Congo (film)

Last updated

Congo
Congo movie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Frank Marshall
Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley
Based on Congo
by Michael Crichton
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Allen Daviau
Edited by Anne V. Coates
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • June 9, 1995 (1995-06-09)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million
Box office$152 million

Congo is a 1995 American science fiction action-adventure film based on the 1980 novel by Michael Crichton. It was directed by Frank Marshall and stars Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Grant Heslov, Joe Don Baker and Tim Curry. The film was released on June 9, 1995, by Paramount Pictures and tells the story of an expedition team and a mountain gorilla owned by one of it's members who go to the Congo jungles to find a missing expedition and the ruins of an ancient civilizations where diamonds might be located while encountering the gray gorillas that lurk near there. [1] [2]

Contents

It received negative reviews, but performed better than expected at the box office. [3]

Plot

Searching for rare blue diamonds that could enable a revolutionary communications laser, TraviCom employees Charles Travis and Jeffrey Weems discover the ruins of a lost city near a remote volcano in the Congo jungle.

Karen Ross, Charles's ex-fiancée and a former CIA operative, and R.B. Travis, Charles's father and the CEO of TraviCom, lose contact with the team while tracking their progress at the company headquarters. A remote camera shows the camp destroyed and strewn with corpses, before an ape-like creature destroys the camera. Travis asks Karen to lead another expedition to the site.

Primatologist Peter Elliott and his assistant Richard teach human communication to a mountain gorilla named Amy, whose sign language is translated into a digitized voice. Peter is concerned by Amy's drawings of jungles and the Eye of Providence, and wants to return her to Africa. Karen and Romanian philanthropist Herkermer Homolka join the expedition.

The group flies to Uganda and meets wilderness guide Monroe Kelly. Military leader Captain Wanta warns them not to trust Homolka and lets them proceed only upon receipt of a large bribe. On their journey via Tanzania and then Zaire, Monroe reveals that Homolka has led previous, disastrous safaris in search of the "Lost City of Zinj". Their plane is shot down as they parachute into the jungle.

A native tribe leads them to Bob Driscoll, a wounded member of Charles's expedition who dies screaming upon sight of Amy. The group continues by boat and they learn that Homolka believes Amy can lead them to the mine. They find the ruined camp near the City of Zinj. Richard and some porters are killed by a gray gorilla. The group keeps the gray gorillas at bay with automated sentry guns.

At daybreak, they explore the city and surmise from hieroglyphs that the inhabitants bred the gray gorillas to guard the mine. At the mine, Homolka begins collecting diamonds only to be killed by the gray gorillas. Monroe, Karen, and Peter flee deeper into the mine where they discover Jeffrey and Charles's bodies with the latter still holding a giant blue diamond. Karen fits the diamond into a portable laser and uses it to kill several grey gorillas. The volcano erupts and the four escape as lava floods the city killing the gray gorillas.

Karen reports to Travis. Realizing Travis was only interested in the diamond, Karen destroys the TraviCom satellite. They find a hot-air balloon in one of Travis's wrecked cargo planes. Seeing Amy with a troop of mountain gorillas, Peter bids her goodbye. The three take off in the balloon and Karen has Peter throw the diamond into the jungle below. Amy watches the departing balloon then joins the other mountain gorillas.

Cast

The mountain gorillas and gray gorillas are in-suit performed by Christopher Antonucci, David Anthony, John Munro Cameron, Jay Caputo, Nicholas Kadi, John Alexander Lowe, Garon Michael, Peter Elliott, Brian La Rosa, David St. Pierre, and Philip Tan.

Featuring

The following were listed under this section in the credits:

Voices

Production

Development and writing

After the success of The First Great Train Robbery , Crichton decided to write a screenplay specifically for Sean Connery as the character Charles Munro, an archetypal "great white hunter" akin to H. Rider Haggard's hero Allan Quatermain. [4] The film was envisioned as an homage to classic pulp adventure tales, and Crichton successfully pitched the movie to 20th Century Fox in 1979 without a fleshed out story. [4] Crichton left the project when he learned that he could not use a real gorilla to portray the character of Amy. [4] It was offered to several directors including Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter. [4] A brief attempt was made to revive the project in the late 1980s. [4] Eventually, Frank Marshall directed the film with little, if any, involvement from Crichton. [4] The film's teaser credits John Patrick Shanley and Crichton as co-screenwriters, but the trailer and the film itself credit Shanley alone.

Originally, Delroy Lindo was set to shoot his scene in the Dominican Republic, but ended up shooting it in Pasadena, California. [5]

The gorilla suits for Amy the mountain gorilla and the gray gorillas as well as the hippopotamus puppet were created by Stan Winston's company Stan Winston Studio. [6]

Release

Marketing

A teaser trailer for Congo debuted in theaters on November 18, 1994, with the release of Star Trek Generations . It was also attached to the VHS release of Forrest Gump . Promotional partners included Taco Bell, Coca-Cola and Kenner Products. [7]

Home media

Congo was released on VHS and LaserDisc on November 21, 1995. The LaserDisc release is THX certified and consists of widescreen and pan and scan fullscreen versions. [8] A widescreen VHS release debuted a year later on September 10, 1996. [9] The DVD was released on July 27, 1999.

Reception

Box office

Congo was estimated to gross $13–$15 million in its opening weekend, but surprised the industry when it grossed $24.6 million for the weekend, placing number one at the US box office ahead of Casper . [10] [11] It was overtaken by Batman Forever during its second weekend. [12] In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $81,022,101. The final worldwide gross was $152,022,101 versus a $50,000,000 budget. [13]

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes collected 50 reviews to give the film an approval rating of 20% with a rating average of 3.9/10. The site's consensus states: "Mired in campy visual effects and charmless characters, Congo is a suspenseless adventure that betrays little curiosity about the scientific concepts it purports to care about." [14] Metacritic rated it 22/100 based on 19 reviews, meaning "generally unfavorable reviews". [15] Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times rated it 3 out of 4 stars. He called the film a splendid example of a genre no longer much in fashion, the jungle adventure story. [16] It was nominated for seven Golden Raspberry Awards. Hal Hinson of The Washington Post called the film a "Spielberg knockoff...shamelessly lifting themes and ideas from a handful of Steven's greatest hits." He criticized Amy the gorilla as "the most disappointing 'performance' of all" and opined that the supporting actors, Tim Curry and Ernie Hudson, stood out more than the lead actors. [17]

The A.V. Club 's Ignatiy Vishnevetsky said Congo was full of "goofy pleasures" like "delectably goofy" lasers and "mutant killer apes", calling it one of the most enjoyable films that came out of the post– Jurassic Park period. He said he enjoyed the film more as a campy comedy than as the thriller the trailers made it out to be, and concluded with "Is Congo a good film? It's certainly a good time." [18]

Accolades

AwardCategorySubjectResult
Golden Raspberry Award Worst New Star Amy the Talking GorillaNominated
Worst Supporting Actress Nominated
Worst Supporting Actor Tim Curry Nominated
Worst Original Song Jerry Goldsmith "(Feel) the Spirit of Africa"Nominated
Worst Screenplay John Patrick Shanley Nominated
Worst Picture Kathleen Kennedy
Sam Mercer
Nominated
Worst Director Frank Marshall Nominated
Saturn Award Best Science Fiction Film Kathleen Kennedy
Sam Mercer
Nominated
Best Director Frank MarshallNominated

Other media

Video game

A video game based on the film, Congo the Movie: The Lost City of Zinj , was released for Sega Saturn in 1996. A different game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis was in development, but was cancelled. [19] Another adventure game was released for PC and Macintosh called Congo the Movie: Descent into Zinj .

Pinball

A Williams pinball machine named Congo was produced in 1995 that was based on the film. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delroy Lindo</span> English-American actor (born 1952)

Delroy George Lindo is an English-American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.

<i>The Core</i> 2003 film by Jon Amiel

The Core is a 2003 American science fiction disaster film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, D. J. Qualls, Richard Jenkins, Tcheky Karyo, Bruce Greenwood, and Alfre Woodard.

<i>King Kong</i> (2005 film) 2005 film by Peter Jackson

King Kong is a 2005 epic adventure monster film co-written, produced, and directed by Peter Jackson. It is the eighth entry in the King Kong franchise and the second remake of the 1933 film of the same title, following the 1976 film. The film stars Andy Serkis, Naomi Watts, Jack Black, and Adrien Brody. Set in 1933, it follows the story of an ambitious filmmaker who coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island. There they encounter prehistoric creatures and a legendary giant gorilla known as Kong, whom they capture and take to New York City.

<i>Congo</i> (novel) 1980 novel by Michael Crichton

Congo is a 1980 science fiction novel by Michael Crichton, the fifth under his own name and the fifteenth overall. The novel centers on an expedition searching for diamonds and investigating the mysterious deaths of a previous expedition in the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo. Crichton calls Congo a lost world novel in the tradition founded by Henry Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines, featuring the mines of that work's title.

<i>Battle for the Planet of the Apes</i> 1973 film directed by J. Lee Thompson

Battle for the Planet of the Apes is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington, based on a story by Paul Dehn. The film is the sequel to Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) and the fifth and final installment in the Planet of the Apes original film series. It stars Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy, Severn Darden, Lew Ayres, Paul Williams, and John Huston. In the film, after conquering the oppressive humans, Caesar (McDowall) tries to keep the peace amongst the humans and apes, but uprisings endure.

<i>Tarzan</i> (1999 film) Animated film directed by Kevin Lima and Chris Buck

Tarzan is a 1999 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the 1912 story Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, being the first animated major motion picture version of the story. The film was directed by Kevin Lima and Chris Buck and produced by Bonnie Arnold, from a screenplay by Tab Murphy and the writing team of Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. It stars the voices of Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Glenn Close, Rosie O'Donnell, Brian Blessed, Lance Henriksen, Wayne Knight, and Nigel Hawthorne.

<i>The Cider House Rules</i> (film) 1999 film by Lasse Hallström

The Cider House Rules is a 1999 American drama film directed by Lasse Hallström from a screenplay by John Irving, based on Irving's 1985 novel of the same name. Its story follows Homer Wells, who lives in a World War II–era Maine orphanage run by a doctor who trained him, and his journey after leaving the orphanage. The film stars Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Delroy Lindo, Paul Rudd, Michael Caine, Jane Alexander, Kathy Baker, Kieran Culkin, Heavy D, Kate Nelligan, and Erykah Badu.

<i>King Kong Lives</i> 1986 American monster film directed by John Guillermin

King Kong Lives is a 1986 American monster adventure film directed by John Guillermin. Produced by the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group and featuring special effects by Carlo Rambaldi, the film stars Linda Hamilton and Brian Kerwin. The film is a sequel to the 1976 remake of King Kong. This was the final Kong film in which the eponymous character was portrayed using suits and practical effects; further films would utilize computer animation.

<i>Africa Screams</i> 1949 film by Charles Barton

Africa Screams is a 1949 American adventure comedy film starring Abbott and Costello and directed by Charles Barton that parodies the safari genre. The title is a play on the title of the 1930 documentary Africa Speaks! The supporting cast features Clyde Beatty, Frank Buck, Hillary Brooke, Max Baer, Buddy Baer, Shemp Howard and Joe Besser. The film entered the public domain in 1977.

<i>George of the Jungle</i> (film) 1997 American comedy film

George of the Jungle is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Sam Weisman and based on Jay Ward and Bill Scott's 1967 American animated television series of the same name, which in turn is a spoof of the fictional character Tarzan, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Written by Dana Olsen and Audrey Wells, and starring Brendan Fraser, Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church, Holland Taylor, Richard Roundtree, and John Cleese. It tells the story of a young man raised by wild animals who falls for an heiress and contends with the heiress's spoiled fiancé. The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and was released in theatres throughout the United States and Canada on July 16, 1997. It was later aired on Disney Channel in the United States on December 5, 1998. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $174 million worldwide. A sequel, George of the Jungle 2, was released direct-to-video on October 21, 2003.

<i>George of the Jungle 2</i> 2003 American comedy film

George of the Jungle 2 is a 2003 comedy film and the sequel to the 1997 Disney film George of the Jungle. It was directed by David Grossman and written by Jordan Moffet. The film stars Thomas Haden Church, Julie Benz, Christina Pickles, Angus T. Jones, Michael Clarke Duncan, John Cleese, and introducing Christopher Showerman in his film debut as George.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorillas in popular culture</span>

Representations of gorillas are common in popular culture in the Western world with the full range of electronic media having gorillas as mascots, gorillas behaving like humans, and humans behaving like gorillas.

<i>Gorillas in the Mist</i> 1988 film by Michael Apted

Gorillas in the Mist is a 1988 American biographical drama film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay by Anna Hamilton Phelan and a story by Phelan and Tab Murphy. The film is based on the work by Dian Fossey and the article by Harold T. P. Hayes. It stars Sigourney Weaver as naturalist Dian Fossey and Bryan Brown as photographer Bob Campbell. It tells the story of Fossey, who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.

<i>Ingagi</i> 1930 film

Ingagi is a 1930 pre-Code pseudo-documentary exploitation film directed by William S. Campbell. It purports to be a documentary about "Sir Hubert Winstead" of London on an expedition to the Belgian Congo, and depicts a tribe of gorilla-worshipping women encountered by the explorer. The film claims to show a ritual in which African women are given over to gorillas as sex slaves, but in actuality was mostly filmed in Los Angeles, using American actresses in place of natives. It was produced and distributed by Nat Spitzer's Congo Pictures, which had been formed expressly for this production. Although marketed under the pretense of being ethnographic, the premise was a fabrication, leading the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association to retract any involvement.

<i>Get Shorty</i> (film) 1995 comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Get Shorty is a 1995 American gangster comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by Scott Frank, based on Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name. The film stars John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Dennis Farina, and Danny DeVito. It follows Chili Palmer (Travolta), a Miami mobster and loan shark who inadvertently gets involved in Hollywood feature film production.

<i>Jungle Jim</i> (film) 1948 film by William A. Berke

Jungle Jim is a 1948 American adventure film directed by William Berke and starring Johnny Weissmuller. It is based on Alex Raymond's Jungle Jim comic strip and was distributed by Columbia Pictures. It is the first picture in the Jungle Jim series that consists of 16 films originally released between 1948 and 1955.

<i>The Big Bang</i> (2011 film) 2011 American film

The Big Bang is a 2011 American action thriller film written by Erik Jendresen and directed by Tony Krantz, starring Antonio Banderas and Sienna Guillory.

<i>Amazon</i> (video game) 1984 video game

Amazon is an interactive fiction graphic adventure game. The game was published by Telarium in 1984 and written by Michael Crichton.

Zamba is a 1949 American adventure film directed by William Berke. It starred Jon Hall and Beau Bridges.

References

  1. Turan, Kenneth (June 9, 1995). "MOVIE REVIEW : They Took Crichton Out of the 'Congo'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  2. Doll, Pancho (October 13, 1994). "REEL LIFE / FILM & VIDEO FILE : Crichton 'Congo' Crew Beats a Path to Simi Ranch : A menagerie helps create the setting of a jungle airstrip. Another thriller is shot at a Potrero Road house". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  3. Natale, Richard (June 12, 1995). "800-Pound Gorilla Takes a Seat on Box-Office Bus : Movies: Ape tale 'Congo' opens huge despite bad reviews, bumping 'Casper' to second place. 'Bridges of Madison County' takes third, shows promise of a long life". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lambie, Ryan (September 12, 2016). "The strange prehistory of 1995's Congo". Den of Geek. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  5. Nemiroff, Perri (March 2, 2021). "'Stop Eating My Sesame Cake!': Delroy Lindo Revisits His Unforgettable Scene in 'Congo'". Collider . Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  6. https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/congo-movie-gorilla-suit-behind-the-scenes
  7. Kilday, Gregg (June 30, 1995). "Congo's surprise box office success". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  8. "'Apollo 13' Soars Into The VCR Universe". Newsday (Nassau Edition). November 24, 1995. p. 131. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  9. King, Susan (August 16, 1996). "'Letterbox' Brings Wide Screen Home". Times Staff Writer. Los Angeles Times. p. 96. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2023 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  10. "800-Pound Gorilla Takes a Seat on Box-Office Bus : Movies: Ape tale 'Congo' opens huge despite bad reviews, bumping 'Casper' to second place. 'Bridges of Madison County' takes third, shows promise of a long life". Los Angeles Times . June 12, 1995.
  11. Klady, Leonard (June 19, 1995). "'Bat' blitz bodes new B.O. era". Variety . p. 11.
  12. "'Batman' Takes a Bite Out of 'Jurassic' Record: Movies: Third Bat film soars to an estimated opening weekend gross of $53 million. 'Pocahontas' makes a staggering $2.7 million in just six--albeit large--theaters". Los Angeles Times . June 19, 1995.
  13. Eller, Claudia (June 13, 1995). "Company Town : At the Box Office, Literary Prestige Is One for the Books". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  14. "Congo". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  15. "Congo". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. August 2, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  16. Ebert, Roger (June 9, 1995). "Congo Movie Review & Film Summary (1995)". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  17. Hinson, Hal (June 9, 1995). "Congo Review". The Washington Post . Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  18. Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (April 28, 2021). "It's no Jurassic Park, but fellow Crichton adaptation Congo has goofy pleasures galore". The A.V. Club . Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  19. Nielsen, Martin; Hedger, Greg (September 12, 2003). "CONGO: THE SECRET OF ZINJ - UNRELEASED, FORGOTTEN AND REDISCOVERED..." NESWORLD. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  20. "Williams Pinball machine 'Congo' in the Internet Pinball Machine Database". Internet Pinball Machine Database. Retrieved April 8, 2017.