Xing xing wang

"The Mighty Peking Man" has dashes of originality, laughable special effects, and a busty babe without much clothing, but it isn't inspired and is pretty lifeless. It probably would have made a good MST3K episode, but it's really dull in its regular format. You must admit that it's better than many "Godzilla" pictures, though. (*/****)

I learned a lot of things from "Mighty Peking Man":

• The Himalayas are tropical

• Leopards really enjoy it if you put them on your shoulders and spin them around

• A woman raised in the jungle can function perfectly well in society while still wearing a chamois bikini and barely speaking any sort of language

• After you've captured a one-of-a-kind animal completely unknown to science, the best way to profit from him is to stage a monster truck rally

"Mighty Peking Man" is a weird mutant hybrid of "King Kong" and all those 1950s giant bug movies, where whole blocks of downtown Hong Kong (or wherever they are) are made of very fragile models and toy vehicles. There is no way on Earth you can approach a movie like this seriously, to try to use the same standards of criticism and taste that apply to normal movies. There's a certain majesty here, an aura of utter ineptitude that transcends mere bad filmmaking and becomes art.

You gotta admire the can-do spirit of everyone involved in this movie -- I just know they were convinced they were making a classic. They probably wanted to surpass "King Kong" in grandeur and drama; instead they surpassed "Plan 9 From Outer Space" in camp and sheer manic idiocy. "Mighty Peking Man" sets a new standard in bad movies -- utterly inept and laughable, and yet highly entertaining.

At one time, this was the most expensive movie in the history of Hong Kong cinema. It's campiness exceeds words. It is hard to believe that the filmmakers were actually serious when they made this hilariously horrible movie. The film is good as a comedy simply because of its being so terrible. I saw the re-release of this film at QT3 in Austin and the audience laughed their asses off.

It's very fast-paced and very silly, which makes for a somewhat entertaining monster movie that's never quite as engaging or as charming as many of the old Godzilla movies it's clearly inspired by. I'd say it's not even as good as the 1976 version of King Kong (starring Jeff Bridges) that it was probably trying to capitalise off of.

Still, the schlocky set pieces are somewhat fun, and at 90 minutes with lots of action/special effects, you can't call it dull. And as the King Kong movies have shown, it's easier to have a monkey monster as a victim than a lizard monster as a victim (for the most part), and there are parts that do sort of make you feel bad for this big, slightly crazed looking giant monkey.

Probably a watch if you're starved for kaiju/monster movies.

THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN is a sort of homage to / parody of KING KONG. Danny Lee plays the hero, Johnnie Fang, while the astonishingly beautiful Evelyne Kraft plays Samantha (aka: the jungle woman). Together, they bring the giant ape-man of the title back to civilization.

Of course, the big lug is exploited, tormented, and ultimately goes berserk.

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: #1- Johnnie saving Samantha from a snakebite by sucking on her inner thigh! #2- Samantha's leopard-twirling sequence! #3- Samantha's perfect hair and makeup, looking terrific, even in the jungle heat! #4- Samantha's bikini outfit, made of what appears to be car seat upholstery! #5- Samantha running through Hong Kong in said outfit! #6- Any scene featuring the humongous go-rilla man!

Oh yes, this is entertainment...