Mighty Joe Young

Poster tagline: STRIKING! STARTLING! STAGGERING! A technical marvel of its time. When you bring together Ernest B. Schoedsack, the creator of King Kong, and stop-motion animation legend Ray Harryhausen, nothing but a bombastic visual effect feast can result. Even with the happy ending, it reminds a lot of King Kong – an animal victim of the products of civilization. Here, a little girl in an African homestead buys a baby gorilla from a black man, raises it and, as an adult woman, is persuaded by a New York producer to travel to New York with her gorilla protégé, now about 2 metres tall, to headline a show in an African-themed nightclub. 16 years after King Kong, Schoedsack has advanced about 16 light years. The gorilla puppet – named Joe Young of Africa in the film – exhibits perfectly natural movements, and the interactions Harryhausen produced with the living surroundings are eye-popping. A few examples: Joe jumps on a horse rider and knocks him to the ground, gets into a cage with a live lion, wrecks a night club, grabs a fast-passing rider in his paw, pulls him up on a rock and then lowers him to the ground again, all the while clearly not a puppet rider but a live actor, rodeo riders catch Joe in a lasso, etc., etc. I swear that, except for one single moment, I didn't think any effect or rear/front projection looked weird, out of place, or visibly shoddy, and that sent a pleasant chill down my spine. The film also has an amazing pace, even in the last act, which has minimal visual effects, but the story flips into an unadulterated action movie, with Joe fighting for his life, while evading the police, swatting cars, being shot, and still managing to save children from the upper floors of a burning building. In short, great fun. Fortunately, I haven’t seen the 90s remake with Bill Paxton and Charlie Theron. Best scene: there are many candidates, but i choose the moment during the show when Joe tugs on a rope with ten of the greatest human strongmen in the country, who first introduce themselves bending iron bars and horseshoes and then, humbled, gradually fall into a small pool on stage. (01/06/2008)

Who else had the right to make a light King Kong family film but the makers of King Kong? This time, moreover, with special effects more advanced by sixteen years and especially with the participation of Ray Harryhausen himself, who already then showed unprecedented things. It really makes Joe come alive, and it's not hard to think of him as a real character, not an animated puppet. In addition to his movements, which are noticeably more animal (or rather gorilla) than in King Kong, Joe also has perfectly developed facial expressions and the way Harryhausen involves him among the live actors is amazing. And the action scenes, of which are truly a lot! Joe messes with people, pulls them off their horses, fights with the pride of a lion, rescues children during an incredibly thrilling orphanage fire scene... And yet the film is not just a parade of gimmicks, but it also thinks about the human characters who are just as sympathetic as the title monkey. All in all, a great watch, hopefully we'll get to see the DVD sometime.__P.S. I saw the remake in the movie theatre once and remember liking it. I'll have to watch it again as soon as possible. (06/04/2014)

An adventure film by the creators of "King Kong", in which they return to the subject that made them famous. Although we no longer have Kong, but "only" a normal gorilla, they managed to make a quite enjoyable film that stands out in its special effects sequences as well as in its calmer moments, featuring very good, civilian acting. The creators excel in working with animals. Today, something similar would almost be forbidden. Those effects, however, are fantastic! Digital effects can't even compare! (13/12/2013)