Extras : Scene index, Theatrical Trailer, Teaser Trailer
Director:
Frank Marshall
(Arachnophobia, Alive)
Producers:
Kathleen Kennedy and Sam Mercer
Screenplay:
John Patrick Shanley
(director of "Joe Versus The Volcano")
Music:
Jerry Goldsmith
Cast:
Karen Ross: Laura Linney (Primal Fear)
Peter Elliot: Dylan Walsh Monroe Kelly: Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters 1 and 2, Leviathan, TV: Oz)
Herkermer Homoika: Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue)
R.B. Travis: Joe Don Baker (Cape Fear, Goldeneye)
Moira: Mary Ellen Trainor (Executive Decision, Die Hard, Ricochet)
Charles Travis: Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead trilogy, TV: Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Hercules)
Congo
comes from the pen of Michael Crichton - the author of Jurassic Park -
and the - the premise being that with the gorillas in the jungle, YOU become
the endangered species... making for obvious comparisons to be drawn with the
aforementioned dinosaur-starring classic.
Following the discovery of a new civilisation in a remote part of the jungle by
Charles Travis and his crew, they are promptly bumped off by an angry mother
gorilla.
So the scene is set for Peter Elliot, a man who has taught a younger gorilla
to talk; Karen Ross, played by Laura Linney, one-time girlfriend of Richard
Gere, in the Laura Dern-type role seeking to find out what exactly went on,
especially as a favour to her boss R.B. Travis, the father of Charles.
Also along for the ride is Tim Curry as Herkermer Homoika, a Romanian version
of Richard Attenborough's authoritative figure who five years ago led a
disasterous expedition looking for the city of Zinj which resulted in the
deaths of most of his party.
The question remains: does the city of Zinj really exist, as Homoika seems to
think? After all, he's been looking for it the whole of his life; or is it,
as Monroe Kelly seems to think, nothing more than a myth? If it really does
then everyone will be very rich considering it's a massive diamond mine...
The picture is presented in an anamorphic 16:9 ratio, with a level of
constant grain that we could do without. I was unable to determine the average
bitrate.
The sound does fare much better with gorillas making themselves heard to all
concerned and an unexpected explosion at the airport packs a meaty punch
24 minutes into side one. Also the sound of the finale certainly sorts out the
men from the boys so to speak.
Extras :
Chapters :
Just a mere 16 chapters over the 104-minute running time, the same as the
PAL LD, which isn't enough.
Languages/Subtitles :
Dolby Digital 5.1 in English and German, with Hungarian and Czech in surround
only.
Subtitles are available in English (and hard of hearing), German,
Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish and Turkish.
And there's more... :
But it's just a two-minute Theatrical Trailer and a 70-second Teaser
Trailer. Nothing to go back to after seeing them the first time.
Menu :
A basic static and silent menu with a shot of the front cover and the usual
options.
Overall, Congo isn't a patch on Jurassic Park and the latter
only really served to impress the first time you see it. Hence, I can only
recommend a rental on this disc, as the extras and picture quality aren't
up to scratch.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
