Product Details

• Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris, John Omirah Miluwi, Iain Cuthbertson
• Directors: Michael Apted
• Writers: Anna Hamilton Phelan, Dian Fossey, Harold T.P. Hayes, Tab Murphy
• Producers: Arne Glimcher, Jon Peters, Judy Kessler
• Format: Color, Dolby, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: March 1, 1992
• Run Time: 129 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301256999
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,082 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Sigourney Weaver more than earned her Oscar nomination for Best Actress in Gorillas in the Mist, dominating every frame of Michael Apted's biopic about primatologist Dian Fossey. Tenderly mothering an orphaned gorilla infant or terrorizing an African poacher with a staged lynching, the statuesque star is never less than fiercely focused, a glamorous warrior for animal rights. As the amateur scientist who researched and spotlighted Rwanda's endangered mountain gorillas in National Geographic, Weaver is the passionate heart that keeps an otherwise flaccid film alive--whether bracing anthropologist Louis Leakey to forcibly offer her services as census-taker of the mountain gorillas; or hanging out with the noble animals until she becomes the first person on record to make friendly physical contact with them; or waging sometimes-physical war on natives and Europeans who decimate the gorillas for trophies or zoo fodder. Unfortunately, the film's stodgy script and direction simply document Fossey's magnificent obsession, offering no insight into what lonely impulse of the soul led this extraordinary woman to climb up an African mountain to bond so strongly with gorillas. Cardboard characters include an eternally smiling, sexless African soulmate (John Omirah Miluwi), a perfect boyfriend (Bryan Brown) who has to be dumped in favor of gorilla-love, and stereotypical villains. Still, the African scenery is spectacular, and who can resist the cross-species thrill when the huge dark hand of Digit, Fossey's favorite, first rests in her outstretched palm? Gorillas in the Mist will please those who savor Sigourney Weaver's Amazonian fervor and the pure fire of her physical and spiritual passion--and harbor a slightly misanthropic fondness for liaisons between beauties and beasts. --Kathleen Murphy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful,Dedicating Movie!!!!!, February 23, 2006

By 

S.M. "horror buff" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gorillas in the Mist (DVD)

Although I'm labeled "horror buff", I just had to write a review of this film depicting the life of famed Dr. Dian Fossey. Heads up to Warner Brothers for giving us a glimpse into the world of a woman who ultimately gave her life to save and protect the few mountain gorillas remaining in Africa. Dian devoted 18 years of her life to researching and understanding these wonderful primates. This film shows Dian's vunerable side along with her determined side to do what ever it took to save the gorillas who are supposed to be protected by the parks. Sigourney Weaver shines in her role and was the perfect choice for this movie. She approached it with reckless abandon. Although Dian lost her life trying to save the remaining gorillas, we get to see how one person was responsible for doing so much for the gorillas. With heartwarming scenes with her and her beloved Digit, to heartbreaking scenes like when she had to turn over Pucker, the infant gorilla she nursed back to health, to a zoo and the horrible death of Digit, this movie captivates you from beginning to end. For anyone who is interested in the few remaining mountain gorillas, this movie will really open your eyes and make you route for Dian. Although with a tragic ending with Dian's death and burial next to Digit, it's a true love story not only between her and Bob Campbell, but between her and the gorillas she loved so much. I wish I could give this movie more than 5 stars!! Definetly a movie to own and to cherish... for her memory will never be forgotten as her work carries on thru The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International to this day.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRAVO!!!!, September 13, 2004

By 

E. A Hill (Plumsteadville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gorillas in the Mist (DVD)

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who has never seen it. I did find the poaching scenes very disturbing and difficult to watch but that may be because I am a passionate animal lover and activist. They are however vital to bringing an understanding to the poor gorilla's plight. Who would ever want a gorilla hand ashtray anyway....GROSS! It also broke my heart when Sigourney Weaver had to give up the orphaned gorilla she nursed back to health to the zoo broker only to find out she died a year later. If it weren't for Dian Fossey efforts, gorillas might very well be extinct by now. My praise goes out to her, as well as Ms. Weaver for the splendid job she did in portraying her.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compassionate and very sad...., April 2, 2005

By 

Movie Fan (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gorillas in the Mist (DVD)

Weaver gives an oscar winning performance in Gorilla's in the mist, which is a tryue story about a primatologist named Dian Fossey. It's a very compassionate film, but can also be a tearjerker as it demonstrates the lack of respect for wild animals that people have, and the heartless murder of magnificant and fascinating animals who are just trying to enjoy their freedom in the wild and protect their babies from our species and other predators.