‘Congo,’ one of the goofiest blockbusters of the ‘90s, turns 30

The 1995 action film was a 'Jurassic Park' knockoff that came all the way back around the bend to comedy.

Image: Paramount Pictures

“Congo is a comedy that was mislabeled as an action drama, and has suffered as a result,” Roger Ebert wrote in a July 1995 edition of his Movie Answer Man column, to explain the Frank Marshall-directed action film that had come out, to mostly indifferent box office reaction, the month before.

Released in early June of 1995 — 30 years ago this week — Congo was based on a 1980 novel by Michael Crichton. However, Crichton supposedly wasn’t too happy with how they adapted his work (word is he objected to one of the gorilla characters not being played by a real gorilla.)

The film was worked on in various forms throughout the 1980s and finally made in 1995, incorporating a wide variety of styles and tones.

Audiences and critics alike were baffled by Congo upon its arrival, but the film’s bizarre energy, unintentional comedy, and wildly overqualified supporting cast have helped it attain minor cult status over time.

Directed by Frank Marshall and written by John Patrick Shanley — a man who has won an Oscar, a Tony, and a Pulitzer Prize — Congo very clearly uses another film also sourced from Crichton, Jurassic Park, as a template. But while Jurassic Park was groundbreaking when it came to the wonder of the possibilities of special effects, Congo’s effects and action scenes in general were mostly subpar.