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Dylan Walsh, Laura Linney, Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry, Grant Heslov ... see more see more... , Joe Don Baker , David Anthony , Jimmy Buffett , Bruce Campbell , Peter Anthony Elliott , John Hawkes , Peter Jason , Nicholas Kadi , James Karen , William John Murphy , Taylor Nichols , Stuart Pankin , Joe Pantoliano , James Paradise , Romy Rosemont , Carolyn Seymour , Philip Tan , Mary Ellen Trainor , Joel Weiss , Lawrence T. Wrentz , Thom Barry , John Cameron , Kathleen Connors , Peter Elliott

Good gorillas meet bad gorillas while human beings search for treasure in this jungle advnture saga. R.B. Travis (Joe Don Baker) is the ruthless head of Travi-Com, a telecommunications firm on the cus... read more read more...p of a major breakthrough in laser communications technology. However, Travis needs diamonds to finish the project, so he sends a group of men to Zaire, where he's told that a large supply of the gems can be easily found. When the men go missing, Travis sends his trusted assistant Karen Ross (Laura Linney), a one-time CIA associate, into the jungle to find both his staff and the jewels. Hoping to keep her mission a secret, Karen travels to Zaire in the company of Peter (Dylan Walsh), a researcher on primate development who is hoping to return Amy, a gorilla who has been taught sign language and can "speak" English with the help of a glove-controlled computer device. Also travelling with them is Herkermer (Tim Curry), a Romanian with a secret agenda: he's convinced that Amy can guide him to the Lost City of Zinj, where he believes that King Solomon's Mines are located. Upon arrival, the group is met by Monroe Kelly (Ernie Hudson), a self-described "great white hunter who happens to be black," and they discover that the jungle holds a menace that they weren't counting on: a tribe of bloodthirsty gray gorillas. Congo was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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34% liked it

58,592 ratings

Critics

21% liked it

43 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Frank Marshall

Release Date: June 9, 1995

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DVD Release Date: July 27, 1999

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Flixster Reviews (1,987)

  • MovieGeek13
    March 5, 2012
    MovieGeek13
    1993. Jurassic Park is the hottest movie of the year and the film's source material, a novel written by Michael Crichton, also becomes the year's hottest book. So what does Hollywood do? It purchases the rights to many other Crichton novels and for the next six years, audiences g... read moreet a film adaptation of one of his works almost every twelve months, some high profile examples being Rising Sun, Disclosure, Sphere, The 13th Warrior, and Congo. Now Congo aims to do for apes what Jurassic Park did for dinosaurs. Let's just say it fails in every aspect. I'm sure the novel is much better, but this film is as disposable now as it was upon its release.
    Let's start with the effects. Clearly Stan Winston was taking a day off, because I haven't seen gorillas this fake looking since the 1976 King Kong. Amy, the sort of talking gorilla looks like a walking carpet with a dollar store mask taped over her head. It's laughably awful. The killer apes look even worse.
    Now on to the story. A diamond expedition goes horribly wrong and the psychotic owner of the company sends a doctor/former CIA op/ex-daughter in law to find out what happened. Accompanied by the usual cliche of characters including a mercenary, a greedy merchant, and a scientist who wants to set Amy free in the wild, this new rescue team soon discovers what happened to the team and that the same fate is in store for them. You would think that this premise would lead to a fun-filled B-movie. Nope. The movie is hopelessly boring, and really only contains two big gorilla vs human action sequences. Both of them look cheesy, horribly edited together, and possessing so many unintentionally funny moments that you wonder how any producer could have released this into the theatres expecting people to enjoy it. A flop in its time, I'm sure Congo has broken even by now, but the 4.7 imdb rating reflects that most people still don't think much of it, and frankly, neither do I.
  • phubbs1
    August 6, 2011
    phubbs1
    Wow I remember seeing this at the cinema, being released and trailers etc..it feels like eons ago haha At the time I quite liked the film but didn't think it was awesome or anything, on a rewatch I'm still quite liking the film for its good old fashioned jungle adventure theme an... read mored nice character work.

    I think the casting is a winner here mainly with Ernie Hudson as a smooth well spoken guide in the old classic Hollywood sense alongside Curry hamming it up as a Romanian philanthropist, both of which you are never quite sure if they will turn out to be bad guys. Rest of the cast is alittle wet but there are afew nice cameos thrown in.

    Problem with this film is the dodgy looking puppet/animatronic mask work on the friendly gorillas which just doesn't quite look right, the nasty vicious grey gorillas look quite good and scary with decent mask work but movement for all apes concerned is obviously men in suits and just doesn't work. Location and sets vary from being nice to very obvious but does the job just about, the whole film is along those lines really, it does the job by the skin of its teeth, it could of really sunk but just about holds its own and comes across as a fun B-movie without becoming an actual bad B-movie.
  • riverdale237
    May 6, 2011
    riverdale237
    On the title of the poster, it says "From the creators of Jurassic Park"...Yeah right. I bet that just means they glanced over it while they were really spending all their time working on Jurassic Park: The Lost World (Which was actually really GOOD)

    The special affects in thi... read mores movie are down right god awful. They are basically just people dressing in gorilla suits! No CGI, no animatronics, nothing! At least Baby Geniuses tried.And do I even have to get started on the albino gorrilas?

    The acting was horrible. Not one of the actors did a good job. Not even Ernie Hudson. And I LOVE Ernie Hudson. But the worst acting clearly belongs to Tim Curry, who's over the top preformance as the irratating Romanian whatever is enough to kill half of your brain cells. And that accent? Down right TORTURE!!!

    I didn;t get the whole "tickle amy" thing with the Gorilla. I just found it uncomfortable, and kind of disturbing.

    Don't be fooled by the trailer. There is almost no action, and the only fighting scene comes at the end and it isn;t even good. It lasts 2 seconds, and has some of the worst fight choreography you will EVER see.

    This is a horrible movie. It had potential to be a 50% movie, but now they would be happy with just that. Very VERY bad!
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    April 10, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Congo is very much a guilty pleasure. I mean it is. I love this film and found it quite entertaining. What I liked about the film was that it had the feel of a classic adventure story, something we rarely see nowadays. The film is at times silly, but it's nothing to be too concer... read morened about. The story is still exciting and interesting. I find the adventure story set in jungles are very entertaining and some of the best ideas for an action adventure film. Though Congo offers the essence of the jungle adventure story, this is a disappointing adaptation from Michael Cricton's original work. Though I enjoyed the film, I found the book to be better of course. They kept the bare ideas and reinvented the story. Which offers an interesting, and entertaining film that does have a B movie feel to it. Spielberg Collaborator Frank Marshall directs this version of Congo with a good eye for what makes a good jungle adventure action film. But considering the book is terrific, this is still disappointing. There is lots of room for improvement. But for what it is, Congo is an entertaining film of a long lost genre of film. There are more good things to enjoy than bad. Congo can most definitely be seen as one of my guilty pleasures. Though flawed, and a tad disappointing, Congo still is an entertaining film.
  • FilmFanatik
    January 30, 2011
    FilmFanatik
    I've always been ambiguous about this movie until I picked up a for a couple of bucks used. I used to catch quite often on HBO in the mid 90s and always enjoyed watching it. Later on, I thought it was all in my head - until I watched it again when I got it home. Okay, so it is... read moren't a masterpiece by any means, but it does have a lot going for it. First of all it was directed by Frank Marshall (Arachnophobia, Alive), had mechanical and animatronic effects by Stan Winston, carries a Jerry Goldsmith score and also a shockingly great cast with lots of familiar faces. Unfortunately, it doesn't really break any new ground story-wise or visually. It just seems run-of-the-mill story of the week. Personally, I enjoy it but I do see its flaws. It's mediocre, but enjoyable mediocre.
  • Chiefilms
    February 22, 2010
    Chiefilms
    Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, space monkey, Mafia,
    Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no go

    U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy,
    Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the CONGO!

    Killer Apes, Belgian Crepes, Gorillas stormin' Africa
    Curry's Dead, Crushed in head, this movie sucks i'm goin... read moreg to bed.
  • SirPant
    September 14, 2009
    SirPant
    It's got talking Monkeys and Bruce Campbell in it, so it can't be bad! Unfortunately, it is. A bit of a guilty pleasure but not very good really.
  • stormyweather980
    August 15, 2009
    stormyweather980
    Many people compare "Congo" to "Jurassic Park" because both are adaptations from books by the same author, Michael Crichton. However, the two movies are nothing alike in any way. While "Jurassic Park" is about man vs. dinosaurs, "Congo" is about a talking gorilla and a few people... read more that go on an expedition to the Congo of Africa to find diamonds that are good enough to function as a laser weapon. The explorers are unaware of it, but they'll have to survive a few twists and turns along the way.
    I thought "Congo" was a pretty good movie although parts of it are predictable. I was real impressed with some of the special effects toward the end of the movie. Luckily, it should be interesting enough to keep you from getting bored while watching it, so I recommend giving it a try. NOTE: This was my Amazon review from the year 2000. It seemed like all the rage for some reason to compare Congo to Jurassic Park back when it was new, which is unfair. Congo's not as good no, but worth owning and watching from time to time.
  • puffchunk
    November 7, 2008
    puffchunk
    This ONLY made it to a three star because of Ernie Hudson and Tim Curry's dialog. NOT BECAUSE OF FREAKING AMY! I hate that monkey...
  • sanjurosamurai
    July 11, 2008
    sanjurosamurai
    pretty entertaining movie about crazy killer monkeys who live in a castle and have lots of money

View All Congo Reviews

Critic Reviews

Brian Lowry
June 17, 2008
Brian Lowry, Variety

Feels as if the picture were edited to leave the action sequences in while removing any connecting material that might have helped them make sense. Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

This glib, overheated film about vicious primates delivers little suspense... Full Review

Kenneth Turan
February 13, 2001
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

The entire tone of the book has been transformed from tension to tongue-in-cheek with dismal results. Full Review

Lucy Mohl
January 1, 2000
Lucy Mohl, Film.com

A movie that appears to have been designed first as a future theme park, and then as a major motion-picture.

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

In every frame, it aspires to be a theme park. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

This is easily the worst filmed version of anything penned by the prolific author. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
January 1, 2000
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

As you stand there with your $7, ask yourself, 'Do I really want to see a rubber gorilla smoke a cigar?' If necessary, ask yourself twice. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

The least interesting adventure ever filmed. Full Review

January 1, 2000
USA Today

Marshall can't decide whether he's making a thriller or a laff-it-up lark.

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A splendid example of a genre no longer much in fashion, the jungle adventure story. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Congo Trivia

  • He's the author whose books have been adapted into films such as "Jurassic Park", "Sphere", "Congo" and "Rising Sun". He also cowrote the screenplay for "Twister" and directed Sean Connery in "The Great Train Robbery".  Answer »
  • Which of the following is about diamonds and gorillas   Answer »
  • In the movie, Congo, what is the name of the gorilla?  Answer »
  • What was the gorilla's name in Congo?  Answer »
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