They've ravaged London. Tokyo is no more. Korea is off the map. New York's landmarks underwent unscheduled demolition. Where's a giant monkey to go anymore? How's Hong Kong sound? That's the new playfield for Mighty Peking Man, a 1977 Kong knock-off and re-released with Quentin Tarantino's stamp of approval from his Rolling Thunder studio.
Setting itself up slightly different, Mighty Peking Man is born from an earthquake, resurrected like so many of his other giant monster brethren. As is the norm for the misunderstood giant apes, he finds a girl. This one crash landed years ago in a plane, was left stranded on the remote island, and raised by Peking Man's island natives. At the very least, it changes the formula up slightly, and gives the girl an obvious reason for not wanting the beast killed, not just some literal animal magnetism.
It's hard not to admit that the suit used here is awful, especially in the face. The old man-in-a-suit routine doesn't fare well. However, this is one of those films unfairly judged for its effects, done by recently deceased Godzilla effects veteran Teisho Arikawa. The miniature buildings are superb, and certainly far ahead of those in other ape "epics" around the same time. In fact, their meticulous detailing puts them above most of the New York romp in Dino De Laurentiis over bloated King Kong remake a year earlier.
It takes quite some time to get there though, and that means dealing with some pitiful jungle action, including a scene where lead actor Danny Lee shoots an elephant. That's where the awful effects moniker comes from. The action inside the jungle provides almost nothing worthwhile, except for Evelyne Kraft in nothing but a leather costume that rarely covers anything. She continues to wear that for the entire city destruction sequence without even a passing glance from anyone on the street. Logic is obviously at a premium here.
Article comments