Line #8 Film/TheMightyPekingMan


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/btagnpli87vdrlonogmbgkfnb8w.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Nope, he's not a King Kong-knockoff, because he's an orangutan.]]
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4	''The Mighty Peking Man'', also known as ''Goliathon'', is a 1977 Creator/ShawBrothers monster movie directed by Ho Meng-hua (with special effects by Sadamasa Arikawa), starring Creator/DannyLee (''Film/TheSuperInframan'') and Evelyn Kraft.
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6	Released to capitalize on the craze of ''Film/KingKong1976'' the previous year, the entire film is wedged somewhere between a CaptainErsatz and a complete knockoff of King Kong, [[RecycledInSpace Recycled in Hong Kong]]. The parallels are painfully obvious, with some minor changes being its setting (from an uninhabited island in the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas, and from New York to Hong Kong), but is an otherwise rather transparent imitation with some additional plot elements lifted from ''Franchise/{{Tarzan}}''. It is, however, notable for being Creator/RogerEbert's favorite [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mighty-peking-man-1999 Hong Kong monster film]] - which, let's be honest here, [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative isn't really saying much]].
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8	When giant footsteps belonging to what is supposedly a giant, ape-like cryptid named the "Mighty Peking Man" is spotted in the snowy mountains of the Himalayas, intending to have the cryptid captured for his own reasons, the Hong Kong tycoon Lu Tien, immediately organizes an expedition to locate the monster, one led by expert hunter Johnny (Danny Lee). But upon finding the beast, it turns out the monster, named "Utam" due to being a giant orangutan, has its own human companion, a Caucasian woman named Samantha, who lost her parents as an infant and was subsequently adopted by Utam and the Himalayan animals. But there's an expedition to complete, and Lu Tien is adamant to have Utam captured alive at all costs.
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11	!! Contains Examples of:
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13	* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Utam's rampage in the Himalayas, and later upon awakening in Hong Kong and going berserk again.
14	* BerserkButton: Unlike its inspiration, in this knockoff Utam finally loses it when [[spoiler: a stray bullet from one of the helicopters hits Samantha in her shoulder]], resulting in his final rampage.
15	* ClimbingClimax: With Hong Kong's Jardine House substituting for the Empire State Building.
16	* DeathByAdaptation: If this counts as an adaptation of ''King Kong'', then [[spoiler:Lu Tien and Samnantha]], the counterparts of Carl Denham and Ann Darrow, both die at the end of Utam's rampage.
17	* DownerEnding: The film's ending is much, much bleaker than either official adaptation of ''King Kong''; [[spoiler:Samantha is implied to have died together with Utam at the film's conclusion]].
18	* EgomaniacHunter: Johnny is hired to lead the expedition to capture Utam from the Himalayas to Hong Kong. Subverted in that he ends up being nicer than other examples of this trope: He actually hesitates to partake in capturing Utam when Jenny pleads him not to.
19	* FriendToAllLivingThings: Samantha, due to growing up in the wild, and having learnt to communicate with the wildlife.
20	* FurBikini: Samantha's standard outfit, befitting her nature of being raised in the wilderness.
21	* GiantFootprintReveal: The discovery of Utam's footprint in the hills of Himalayas is what kicks off the expedition for the giant orangutan, and subsequently the entire plot of the film.
22	* InterspeciesAdoption: Utam, a giant orangutan, raises Samantha, a human.
23	* JunglePrincess: Samantha lives in the wild, [[FriendToAllLivingThings is friends with all animals]], and wears nothing but a FurBikini.
24	* {{Kaiju}}: Not as large as its inspiration, but still fits the bill.
25	* KillerGorilla: A variation; Utam is a [[{{kaiju}} kaiju]]-sized killer orangutan.
26	* KingKongCopy: Utam is pretty much Shaw Brothers' take on King Kong, although true to his namesake, he's an orangutan.
27	* ALizardNamedLiz: Utam is a giant orang'''utan'''.
28	* MisplacedWildlife: Erm, what is a Malaysian tiger doing in the Himalayas, as one of Utam's companions?
29	* TheMockbuster: Besides the obvious parallels to ''Film/KingKong1933'', the film is also notable for being released a year after the [[Film/KingKong1976 1976 remake]].
30	* MsFanservice: Samantha, who spends plenty of screentime in her FurBikini.
31	* NubileSavage: Samantha, being played by the shapely Evelyn Kraft.
32	* PeopleInRubberSuits: How Utam is portrayed onscreen.
33	* RaisedByWolves: Samantha is raised by a kaiju-sized orangutan.
34	* StuffBlowingUp: After Utam swats a helicopter out of the air, the helicopter then crashes... into an oil tanker in the middle of the streets. The result is as explosive as it sounds.
35	* SuckOutThePoison: Johnny has to do this to Samantha when she gets bitten by a venomous snake. She ends up drifting into unconsciousness, allowing Johnny's gang to attack and capture Utam without her interference.
36	* VineSwing: How Samantha travels around in the jungle.
37	* {{Yeti}}: The film, due to being set in the Himalayas, identifies Utam as a Yeti of sorts, although he's more of an InformedSpecies.

Context Film / TheMightyPekingMan