''Congo'' is a 1995 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

action-

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

based on the 1980 novel by

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

. It was directed by Frank Marshall and stars

Laura Linney Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. Having studied acting at Juilliard School (1986-1990), she became known for her complex and multilayered performances on stage and screen. She has received various accolades, ...

Dylan Walsh Dylan Walsh (born Charles Hunter Walsh; November 17, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Sean McNamara in the FX television series ''Nip/Tuck'', Al Burns in ''Unforgettable'' and Sam Lane in ''Superman & Lois''. E ...

Ernie Hudson Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. His roles include Winston Zeddemore in the '' Ghostbusters'' film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in '' The Crow'' (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003) ...

Grant Heslov Grant Heslov (born May 15, 1963) is an American actor and filmmaker known for his producing and writing collaborations with George Clooney, which have earned him four Oscar nominations. As a co-producer of ''Argo'' (2012), he received the Academ ...

, Joe Don Baker,

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

and

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film ''Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low-b ...

. ''Congo'' was released on June 9, 1995, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. It received negative reviews but performed better than expected at the box office.

Plot

While searching for rare blue diamonds that could lead to a new revolutionary communications laser, TraviCom employees Charles Travis and Jeffrey Weems discover the ruins of a

lost city A lost city is an urban settlement that fell into terminal decline and became extensively or completely uninhabited, with the consequence that the site's former significance was no longer known to the wider world. The locations of many lost cit ...

near a

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

site in a remote part of the

Congo jungle The Congolian rainforests are a broad belt of lowland tropical moist broadleaf forests which extend across the basin of the Congo River and its tributaries in Central Africa. They are the only major rainforests which absorb more carbon than they ...

. Karen Ross, Charles' ex-fiancée and a former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

operative, and R. B. Travis, Charles' father and the CEO of TraviCom, lose contact with the team while tracking their progress at the company headquarters. Activating a remote camera, they find the camp destroyed and strewn with corpses, as well as a savage ape-like creature that destroys the camera. Travis asks Karen to lead another expedition to the site. Meanwhile, Peter Elliott, a primatologist at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, and his assistant Richard teach

human communication Human communication, or anthroposemiotics, is a field of study dedicated to understanding how humans communicate. Humans ability to communicate with one another would not be possible without an understanding of what we are referencing or thin ...

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

s using a

mountain gorilla The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018. There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Centra ...

named Amy. With a specialized backpack and glove, her

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign ...

is translated to a digitized voice. Despite the success, Peter is concerned by Amy's drawings of jungles and the

Eye of Providence The Eye of Providence (or the All-Seeing Eye of God) is a symbol that depicts an eye, often enclosed in a triangle and surrounded by rays of light or glory, meant to represent divine providence, whereby the eye of God watches over humanit ...

, and seeks funding to return her to Africa, but the university is reluctant. Romanian philanthropist Herkermer Homolka offers to fund the expedition, and Karen asks permission to join it since her visas will be invalid unless connected to such a venture. Peter is hesitant at first, seeing Amy's jealousy of Karen, but allows her to join and pay part of the expenses after Homolka is unable to provide funding. The group flies to Africa and lands in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

, where they meet wilderness guide Monroe Kelly. They are detained and questioned by Captain Wanta, a local military leader, who warns them not to trust Homolka and lets them proceed only after Karen pays him a large bribe. As the group crosses to

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

to board another plane that will take them to

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

, Monroe reveals that Homolka has led previous

safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an impor ...

s in search of the "Lost City of Zinj", with disastrous results. The group parachutes into the jungle just before their plane is shot down by Zairean soldiers. On the ground, they encounter a native tribe that leads them to Bob Driscoll, a wounded member of Charles' expedition. On seeing Amy approaching, Bob begins screaming in fear and soon dies. The group continues by boat, and learn that Homolka, in search of Zinj and its fabled diamond mine, believes that Amy's drawings suggest she has seen the mine and can lead them to it. After an attack by massive hippos, they find the ruined camp and the nearby City of Zinj. Richard and a couple of porters are killed by a vicious grey gorilla. The group take shelter at the ruined camp, keeping other gorillas at bay with automated sentry guns and detectors. When day breaks, they find Homolka, several porters and Amy missing. They return to the city, where they find Homolka exploring, and surmise from

hieroglyphs A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatonis ...

that the city's inhabitants specially bred the grey gorillas, encouraging their violent tendencies to guard the mine and kill anyone looking to steal the diamonds. The group suspects the gorillas turned on their masters yet still continue to protect the mine. They find the mine and are faced with a troop of grey gorillas. Homolka begins to collect diamonds, but is soon cornered and killed by some of the apes. Monroe, Karen and Peter flee deeper into the mine, where they discover Jeffrey and Charles' bodies with the latter still holding a giant blue diamond in hand. As Amy protects Peter, Monroe fends off the other gorillas until Karen can fit the diamond into a portable laser, allowing her to power it up and kill several gorillas. The volcano begins to erupt, and the four escape as the city is flooded with lava, killing the gorillas. Once safe, Karen reports to Travis on finding the diamond and confirming Charles' death. Realizing Travis was only interested in the diamond, she uses her laser to destroy the TraviCom satellite. In the nearby wreckage of another one of Travis' expedition

cargo planes A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger a ...

they had found earlier, they find a hot-air balloon, and prepare to leave. Peter sees Amy with a troop of

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...

s and bids her goodbye. The three take off in the balloon, and Peter throws the diamond back into the jungle below. Amy watches the departing balloon with a smile, then joins her new gorilla family.

Cast

as Karen Ross, an electronics expert for TraviCom, and a former CIA operative, who hopes to find her ex-fiancé lost in a previous expedition to the Congo. *

as Peter Elliott, a primatologist of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

, who wants to return his mountain gorilla, Amy, to her birthplace in the Congo's Virunga Region *

as Captain Monroe Kelly, the "Great White Hunter" who "also happens to be black" - a mercenary who leads the group into the jungle. *

as Herkermer Homolka, a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n man who offers to finance the expedition. He poses as a wealthy

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, but is soon revealed to be in dire financial straits. His real aim is to find the mythical Lost City of Zinj, where he lost another expedition some years before. *

as Richard, Peter's research assistant. * Joe Don Baker as R.B. Travis, TraviCom's CEO, Charles' father and Karen's boss. He wants to find the diamond mines to finance and expand his satellite technologies. *

as Charlie Travis, Karen's ex-fiancé and R.B.'s son. * Taylor Nichols as Jeffrey Weems, Charlie's friend who was in the previous expedition with Charlie. * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Kahega, Monroe's deputy and leader of the expedition's African porters. *

Joe Pantoliano Joseph Peter Pantoliano (born September 12, 1951) is an American character actor who has appeared in over 150 films, television and stage productions. After his early roles in the television series '' M*A*S*H'' and the 1983 comedy '' Risky Bu ...

as Eddie Ventro (uncredited), an American living in Central Africa who hires Monroe and organizes the group's transportation and materials. *

Delroy Lindo Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) 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' C ...

as Captain Wanta (uncredited), a corrupt Ugandan military officer whom the group must bribe in order to gain safe passage. * John Hawkes as Bob Driscoll, a member of the TraviCom expedition with Charlie and Jeffrey. *

Mary Ellen Trainor Mary Ellen Trainor (July 8, 1952 – May 20, 2015) was an American character actress best known for her roles as LAPD psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Woods in the '' Lethal Weapon'' films, newscaster Gail Wallens in '' Die Hard'' and '' Ricochet'', ...

as Moira *

Stuart Pankin Stuart Pankin (born April 8, 1946) is an American actor. He is known for his role as anchor Bob Charles in '' Not Necessarily the News'' and as the voice of Earl Sinclair in ''Dinosaurs''. Stuart is also known for his portrayal of Commander Edward ...

as Boyd * Carolyn Seymour as Eleanor Romy *

Romy Rosemont Romy Rosemont (born October 28, 1964) is an American actress, who has appeared in multiple television series, including ''Shark'', ''Grey's Anatomy'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''Prison Break'', and '' Private Practice''. She got her br ...

as Assistant *

James Karen James Karen (born Jacob Karnofsky; November 28, 1923 – October 23, 2018) was an American character actor of Broadway, film and television. Karen is known for his roles in ''Poltergeist'', ''The China Syndrome'', ''Wall Street'', ''The Return ...

as College President *

Thom Barry Thom Barry is an American former actor who was born in Cleveland, Ohio. In the 1980s, he was a disc jockey for WUBE-FM in Cincinnati. He appeared in television advertisements for The Home Depot, Sears, and United Parcel Service, and did voi ...

as Samahani, Truck driver transporting Ross, Monroe, Elliot, Homolka, Richard and Amy from the airport to a roadblock. * Michael Chinyamurindi as Claude from Mombasa, a porter hired to help protect the expedition. * Fidel Bateke as Mizumu Witch Doctor, he uses his powers to bring Bob Driscoll back to life. * Kevin Grevioux as Roadblock Officer * Darnell Suttles as Hospital Interrogator * Robert Almodovar as Rudy, TraviCom head of security * Peter Jason as Mr. Janus * Kathleen Connors as Sally * Lola Noh & Misty Rosas as Amy The Gorilla * Shayna Fox provides the voice of Amy *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

provided the vocal effects for the gorillas. * Gary A. Hecker & Peter Elliott provide the gorilla vocalization.

Production

Development and writing

After the success of '' The First Great Train Robbery'', Crichton decided to write a screenplay specifically for

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

, as the character of Charles Munro, an archetypal "great white hunter" akin to

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...

's hero, Allan Quatermain. The film was envisioned as an homage to classic

pulp adventure Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In cont ...

tales, and Crichton successfully pitched the movie to 20th Century Fox in 1979 without a fleshed out story. However, the film ran into problems when Crichton learned that he could not use a real gorilla to portray the character of Amy, which led to him leaving the project. From there, it was offered to several directors including

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

and

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

who both declined. A brief attempt was made to revive the project in the late 1980s but to no avail. Eventually, Frank Marshall directed the film with little, if any, involvement from Crichton. The film's

teaser Teaser may refer to: * One who teases * Teaser (animal), a male livestock animal (typically a bull) whose penis has been amputated, "''gomer''" Film exhibition, broadcasting, advertising * Teaser (trailer), a short film used to advertise an ...

credits John Patrick Shanley and Crichton as co-screenwriters, but the subsequent trailer and the film itself credit Shanley alone. Originally,

was set to shoot his scene in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

but ended up shooting it in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

has a cameo as the pilot of the jet transport.

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 ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson ...

''. Promotional partners included

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

and

Kenner Products Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy company founded in 1946. Throughout its history, the Kenner brand produced several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures like the original series of ...

Home media

''Congo'' was released on VHS and

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diameter typical ...

on November 21, 1995. The LaserDisc release is THX certified and consists of widescreen and pan and scan fullscreen versions. A widescreen VHS release debuted a year later on September 10, 1996. The film was then released on DVD 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. In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $81,022,101. The final worldwide gross $152,022,101 worldwide versus a $50,000,000 budget.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

retroactively collected 51 reviews to give the film an approval rating of 22%. 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."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

rated it 22/100 based on 19 reviews, meaning "generally unfavorable reviews".

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' 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. It was also nominated for seven

Golden Raspberry Awards The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

. Hal Hinson of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' called the film a "

Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

knockoff...shamelessly lifting themes and ideas from a handful of Steven's greatest hits." Hinson also 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. 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 ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

'' period. He went on to say that he enjoyed the film more as a campy comedy than as the thriller the trailers made it out to be and concluded the write-up by asking "Is ''Congo'' a good film? It's certainly a good time."

Accolades

Other media

Video game

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

based on the film, '' Congo the Movie: The Lost City of Zinj'', was released in 1996. A different game for the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eu ...

and

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

was in development, but was cancelled. Another adventure game was released for PC and Macintosh called ''Congo the Movie: Descent into Zinj''.

Pinball

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

machine named '' Congo'' was produced that was based on the film.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1995 films 1995 horror films 1990s adventure films 1990s monster movies 1990s science fiction action films American monster movies American natural horror films American science fiction action films American Sign Language films 1990s English-language films Swahili-language films Films about gorillas Films about volcanoes Films based on science fiction novels Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith Films based on works by Michael Crichton Films directed by Frank Marshall Films produced by Kathleen Kennedy Films set in Africa Films set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Films shot in Uganda Jungle adventure films Paramount Pictures films Films with screenplays by John Patrick Shanley Techno-thriller films The Kennedy/Marshall Company films Treasure hunt films 1990s American films