Mighty Joe Young (1998)
November 2, 2022 8:20 AM - Subscribe

As a child living in Africa, Jill Young (Charlize Theron) saw her mother killed while protecting wild gorillas from poachers led by Andrei Strasser (Rade Serbedzija). Now an adult, Jill cares for an orphaned gorilla named Joe -- who, due to a genetic anomaly, is 15 feet tall. When Gregg O'Hara (Bill Paxton) arrives from California and sees the animal, he convinces Jill that Joe would be safest at his wildlife refuge. But Strasser follows them to the U.S., intent on capturing Joe for himself.

Also starring Regina King, Peter Firth, Naveen Andrews, David Paymer, Ray Harryhausen.

Directed by Ron Underwood. Screenplay by Mark Rosenthal, Lawrence Konner, based on the original screenplay/story by Ruth Rose/Merian C. Cooper.

55% fresh on Rotten tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Disney Plus. Also available for digital rental via multiple outlets. JustWatch listing.
posted by DirtyOldTown (4 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
oh I had no idea they did a remake of this.

when I was a kid, in the 70s, in NJ, one of the off channels, every year for Thanksgiving, played "King Kong", "Son of Kong", and "Might Joe Young" back to back. the originals.
and every year my sisters & I watched the big monkey movies. so many times!

it really surprised me as an adult to find that many people I knew had never seen the original King Kong (around the time Jackson's truly horrific remake came out...)

I think I'll probably skip this remake ;)
posted by supermedusa at 9:47 AM on November 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


Heh. I saw the title and just automatically clicked on this. Was surprised to see this was a contemporary remake. Oh well.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:56 AM on November 2, 2022


I also posted the original.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:28 AM on November 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


supermedusa - I feel the need to be detailed about the Holiday Film Festival for the folks who didn't grow up in its temporal or physical vicinity.
NYC Metro area channel 9, WOR-TV (then) would show monster movies on Thanksgiving and the day after, starting in 1976.
The corp owning WOR-TV got rights to the RKO film library in 1955, and sold the rights in 1985. So, this was something like TBS running Christmas Story, but regionally popular .
The tradition only lasted 9 years, but since it started when I was 6, it always felt to me like something long-honored and immutable, like WPIX running Abbott-and-Costello films on Sundays.
This dedicated fellow's web 1.0 page details which movies were in which year's run.
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 12:25 PM on November 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


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