Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

Goliathon

PG-13 Released Dec 26, 1979 1h 30m Adventure List
54% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 36% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Johnnie (Li Hsui-hsien) is one of many voyagers seeking a mysterious monster in the jungles of India. Eventually, he comes across the enormous ape-like creature known as Utam. Shockingly, the beast is gentle and has a human companion, Samantha (Evelyne Kraft), whom he brought up after her parents' death. After Johnnie convinces Utam and Samantha to travel to Hong Kong with him, greedy promoter Lu Tiem (Ku Feng) exploits and mistreats the creature, causing Utam to unleash his fury on the city.

Where to Watch

Goliathon

Critics Reviews

View All (13) Critics Reviews
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times I am awarding Mighty Peking Man three stars, for general goofiness and a certain level of insane genius. Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Marc Savlov Austin Chronicle Rated: 3.5/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Peter Stack San Francisco Chronicle Rated: 1/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Ed Travis Cinapse Even for its time this wasnt executed with particularly effective special effects, and the cheapness and blatant knock-off quality didnt help me get engaged in the flimsy story being told. Mar 22, 2022 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy The King Kong template is one that naturally lends itself to tragedy, but the consequences here are downright startling. Rated: 3/4 Mar 26, 2021 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Aug 11, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (51) audience reviews
cees t The models look nice and the cats are lovely, but the montage lighting doesn't match, the blood is too red, and random stuff just happens with no buildup or wind down (guess that'd take too much time and money). Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Goofy, campy fun. Not a good movie, by any stretch, but a mighty enjoyable one, nonetheless. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member "Mighty Peking Man" is not a movie one can just stumble upon after a particularly hard day and hope to enjoy as a straight-laced monster movie. You have to go into it knowing it's shoddily made, knowing you'll be roaring with laughter more often than you'll be oohing and awing. It deserves to be viewed on a Sunday morning following a partytastic night out with a coupla friends, after a marathon of Prehistoric Glamazon Huntress "MADtv" sketches. You must be in a certain euphoric mood to have your intelligence vomited on, after all, and "Mighty Peking Man" requires a viewer with the IQ of a gnat. Granted, you most likely don't have the IQ of a gnat; I know I shouldn't be recommending bad movies to you, but if you were going to die tomorrow and your final wish was to watch one final bad movie, you may as well pick "Mighty Peking Man". It isn't Jack Hill bad (unpleasant, sorta kinda humorless); it is Ed Wood, Claudio Fragasso bad, unwittingly awful but so good at being awful that even Russ Meyer, post-viewership, might take a minute from objectifying nubile young woman and pat himself on the back for actually being good at what he does. We can agree that "Mighty Peking Man" is garbage, but it is successful in one (one) thing it does: it set out to be a cheap "King Kong" knockoff, and it doesn't just succeed, it prevails, as a cheap "King Kong" knockoff. The film follows a group of Asian explorers trudging through the strenuous jungles of India in hopes to find the Mighty Peking Man, a legendary (and massive) ape-like creature who stalks the territory with reckless abandon. Leading the way is Johnny (Danny Lee), a man still recovering from the infidelities of his ex-fiancee. Moments into the trip does Johnny get separated from the group; near instantly, he is almost killed by the Peking Man himself, until - WAIT! - buxom wild woman Samantha (Evelyne Kraft) comes to the rescue. In a terribly conceived flashback sequence, it is revealed that, as a little girl, Samantha's parents were killed in an airplane accident. In the years since, she has attended to a rustically decorated cave, and, more or less, has considered her ape pal to be a brother, a father. Johnny quickly falls in love with her, but he can't just go back home and claim her as his bride: he also has to bring the ape back to Hong Kong by the force of Lu Tiem (Feng Ku), a ruthless promoter. And just when things start beginning to look like "King Kong", coincidences start to tread into territories of unparalleled duplication, right up until the film ends in a predicted showdown atop a helicopter swarmed skyscraper. "Mighty Peking Man" has more of a fascination with Evelyne Kraft than its titular monster, obsessing over the heaving possibilities of a nip-slip (she wanders around in a sure-to-be taped-on animal skin bikini top akin to Lil' Kim's '99 VMAs outfit), obsessing over slow-motion sequences where she gets to make orgasmic faces at the most cringeworthy of times (like when she gets a snake bite a few inches to the left of her crotch and Johnny must suck the poison out). But alas, "Mighty Peking Man" isn't high art; at times, it works more as schlocky (if not, accidental) comedy, and it's impossible to be anything less than shallowly amused. Perhaps the film didn't realize it was terrible while it was being made. But once again, any filmmaker that figures a myriad of doll house sized "sets" or an abundance of horrifying green screen special effects suggests anything resembling quality can't possibly be sane. "Mighty Peking Man" wanted to capitalize on the "King Kong" craze, economically and efficiently; and for all its appalling productional decisions (and I mean appalling), it works. Barely. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Los legendarios Shaw Brothers nos traen una delirante historia acerca de un cazador, una joven salvaje y su mascota Utam, una criatura primitiva gigante. Producto del re-make de King Kong del 76, "Mighty Peking Man" es una cinta con malos efectos, pero situaciones maravillosas, como un tigre que mutila piernas de un solo mordisco y un leopardo igual de feroz, que se convierten en tiernos gatitos cuando la joven los acaricia. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Los legendarios Shaw Brothers nos traen una delirante historia acerca de un cazador, una joven salvaje y su mascota Utam, una criatura primitiva gigante. Producto del re-make de King Kong del 76, "Mighty Peking Man" es una cinta con malos efectos, pero situaciones maravillosas, como un tigre que mutila piernas de un solo mordisco y un leopardo igual de feroz, que se convierten en tiernos gatitos cuando la joven los acaricia. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member King Kong knock off crossbred with a bit of Tarzan/Sheena and segueing into almost Godzilla level destruction. The movie adds so many earnest but ridiculous elements that it becomes an enjoyable B movie gem. Evelyne Kraft frolicking with a leopard was truly unexpected and original. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Goliathon

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Crusoe 62% 44% Crusoe The Sand Pebbles 85% 88% The Sand Pebbles Danzon 67% 73% Danzon Pirates 27% 51% Pirates The Razor's Edge 53% 76% The Razor's Edge Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Johnnie (Li Hsui-hsien) is one of many voyagers seeking a mysterious monster in the jungles of India. Eventually, he comes across the enormous ape-like creature known as Utam. Shockingly, the beast is gentle and has a human companion, Samantha (Evelyne Kraft), whom he brought up after her parents' death. After Johnnie convinces Utam and Samantha to travel to Hong Kong with him, greedy promoter Lu Tiem (Ku Feng) exploits and mistreats the creature, causing Utam to unleash his fury on the city.
Director
Meng Hua Ho
Screenwriter
Kuang Ni
Distributor
Cowboy Pictures, World Northal, Miramax Films, Miramax Home Entertainment [us]
Production Co
Shaw Brothers, Shôchiku Eiga
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
Chinese
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 26, 1979, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 11, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$17.4K
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
Most Popular at Home Now