A “National Geographic” crew heads down the Amazon in a jungle boat to make a documentary on a long-lost tribe of natives. En route, they rescue a hunter from his sinking boat and take him on board. After the ship’s captain is attacked by a poisonous insect and goes comatose, the hunter commandeers the boat, takes the crew hostage, and drags them along on his insane quest to capture a giant anaconda.

The movie opens with poachers attacking a group of gorillas. Animal preservationists fight the poachers, which ends with one gorilla and a young girl’s mother dead. In the melee, a particularly large gorilla baby attacks the head hunter and bites his thumb and forefinger off. The films immediately passes into the future and the young girl has grown up to be Charlize Theron and the gorilla has grown to be 15′ tall and weighs 2000 pounds. The two are best friends who play together. When poachers again appear, a representative (Bill Paxton) of a California wildlife refuge convinces her to transfer the gorilla she has named Joe Young to the refuge. Of course, once there the former hunter shows up seeking revenge. Terrorizing the gorilla without letting his human handlers know, the gorilla goes on a rampage across Los Angeles.

Michael J. “Crocodile” Dundee is an Australian crocodile hunter who lives in the Australian outback and runs a safari business with his trusted friend and mentor Walter Reilly. After surviving a crocodile attack, a New York journalist named Sue arrives to interview Mick about how he survived and learns more about the crocodile hunter. After saving Sue from a crocodile, Sue invites Mick to visit New York City, since Mick has never been to a city. Mick finds the culture and life in New York City a lot different than his home and he finds himself falling in love with Sue.