Rating:7/10
An ape movie as the same vein as King Kong, but more for the whole family.  It is kind of the same set up as well, which shouldn't be a surprise as it is the same people who made King Kong as well.  They even brought in Robert Armstrong to pretty much play the same role he had in King Kong and Son of Kong.  The stop animation and special effects by Ray Harryhausen is a marvel to watch.  You can tell tell when it is going from live action to stop animation with the human characters, but it is still fun to watch.  The ending chase scene was pretty intense as I wasn't sure if Joe was going to make it or not and then when the fire broke out at the children's home and Joe and the humans were trying to save the children, I was actually on the edge of my seat to see if Joe would make it out alive or not.  This version of the movie is not very well known, but I think people who like the older movies should enjoy this.  As a matter of fact, this is actually good for the whole family to enjoy, with only minor complaints.  Not bad, not bad at all.