THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN plays like an odd combination of KING KONG, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, GODZILLA, and TARZAN. I don’t know how they managed to squeeze these elements together and make it work, but they did it. The film makes no apologies for ripping off the monster classics. While the plot may be a mish-mash of these concepts, the film delivers low-budget thrills and laughs. On a technical level, there is not much to note here, but because it is so funny to watch, it just pulls you in.

This is a rare breed of film whose success is created by its biggest weaknesses. The plot is far from original, the characters are stereotypes, the acting is hokey and over the top, and the special effects are deliberately unspectacular. However, when you combine these weaknesses together, MIGHTY PEKING MAN is a campy treat that should not be missed by fans of genre films. Don’t take my word for it, just ask film critic Roger Ebert who swears by this film, and even gives his stamp of approval on the DVD liner notes.

THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN triumphs by virtue of it’s sheer oddball charm. Witness the promoters chain up the apeman inside a stadium, so he can engage construction vehicles in a sublimely ridiculous tractor pull contest. Witness the jungle animals cry when Samantha leaves for the corrupt city of Hong Kong. Witness a half-naked Samantha scale a palm tree like a monkey, and barking gorilla-language to the Peking Man. Witness the stunningly bad costuming. Witness the extras who are supposed to react in fear of the marauding Peking Man, but instead look like they are laughing. As bad as it may sound, the film is effective in its own hyper-goofy fashion, and you watch the film knowing that nothing is safe from parody. I waited anxiously for Jimmy Wang Yu, Ti Lung, or some other Shaw Brothers martial artists to show up, but surprisingly they never did.

Evelyn Kraft as Samantha really steals the show. From her mingling with the jungle beasts, to her mute portrayal of the jungle woman, this is her show. Thoughout the entire movie she wears nothing but a hand-made fur jungle bikini. I’m not saying she is a great actress, I’m just saying she’s got sex appeal and screen presence. Believe me, after watching THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN, Evelyn Kraft will be forever etched in the mind of every heterosexual male that sees this film. Danny Lee also does a capable acting job and is believable as a frustrated explorer who has had his heart broken, and resorts to alcoholism as an escape.

Though the special effects are outdated by today’s standards, they are not all as bad as you may have heard. Japan’s Toho Studios (makers of the GODZILLA series) have been known to loan their special effects supervisors out to foreign productions, like when they provided the special effects for the Korean monster film, PULGASARY. Here they loan out one of their chief effects supervisors, Teisho Arikawa. Though the Peking Man himself is not all that impressive, Arikawa faithfully rebuilt the streets of Hong Kong on an interior soundstage for filming. The sets and buildings are all in scale and well designed. The destruction scenes are plentiful and the army vehicles join the mayhem in the final act. These effects scenes are actually better than anything Toho did in the seventies. The hairy Peking Man costume is pretty well done, and better designed than any of Toho’s King Kong efforts. The only true weakness on this creature is the headmask, which is unconvincing and out of proportion with the rest of the monster. In this day and age of the multi-million dollar special effects blockbusters, it is nice once in a while to re-visit the proven guy-in-a-monster suit formula.

SIGHT

Miramax produces another solid 16x9 enhanced widescreen (2.35.1) transfer. Overall, from a foreign film from the 1970s, this one is a winner. Any anomalies in the picture are attributable to the film’s age and the technical limitations of the time. The only flaws are the occasional scratches, some speckles, and the inherent film grain. The image is very crisp and well defined. Color reproduction is natural and vivid. We’ve seen recent films look far worse than this. The black level is deep, and you can make out all the monster action in the many night scenes. The panoramic widescreen cinematography includes some lush jungle visuals, which actually mesh pretty well with the jungle soundstage. The Peking Man’s assault on Hong Kong and the retaliation by the army also looks great in the cinematography. The clarity and detail level is immaculate, and you can make out the spots on the jungle cats fur. The landscape (including trees, vines, mountains, and waterfalls) make you appreciate nature even more. The special effects sequences involving the destruction of Hong Kong is full of color and detail; and you can even read the street signs, if you understand Cantonese, that is. There were no DVD mastering flaws such as bleeding, chroma noise, edge enhancement, or compression artifacts. A fine DVD presentation thanks to the folks at Rolling Thunder/Miramax/Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

SOUND

This is a very good Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 soundtrack on this DVD. The mix delivers a wide range of frequencies not heard in a mono mix. The sound is very crisp and natural. There is no hiss, pops, or distortion on the soundtrack. The only negative observation I can make is that there is a tiny bit of harshness on the higher frequencies. This is a problem that usually occurs when viewing old dubbed kung-fu films from the seventies. One thing that this mix lacks is some bass. This is first and foremost a giant monster film, and it would have been great to have some Earthshaking footsteps, explosions, etc. Still, the mono mix gets the job done and you can still enjoy the sounds of the jungle, the roars of the Peking Man, the military firepower, and the crumbling of the buildings. The musical score is by composer Yung-Yu Chen, who creates a memorable score that sounds like a combination of spaghetti western and 1970’s martial arts music. I must warn you, there is some laughable Hong Kong pop music themes in the film as well; but they only serve to make the soundtrack as cheesy as the film. The dubbing is also bad, but again, THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN, is all the better for it. You might recognize some of the dubbed voices from those old Black Belt Theater classics.und mix.

FEATURES

There are three trailers on this DVD. One trailer is for THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN. This trailer is widescreen (1.85.1), Mono, and runs 2:30. There is also a scratchy trailer for another recent Rolling Thunder DVD offering, Jack Hill’s SWITCHBLADE SISTERS (FF, Mono, 3:00). The last trailer is for Buena Vista Home Entertainment’s FROM DUSK TO DAWN 3: THE HANGMAN’S DAUGHTER (FF, DD 2.0, 1:05).

CONCLUSION

This is a definite ‘party’ film. Break out the liquor, invite your friends over, and get ready to laugh. Play your own version of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000. Believe me, this film has 10 times the entertainment value than that 1998 American Godzilla film. Thank you, Quentin Tarentino, for salvaging this film and saving it from the black abyss known as film obscurity. And thank you, Miramax, for not only having the balls to release this on DVD, but to treat the film as good as you did SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (uncut, widescreen print, 16x9 enhancement, theatrical trailer, etc.). It wasn’t too long ago that they would release any genre films that did not have the word ‘Scream’ in the title. Anyway, rent or purchase THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN, and succumb to it’s primeval charms. You have to checkout the Evelyn Kraft tree climbing scenes for yourself! You won’t forget these scenes, and you won’t forget THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN. Rolling Thunder, keep them coming.

MIGHTY PEKING MAN is available at DVDEmpire

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