleshed out script, which he submitted on July 13th, 1966. Unfortunately, Rankin-Bass was displeased about the directioin the project was going, although their quarrel was unrelated with the early treatment but instead the fact that Ishiro Honda would not be on board for the production. Toho insisted, though on having director Jun Fukuda, a now then newcomer to the genre, at the helm of the film. Unable to compromise, Ranken-Bass pulled out of the project, and took with them the King Kong character. Even with the loss of the title character though, Toho continued with production on Sekizawa's screenplay. Toho simpily replaced King Kong with Godzilla and renamed the film Godzilla, Ebriah, Mothra: The Great Dual at Sea aka Ebirah Horror of the Deap. Thankfully though Toho and Ranken-Bass settled their differences the very next year, and began work on their new film King Kong Escapes.

Plot Summary: After his brother Yata is lost at sea, young Ryora steals a yacht with his two friends and a bank robber. This motely crew runs into the sea monster Ebirah, and washes up on the shore of Devil's Island, where a terrorist organizatioin manufatures heavy water for their nefarious purposes, as well as a chemical that keeps Ebirah at bay. The Red Bamboo has also enslaved natives from infant island to help them, but the natives on Infant Island hope to awaken a dormant Mothra to rescue them. In order to avoid capture, Ryota and his friends, aided by a beautiful native girl stumble apon King Kong sleeping within a cliffside cavern. The group devises a plan to defeat the Red Bambo and escape the island. In the process they wake up King Kong by using a lighting rod. Soon after King Kong does battle with Ebirah, but the giant lobster manages to escape. Later King Kong is attacked by a giant condor and a squadren of Red Bambo fighter jets, but he manages to destroy them. The group soon retrieve the missing Yata and free the enslaved natives, but King Kong begins to destroy the Red Bambo's base and knocks a tower down that has a self destruct button that would make the island unstable. King Kong and Ebirah get into a rematch with Kong ripping off Ebirah's claws, causing the lobster to retreat. The natives manage to summon Mothra to save everyone, but King Kong challanged Mothra when she arrives on the island. Mothra manages to push King Kong away and carry's everyone off the island to safty. King Kong decides to follow mothra, escaping the island before it explodes.

Opinion: Even though the plot is releatevly the same as "Ebirah Horror of the Deap" I think that this would have been better because final product dosen't explain why Godzilla does a lot of the things that he does, like why is he awaken by electicity, and why is Godzilla curious in a human female? Because those are characteristics of Toho's verison of King Kong. Also it might just be me but I think it would be very interesting to see King Kong and Mothra in a film together, because both of them are kind of similar in a way. Both of them are unnaturally large verisons of real animals that are worshiped as gods by the natives of the island that they live on. 

Ratin: 4/5

Source of Infromation:

http://godzilla.wikia.com/wiki/Operation_Robinson_Crusoe%3A_King_Kong_vs._Ebirah

http://www.tohokingdom.com/cutting_room/king_kong_vs_ebirah.htm