Congo (film) narrative location Africa
Congo is a 1995 American science fiction action-adventure film based on the 1980 novel by Michael Crichton. It was directed by Frank Marshall and stars Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Grant Heslov, Joe Don Baker and Tim Curry. The film was released on June 9, 1995, by Paramount Pictures. It received negative reviews, but performed better than expected at the box office.Plot
While searching for rare blue diamonds that could lead to a new revolutionary communications laser, TraviCom employees Charles Travis and Jeffrey Weems discover the ruins of a lost city near a volcanic site in a remote part of the Congo jungle. Karen Ross, Charles's ex-fiancée and a former CIA operative, and R. B. Travis, Charles's father and the CEO of TraviCom, lose contact with the team while tracking their progress at the company headquarters. Activating a remote camera, they find the camp destroyed and strewn with corpses, as well as a savage ape-like creature that destroys the camera. Travis asks Karen to lead another expedition to the site.
Meanwhile, Peter Elliott, a primatologist at the University of California, Berkeley, and his assistant Richard teach human communication to primates using a mountain gorilla named Amy. With a specialized backpack and glove, her sign language is translated to a digitized voice. Despite the success, Peter is concerned by Amy's drawings of jungles and the Eye of Providence, and seeks funding to return her to Africa, but the university is reluctant. Romanian philanthropist Herkermer Homolka offers to fund the expedition, and Karen asks permission to join it since her visas will be invalid unless connected to such a venture. Peter is hesitant at first, seeing Amy's jealousy of Karen, but allows her to join and pay part of the expenses after Homolka is unable to provide funding.
The group flies to Africa and lands in Uganda, where they meet wilderness guide Monroe Kelly. They are detained and questioned by Captain Wanta, a local military leader, who warns them not to trust Homolka and lets them proceed only after Karen pays him a large bribe. As the group crosses to Tanzania to board another plane that will take them to Zaire, Monroe reveals that Homolka has led previous safaris in search of the "Lost City of Zinj", with disastrous results. The group parachutes into the jungle just before their plane is shot down by Zairean soldiers.
On the ground, they encounter a native tribe that leads them to Bob Driscoll, a wounded member of Charles's expedition. On seeing Amy approaching, Bob begins screaming in fear and soon dies. The group continues by boat, and learn that Homolka, in search of Zinj and its fabled diamond mine, believes that Amy's drawings suggest she has seen the mine and can lead them to it. After an attack by massive hippos, they find the ruined camp and the nearby City of Zinj. Richard and a couple of porters are killed by a vicious grey gorilla. The group take shelter at the ruined camp, keeping other gorillas at bay with automated sentry guns and detectors.
When day breaks, they find Homolka, several porters and Amy missing. They return to the city, where they find Homolka exploring, and surmise from hieroglyphs that the city's inhabitants specially bred the grey gorillas, encouraging their violent tendencies to guard the mine and kill anyone looking to steal the diamonds. The group suspects the gorillas turned on their masters yet still continue to protect the mine. They find the mine and are faced with a troop of grey gorillas. Homolka begins to collect diamonds, but is soon cornered and killed by some of the apes. Monroe, Karen and Peter flee deeper into the mine, where they discover Jeffrey and Charles's bodies with the latter still holding a giant blue diamond in hand. As Amy protects Peter, Monroe fends off the other gorillas until Karen can fit the diamond into a portable laser, allowing her to power it up and kill several gorillas. The volcano begins to erupt, and the four escape as the city is flooded with lava, killing the gorillas.
Once safe, Karen reports to Travis on finding the diamond and confirming Charles's death. Realizing Travis was only interested in the diamond, she uses her laser to destroy the TraviCom satellite. In the nearby wreckage of another one of Travis's expedition cargo planes they had found earlier, they find a hot-air balloon, and prepare to leave. Peter sees Amy with a troop of gorillas and bids her goodbye. The three take off in the balloon, and Peter throws the diamond back into the jungle below. Amy watches the departing balloon with a smile, then joins her new gorilla family.