Congo

In an attempt to capitalize on the mega success of Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton movies became all the rage and Congo was brought to life from a novel he had written ten years before Jurassic Park. Overall what you have here is a fun movie that feels like "Diet Spielberg". The location shots of Africa are stunning but the sound stages although chocked full of wonderfully designed temples and plants still REALLY look like a sound stage. The cast does a great job of playing it straight while interacting with people dressed as killer gorillas with animatronic faces. Laura Linney commits to her character as she does with everything she's in. Amy (the good gorilla that can communicate in sign language) is adorable, even though not particularly realistic, although I will say that for the time the movie was made they did a pretty good job and it's easy to just go with it. Great action scenes and a fun story, which is the hallmark of Crichton's work in general. Props to Tim Curry for camping up his sleazy Herkemer Homolka treasure hunter. Yes, it's a little dated and but it still holds up well and is a fun adventure movie to watch with the family.

Why does hollywood feel compelled to fundamentally alter stories in all the worst ways when those stories come from books? There's hardly any story out there that has a movie and a book and the movie is better. The books are better 99% of the time. Let me give you an example.I recently reread Congo by Michael Crichton. In it a corporation is hired to find blue diamonds in nature for use in super conductors. (Note that Congo was written in the late 1970's, before the vast, vast majority of people had even heard of super conductors.) The expeditions have to cross the deepest and darkest sections of Africa. Military Coups. Cannibals. Revolutions. Other corporations trying to beat them to the diamonds.Then, only when they've beat the other corporations to the location with the ultra valuable diamonds, *SPOILER ALERT* do they come across a species of hyper-intelligent almost-gorillas. These almost-gorillas are so intelligent that they literally have a spoken language.How much of Crichton's great book do we see in the movie? Practically none of it. A story of corporate greed and the almost-human monsters that haunt our nightmares is watered down to a few laser effects and people in gray gorilla suits. *Yawn*.

This is a 1995 movie that combines legend, sci-fi, and adventure. It starts out with an expedition to Africa looking for a rare blue diamond that can be used in a revolutionary new communications satellite. When the expedition is destroyed by an unknown force, a woman who has a personal attachment to the leader of the group is sent to rescue them. She hijacks another expedition headed by a primatologist who is trying to return a female gorilla to the wilds of Africa. The gorilla, whose name is Amy and that knows how to communicate through sign language, has attracted the attention of a treasure hunter who believes she knows the location of the lost city of Zinj, where legend says the fabled diamond mines of King Solomon are located. So, with this mismatched group, and a professional guide, they begin their journey to the last known location of the missing expedition.While this movie received mainly unfavorable reviews when it was first released, I found it to be quite enjoyable. The group of misfits are captured by revolutionaries, survive a plane crash, and are attacked by hippos on a river. And this is all before they even arrive at their destination. As far as an adventure film goes, it's right on par. The acting is excellent, with Laura Linney as the woman rescuer with a complicated past (she may or may not have worked for the CIA), Dylan Walsh as the primatologist who has never been in Africa and is totally overwhelmed with the entire experience, and Ernie Hudson as the professional guide who is an expert at what he does but manages it all with a joviality that belies his serious intent. The special effects are top notch for their time. When you first see it, you think CGI, but, upon reading the credits, you realize that the entire thing was accomplished with a group of body actors and puppeteers. Absolutely incredible, and a real feather in the cap of the head of the effort, the incomparable Stan Winston. With a score by the immortal Jerry Goldsmith and a special appearance by the multi-talented Tim Curry, this definitely has its share of moments and fun.There is a lot of violence in this one, but very little strong language and no erotic scenes at all, so it would be entirely suitable for older kids. Based on a novel by Michael Crichton (he of Jurassic Park fame), this is a good movie that suffered from some bad marketing when it first came out, and deserves a second look by those who may have passed it up in times past.

Movie was ok...I'm a bit lost on what direction they wanted to go with... at some points it almost seemed like a kids movie, but the outright gore / violence in others made it want to seem like a horror... It wound up somewhere in the middle between like, Jumanji, Indiana Jones, and like Wendigo ( or go ahead and name a creature feature )Acting was good ( took me a couple minutes to realize the one guy was the cop from the Crow )... effects were really good... sound was great... I just think the main fall was that the movie itself didn't seem to know what it was doing... Again, one minute, I'm thinking, yeah, this is ok for my kids... and the next, I'm thinking, yeah, no way can my kids watch this... :DNot to mention, the ending seemed to wrap up AWFUL fast... as if they were like "Ok, just 1 more day on set, so punch it..."... yeah, they concluded everything, but for a quasi-epic style movie... I was expecting a little more finesse with the closure...

Jungle adventure. There are impressive views of a lost city, fires and jungle tribes. The plot might seem a bit silly but it works and provides good entertainment. The film music by Jerry Goldsmith has a catchy pop song. The plot follows the story of Amy, a gorilla, who is sent back into the wild after being kept in captivity for most of her life.

I have owned this movies since it was first released on DVD. If I remember it got in my opinion an un-deserved pasting. The story regarding a talking gorilla and a lost diamond mine, oh yes and an erupting volcano was in my mind a brilliant adventure movie that keeps my interest from start to finish. I have lost count of the number of times I watched it on a good quality DVD I have just watched it on a much better quality Blu-ray disc. I consider this transfer to be well worth the money I paid for it. By the way it was from an original novel by Michael Crichton, what more could you ask for.

Remember this film from years ago and always wanted to own it on bluray. Was delivered on time, only problem was the blue case was all cracked, had a old 1 knocking about so changed it saved me the hassle of sending it back for a replacement.

Let's be absolutely clear that this movie is NOT "The Usual Suspects" or "Memento", and it never aspired to be so. What it aims to be (a good entertainer), it almost becomes. While Crichton's novel is a complex introspection of the different ways in which mankind has been trying to interact with hostile nature for a long-long time, told in an action-packed manner befitting a pastiche of "King Solomon's Mines", this movie is exactly as described above. I admit that CGI would not have been effective in displaying the menace of the white gorillas, but the make-up simply gave too much away (you would find them more disturbing while they are hiding behind the foliage). Nevertheless, an enjoyable movie, and unless you are a professional critic or an "arty"-type out to compare this movie with aforesaid classics, you would enjoy it.

I have loved this movie since it came out nearly 20 years ago now.This is "Raiders","Planet of the Apes" and "King solomons Mines" all rolled into one crackin package.at just over 90minutes this is great fun with a touch of a couple of scares.Quick plot description,a team is sent to the Congo,to find another team thats been lost!thats all yer getting!!enjoy it and keep a look out for Bruce Campbell in a small part of what he does best??CRACKIN ADVENTURE!!!