Mighty Joe Young (1998)

A legendary fifteen-foot tall mountain gorilla named Joe is taken to an animal sanctuary in California by a zoologist and a young woman whom he grew up with. A poacher from the past returns to seek vengeance on him.

Director:

Ron Underwood

Writers:

Merian C. Cooper (story), Ruth Rose (earlier screenplay)

Stars:

Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, Rade Serbedzija

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlize Theron	...	Jill Young
Bill Paxton	...	Gregg O'Hara
Rade Serbedzija	...	Strasser
Peter Firth	...	Garth
David Paymer	...	Harry Ruben
Regina King	...	Cecily Banks
Robert Wisdom	...	Kweli
Naveen Andrews	...	Pindi
Lawrence Pressman	...	Dr. Baker
Linda Purl	...	Dr. Ruth Young
Mika Boorem	...	Young Jill Young
Geoffrey Blake	...	Vern
Christian Clemenson	...	Jack
Cory Buck	...	Jason
Liz Georges	...	Jason's Mother

Storyline

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 among people who live there. Along comes an eco-minded emissary from a California sanctuary, who talks the jungle girl into providing safe haven for Joe at the L.A. facility. The transition is not without discomfort, but everything is aggravated via a conspiracy of poachers to get Joe into their own greedy hands!

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Plot Keywords:

gorilla | jungle | environmentalism | hollywood california | giant ape | 

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Taglines:

Survival is an instinct.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some menacing action violence and mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Swahili

Release Date:

25 December 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Store Joe Young

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,602,042, 27 December 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$50,632,037

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The melody being played on the boardwalk is "Beautiful Dreamer," the favorite of Joe in Mighty Joe Young (1949).

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Goofs

When Joe pushes Stressar's truck upside down and people witness the accident a woman gets out of her car and puts her left hand on the roof and looks to see if everyone is okay but in the shot after Joe pushes his way out of the trailer the woman disappears and a young guy gets into the car and leaves.

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Quotes

Jill Young: [sees Greg coming out of the infirmary] He's walking already? Joe should have dropped him harder.

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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).

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Connections

Referenced in Blood and Guts with Scott Ian: Rick Baker: Monster Maker (2013)

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Soundtracks

Windsong
Written by James Horner and Will Jennings
Choir Direction/Arrangement by Lebo M.

User Reviews

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.