O Poderoso Homem de Pequim

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...

Words cannot describe this movie, it must be experienced! Things to watch for: the explorers climb a cliff with no supplies, but somehow a huge tent filled with sleeping cots is set up in the next scene; the plane diary is in English in a Chinese movie and although the jungle girl can only grunt, she can read the handwriting in the diary with no trouble; the "costume" she wears keeps peeling off when she runs...you can even see some of the glue peeling in a couple scenes; AND, the tree-climbing scene is NOT to be missed!!!!!

Man, these B gems are fun to watch. Shaw Bros Studios definitely pay homage to the King....Kong that is. Beware the Mighty Gorilla suit!

This movie teaches you so much! When heartbroken, sign up for a dangerous, life threatening expedition which probably means getting only a one way plane ticket. Danny Lee is good as the hero and for donning those crazy big lapels. Other times, he looks like he had a fun time with Evelyne Kraft since he's always got his hands all over her! There's also a weird triangle going on...don't mess with a gorilla's woman. The big guy likes to watch. Kraft as Ah Wei is pure eye candy and she works well with Lee (I had to laugh at the sappy love chase scenes in the deep jungle...of INDIA??? I thought we were in Peking!). Also, Shaws pulled out all the budget stops with model villages and miniscule downtown Hong Kong. It just gets the film more points in the shlock category. Laughter ensues during the stampede guns firing at the rear projection screen. One villager really gets a "leg" up during the goofy tiger scene. 15 minutes into this one and you get a feeling who the sleazeball is going to be. Was it just me or was there a lot of sexual innuendo with Ms Tarzan and the tree/light pole straddling?

There's also reckless carnage, a crazy hellbent army commander, millions of dollars in property damage...well, maybe $100 worth of model kits. Watch for that big hairy hand and the kooky Tonka dump trucks. You know, despite the fact that there's a 6 story massive gorilla in the city, the people of Hong Kong took it very well.

Great kampy fun here, Shaw style!

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.

"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. (*/****)