Mighty Joe Young

19981998
PGPG
1h 54min

Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Official Trailer

Play trailer0:41

Action Adventure Family

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(story)
- Ruth Rose(earlier screenplay)
- Mark Rosenthal(screenplay)
Stars

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 4 nominations total

Videos1

Mighty Joe Young: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray

Mighty Joe Young: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray

Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, David Paymer, and Regina King in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, and John Alexander in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

John Alexander in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, Liz Georges, and Richard Riehle in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Charlize Theron, Peter Firth, and Rade Serbedzija in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, and John Alexander in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Ron Underwood in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

John Alexander in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, and John Alexander in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, and Ron Underwood in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

John Alexander in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Bill Paxton and Naveen Andrews in Mighty Joe Young (1998)

The baby gorilla left in her care grows up to become a hugely tall and broad specimen by the name of Joe, living in the mountains as a mostly unseen legend amongst the people who live there. Along comes eco-minded emissary Gregg O'Hara (Bill Paxton), who is from a California sanctuary, and who talks jungle girl Jill Young (Charlize Theron) into providing a safe haven for Joe at the Los Angeles facility. The transition is not without discomfort, but everything is aggravated via a conspiracy of poachers to get Joe into their own greedy hands. —Anthony Pereyra <hypersonic91@yahoo.com>

leopard hide and seek wildlife preserve animal sanctuary animal conservation 69 more

Taglines
- Survival is an instinct.
Genres
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated PG for some menacing action violence and mild language
Parents guide

Trivia
Terry Moore, Ray Harryhausen: The star of Mighty Joe Young (1949), and the legendary stop-motion animator (who did most of the animation on the 1949 movie) appear as an elderly couple at the gala. Looking at Jill Young, Moore states, "She reminds me of somebody, but I can't think who." Harryhausen replies, "You, when we first met."

Goofs
The gorilla is supposed to be 12 ft tall. Yet in all scenes he has to be at least 20 to 30 feet tall, and certainly isn't 2000 lbs. One of his legs alone would have to weigh that much.

Quotes
Jill Young: So, this is L.A., huh? Everything looks the same. How do you know where you are?
Greg O'Hara: It's easy. The ocean's that way, the mountains are that way, Mexico's that way, and Canada's thataway. You don't have to worry about the rest; you'll never see it through the smog.

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.

Top review

Superb special effects

I was anxious to see this movie as I had seen the original in 1949 and I was not disappointed. This is one of those rare instances that a remake was okay. This originally was an RKO Radio Picture and the new updated RKO Pictures logo at the beginning was a great tribute. Also it was very fitting to have Terry Moore, the original star, and Ray Harryhausen, the man who made the special effects in the first one, to have a cameo. A lot of critics did not like this movie but my 3 grandchildren did. Why not have movie critics the same age as the targeted audience, such as having kid critics and women critics and senior citizen critics to give a real reaction of what they like and don't like.

helpful•19

4

TC-4
Apr 11, 1999

Release date
- December 25, 1998 (United States)
Country of origin
- United States
Official site
- Official site
Languages
- English
- Swahili
Also known as
- Koca bebek Joe
Filming locations
- Kaua'i, Hawaii, USA
Production companies
- RKO Pictures
- Walt Disney Pictures
See more company credits at IMDbPro

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

Runtime
- 1h 54min
Color
- Color
Sound mix
Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1

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