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Mighty Joe Young

  • 1998
  • PG
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
32K
YOUR RATING
John Alexander in Mighty Joe Young (1998)
Official Trailer
Play trailer0:41
1 Video
99+ Photos
Animal AdventureConspiracy ThrillerJungle AdventureUrban AdventureActionAdventureFamilyThriller

A legendary fifteen-foot tall mountain gorilla named Joe is taken to an animal sanctuary in California by zoologist Gregg O'Hara (Bill Paxton) and Jill Young (Charlize Theron), with whom he ... Read allA legendary fifteen-foot tall mountain gorilla named Joe is taken to an animal sanctuary in California by zoologist Gregg O'Hara (Bill Paxton) and Jill Young (Charlize Theron), with whom he grew up. Poacher Strasser (Rade Serbedzija) returns from the past to seek vengeance on Joe... Read allA legendary fifteen-foot tall mountain gorilla named Joe is taken to an animal sanctuary in California by zoologist Gregg O'Hara (Bill Paxton) and Jill Young (Charlize Theron), with whom he grew up. Poacher Strasser (Rade Serbedzija) returns from the past to seek vengeance on Joe.

  • Director
    • Ron Underwood
  • Writers
    • Merian C. Cooper
    • Ruth Rose
    • Mark Rosenthal
  • Stars
    • Bill Paxton
    • Charlize Theron
    • Rade Serbedzija
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.7/10
    32K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ron Underwood
    • Writers
      • Merian C. Cooper
      • Ruth Rose
      • Mark Rosenthal
    • Stars
      • Bill Paxton
      • Charlize Theron
      • Rade Serbedzija
    • 113User reviews
    • 45Critic reviews
    • 51Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 win & 4 nominations total

    Videos1

    Mighty Joe Young: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray
    Trailer 0:41
    Mighty Joe Young: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray

    Photos211

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    Top cast78

    Edit
    Bill Paxton
    Bill Paxton
    • Gregg O'Hara
    Charlize Theron
    Charlize Theron
    • Jill Young
    Rade Serbedzija
    Rade Serbedzija
    • Strasser
    Peter Firth
    Peter Firth
    • Garth
    David Paymer
    David Paymer
    • Harry Ruben
    Regina King
    Regina King
    • Cecily Banks
    Robert Wisdom
    Robert Wisdom
    • Kweli
    Naveen Andrews
    Naveen Andrews
    • Pindi
    Lawrence Pressman
    Lawrence Pressman
    • Dr. Baker
    Linda Purl
    Linda Purl
    • Dr. Ruth Young
    Mika Boorem
    Mika Boorem
    • Young Jill Young
    Geoffrey Blake
    Geoffrey Blake
    • Vern
    Christian Clemenson
    Christian Clemenson
    • Jack
    Cory Buck
    Cory Buck
    • Jason
    Liz Georges
    • Jason's Mother
    Richard Riehle
    Richard Riehle
    • Commander Gorman
    Cynthia Allison
    • News Reporter
    Ken Taylor
    • News Reporter
    • Director
      • Ron Underwood
    • Writers
      • Merian C. Cooper
      • Ruth Rose
      • Mark Rosenthal
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews113

    5.732K
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    Featured reviews

    Chiron1987

    Great adaptation of the classic 1947 film

    Mighty Joe Young is terrific family fare, and one of the better movies of 1998. It is based on the immortal classic from 1947 of the same name about a young woman and her faithful 20-foot tall, 2,000-pound gorilla named Joe.

    Great special effects featuring Joe are the real highlight of the film, especially the animatronics and CGI which truly bring Joe to life.

    There are also good performances, especially from Charlize Theron as the young woman, Jill, and Bill Paxton, fresh from Titanic, as the scientist who loves her.

    But, the real star is the title character, the Mighty Joe, who brings a wonderfully gentle screen presence, and is the true hero of the film.

    Highly recommended for children of all ages.
    7Hitchcoc

    A Good Remake of a Nice Little Movie

    This time I think the remake is fine. I thought the original was lightweight at best, being a kind of King Kong sequel. People were enamored with gorillas in those days, not because they were endangered but because they were simply interesting. In this one, the bad guys are poachers who kill a woman and a gorilla. Once the young woman begins to protect Joe, she and Joe become their target. As Joe gets bigger and bigger his stock rises. The positive about this film is that the special effects and Joe's being is so much more convincing that the stop action stuff of the forties. Of course, that doesn't mean the original is less worthy; it's just that things get cleaned up here. This is a good movie and doesn't beg comparisons.
    GEM-20

    Fantasic effects that are very realistic

    This update of "Mighty Joe Young" features incredible visual effects. They are so seemlessly blended into the picture that Joe seems more than real.

    Bill Paxton is great as usual. In fact, most of the cast is pretty good. Charlize Theron is both tough and sexy. She worked better with Paxton than the contrived relationship he had with Helen Hunt in "Twister".

    I watched this movie with my kids and they loved it too. Definately a thumbs-up as a family movie. I recommend it.
    6vip_ebriega

    Fine family adventure about a Jr. Kong.

    My Take: Fine special effects and decent performances make for a passable remake.

    A toned-down remake of the 1949 monster movie (not that the original was violent or so) by Disney, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG is enjoyably pleasant nonetheless. There's a lot of enjoyable moments here to entice kids and adults alike. It's fun, without being too loud, too lumbering and too overproduced unlike other summer affair of the time. It could use more, but enough just seems to be enough. There's a good dosage of fine adventure movie elements. There's action, adventure, humor and even romance.

    The romance is created between two of the lead characters. Bill Paxton as an explorer named Gregg O'Hara and a Charlize Theron as Jill Young, a daughter of a late famous Jane Goodall-inspired scientist. There's chemistry between those two, even if it's not entirely developed. It's also a simple boy-likes-the-girl chemistry, but it works well and I bought it. Ask for the adventure, there are numerous action scenes which takes place both in the jungle in even in the city, which shows a scenes directly derived but not entirely similarly to the scene from KING KONG. The special effects by Rick Baker, who actually started doing apes in a somewhat cheesy outcome during the 70's remake of KING KONG, are fine here in the film. There's a convincing use of blue screen and the typical man-in-a-suit technique that actually is less evident here.

    Director Ron Underwood (TREMORS) brings a lot of excitement in this familiar territory. The film cannot escape the multitudes of clichés that marred this old genre to the ground. Some things about MIGHTY JOE YOUNG are familiar, as a toned-down kids flick. I've learned the lesson before, there's no one that harshly gets hurt in this film, except the bad guys who must get their just desserts in the end. But the film is lively and enjoyable enough for me to recommend. This is decent family entertainment.

    Rating: *** out of 5.
    TxMike

    Much better than it should be, a timeless story of a girl and her gorilla.

    I can recall, though not very clearly, seeing the original 1949 version of "Mighty Joe Young" in the theater when I was a boy. The 1998 remake to me is better in every way. The special effects which place the giant gorilla among people, or chasing trucks, is very realistic, as is the sound track.

    The story starts in the jungle where gorilla hunter "Strasser" shoots and kills the baby gorilla's mom, and Jill Young's (Carlize Theron) mom is also killed. Jill and the young gorilla become friends and they grow up in virtual anonymity. In a stroke of good casting for a very small part, Linda Purl, who plays the mother, looks a lot like Theron.

    Many years later, when Paxton's character shows up, hunting wild species for blood samples, the capture of a big cat enrages "Joe" and he jumps out of the trees. That is a remarkable point in the film because, with a good sound system with subwoofer, the room literally shakes. And it continues as they case Joe in trucks.

    Jill is persuaded that Joe will be safer when transported to Los Angeles with his own habitat, and she agrees. The evil Strasser shows up, enrages Joe, who breaks out and runs. In the sweet climax, he climbs a tall ferris wheel to rescue a small child, survives, and eventually is put in a proper place for his safety.

    Most of the charm of this film is during the first half, in the jungle, with Joe and Jill growing up, then the discovery of the adult Joe. In a small part as the hunting organizer Paxton hires, Nuveen Andrews is just terrific, his delivery, his body language. And, of course, Charlize Theron, who reminds me so much of my daughter, Karen, is just perfect as Joe's caretaker and friend.

    I rate this version of "Mighty Joe Young" a solid "8" of 10.

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    Related interests

    Ben Whishaw in Paddington (2014)
    Animal Adventure
    Gene Hackman in The Conversation (1974)
    Conspiracy Thriller
    Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, and Karen Gillan in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
    Jungle Adventure
    Shameik Moore in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
    Urban Adventure
    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Since Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Rick Baker stated that he wouldn't do any more projects that involved creating animatronic apes. Baker had to break that statement when he did Baby's Day Out (1994), which featured a gorilla scene. After that, Baker restated he would not do any more ape projects, but when he got called to work on this movie, Baker's love for the original film changed his mind. He also saw it as a chance for redemption for King Kong (1976) since he designed the King Kong suit and portrayed Kong himself. This movie was the last for which Baker created an animatronic gorilla suit. He later added Planet of the Apes (2001), starring Mark Wahlberg, to his ape-centric résumé.
    • Goofs
      Part of the film is set in California. In Los Angeles and at the carnival near the beach, there are police cars with their colored lights on. All the police cars are missing a steady red light in the front. By the California vehicle code, all emergency and law enforcement vehicles are required to have a steady red light facing forward.
    • Quotes

      Cecily Banks: [has just gotten word that Joe had arrived at the zoo] Okay, people! Elvis is in the building!

    • Alternate versions
      German video and DVD versions are edited for violence (capturing of the gorilla, transport of the gorilla in the city, escape of the gorilla, explosion of the ferris wheel) to get a more family friendly "Not under 6" rating. The uncut version (rated "Not under 12") was shown several times on pay-TV channel Premiere World (now Sky Germany).
    • Connections
      Edited into Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania (1999)
    • Soundtracks
      Windsong
      Written by James Horner and Will Jennings

      Choir Direction/Arrangement by Lebo M.

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 25, 1998 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Swahili
    • Also known as
      • Joe
    • Filming locations
      • Kaua'i, Hawaii, USA
    • Production companies
      • Walt Disney Pictures
      • RKO Pictures
      • The Jacobson Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $90,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $50,632,037
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $10,602,042
      • Dec 27, 1998
    • Gross worldwide
      • $50,632,037
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 54m(114 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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