From "Tarzan, the Beckoning, #5" by Malibu Comics
(Panels have been cropped and re-arranged for space)

1. "The Big Hit," $11 million.
2. "City of Angels," $9 million.
3 (tie). "The Object of My Affection," $5 million.
3 (tie). "Titanic," $5 million.
5. "Lost in Space," $4.4 million.
6. "Paulie," $4.3 million.
7. "Neil Simon's The Odd Couple II," $2.5 million.
8. "The Players Club," $2.2 million.
9. "Mercury Rising," $2.1 million.
10. "Sceam 2," $1.8 million.
11. "Species 2," $1.4 million
12. "Tarzan and the Lost City," $1 million.

Tangor and Mrs. went to one of six theaters in the Houston area still showing Tarzan and the Lost City. Of the six, two were regularly priced at $1.50 and $1.00. The one for a buck was $3.00 worth of gas away, so we opted for the former. The seating capacity for the theater was 206 (I counted). When Mrs. Tangor and I arrived before screening, we were the only ones in the audience. Later, after two semi-excellent trailers for up coming attractions and the opening credits had begun, an elderly man with three elderly women entered. Well into the first part of the film a lone fellow quietly seated himself at the rear--gone were the hopes of a private screening of Tarzan and the Lost City.

Mrs. Tangor, who knows doodley about Tarzan or the Tarzan mythos (book or film), interrupted your reviewer's concentration so frequently in the first 20 minutes that threat of physical violence was required. Little good did this accomplish as the questions and commentary continued unabated.

After clarifying that THIS Tarzan was an adaptation of an adaptation, bearing little or no resemblance to the original book version, we settled down to enjoy a well-photographed, fairly nicely edited adventure story that was, as Mrs. Tangor put it, "very predictable." She even voiced dialogue from the insidious Mr. Ravens before the character spoke "Bring me the girl", etc.

"Is that Tarzan?" she asked as the film began. "Is that his name?" (Clayton) "Is that Jane? I thought she was a jungle girl." "Is magic in the books?" and various other observations prove that even a non-Tarzan weenie recognized weaknesses in the character's portrayal.

We both admired the scenery. Mrs. Tangor's comments on the actors: "Jane has nice skin and big teeth and not overly endowed. Her English accent is better than Tarzan's." (I revealed that Jane Marsh is English) "Tarzan has nice buns and an endearing smile. Nice body." The latter was repeated several times during our after viewing conversation.

Tangor's observations:

Cinematically this is an attractive movie. Visual concepts are well presented and the CGI is pleasantly restrained. I enjoyed the settings, particularly the river town with its squalid street and worn wharf area. The story (what little there was) is simple enough for youngsters yet, in many ways like an ERB adventure story, implies enough for the adult to fill in the blanks. The action was fast paced yet, thankfully, not as unbelievable as some of the earlier Tarzan film presentations. This Tarzan is not superhuman, but is definitely a tree-hugging ecologist.

Van Diem actually suits me as a Tarzan figure. He's not too pretty boy (Barker) or too steroid (Scott) too lanky (Mahoney) or stupid (Wineswiller). His action stunts were acceptable. Even the jungle kung phooey fits into the character's abilities. The yodel was used three times too many, otherwise worked.

Unlike commentary from other amateur reviewers on this list, I am of the opinion that Tarzan was very much a part of the final action in the film. Ravens (Steve Waddington) was a villain with promise, but whose character seemed cut off at the knees to preserve a PG rating (as was the language of the film).

I am MOST pleased with a scene that probably failed to register with most viewers. Tarzan saves Jane by throwing a knife at a rapscallion. We do not see the knife take out the bad guy--we see Jane's reaction instead.

Perhaps I am more willing to suspend disbelief than others, but I found little wrong with the gorilla costumes, the concept of a magical Opar, or the peer friendship between Tarzan and the natives. The adventurous Jane was acceptable, as was the squeaky clean script and situations. Unfortunately this movie was made in 1998 instead of 1958, where it would have been greeted with oohs and ahhs. Today's movie public has become jaded with grotesque and gratuitous violence, extreme f/x and hard language--which is NOT found in Tarzan and the Lost City.

I rate Tarzan and the Lost City on a par to Tarzan and His Mate for romance, and with Tarzan's Greatest Adventure for cinematography, and with Tarzan's Three Challenges for script. No other Tarzan film combines so many good and bad elements of Hollywood's Tarzan in one presentation.

Overall I enjoyed the film as escapist entertainment--I hold no illusions that Hollywood will ever portray "the real ape man."

Finally, Mrs. Tangor had ulterior motives for suggesting that we see Tarzan and the Lost City. Not five minutes after we walked out of the theater did she then reveal the depth of her machinations: in return for going to see Tarzan I had to walk through three furniture stores and buy her lunch. Still, it wasn't that odious a trade for 84 minutes of air conditioned amusement on a sultry, smoke-laden day.

Okay, here goes; I'll take a shot at reviewing the latest Tarzan movie. But first, although I know little or nothing of the cinematic arts, I do know Tarzan. It all started for earnest in 1960, when as a ten year old boy, I first learned that there were actually books about the guy. A quick trip downtown resulted in an ancient clerk retrieving dust covered volumes of Tarzan and the Leopard Men, and The Son of Tarzan from the treasure vaults of the fabled City of Yakima public library system, and I was hooked. I initiated my pal Blaine to this pleasure, and we soon discovered that Churchill's bookstore had a trove of old Burroughs books, usually at a price of $1.95 per. We're talking hardbound here; The flood of cheapo paperbacks had not yet hit. In the next few years I read every Tarzan book available, plus a few Mars and Venus numbers. I like to think that my personality and view of the world were in some way patterned after lord G, not to mention a smattering of Conan.

As I grew older, and my hair became lonelier. I drifted away from my interest in Tarzan, but, like a virus, the passion remained, hidden. A year ago, I discovered the Internet, and you can imagine the rest. I ordered videotapes of the earliest silent movies, and located first editions thru Bibliofind, etc., etc. I even called my friend Blaine, now a hot shot lawyer, to tell him of the great sources available, but he didn't really seem to care anymore. My own ten year old daughter asked me the other day; "Why are you so obsessed with Tarzan?" I couldn't tell her, because, frankly, you either are, or you're not. I imagine anyone reading this drivel will know what I mean. (My 11 year old boy is a convert, however. I started indoctrinating him when he was four, by reading the books to him, in order.

So, anyway, back to the movie. On a scale of ten, I give it a four. Apart from the usual, customary observations about nice photography of scenery and excellent color values, the writing and casting was putrid. Need I remind anyone that Tarzan is the strongest, most ferocious, fastest, and most agile human of the 20th century? And he's played by a sawed-off, soft-sinewed pretty boy with a voice straight out of the Vienna Boy's Choir? MY Tarzan single handedly killed Bolgani before he hit puberty. (Although it appears that Caspar hasn't hit it yet, either) MY Tarzan routinely dispatches lions and leopards with bare hands or primitive weapons. Casper couldn't fight his way out of a wet loincloth, and gets pushed around by the great white bad guy. I know Hollywood can create extremely powerful characters, like the young lady in Species, yet this is the best Tarzan they can come up with? Tarzan, in the early 20th century was 6'3". If Burroughs wrote today, I would imagine he'd be more the size of Carl Malone. We don't need wimps playing this part.

Jane? What's wrong with a literarily correct blonde; preferably one not in dire need of orthodontia?

To me, Opar is a crumbling, sprawling, vine covered collection of massive walls and edifices, honey-combed with secret wells, passages and chambers. Not a faux-Mayan pyramid stuck in the middle of a weed-infested parking lot. Opar, without La? Like a day without sunshine. La is Opar. A lot could have been done with a love triangle, Jane vs. La catfight, but somebody missed the boat.

Frankly, this whole movie missed the boat. Despite its flaws, Conan the Barbarian with Arnold, came close to a fair and accurate rendition of the true character. Can't someone do this with Tarzan? Or are we doomed to a succession of Esteban Mirandas?

Well I've just gotten back home from my fun packed long weekend in the U.S. of which one of the highlights was the new Tarzan film. I found it an enjoyable film and probably one of the best Tarzan films yet (I won't say it was better than Greystoke as that was a different type of film altogether which focused on the inner battle within between his wildlife upbringing and the environment that he was expected to adopt).

I liked the way they used music that was similar to Greystoke but made it a variant. Making reference to Jane living in England continued the theme from Greystoke (she was after all a ward to the Clayton family).

Wonderful scenery shots and more wildlife than we've ever seen in a Tarzan movie (not including stock footage used by some of its predecessors). Loved the scene where Tarzan took the gun from Waddington making it appear so fast that your eye couldn't follow which of course was the whole point and what about the ape attack on the hunters and the aerial shot of the ape leaping from one tree to another was great.

The illusions created by Mugambi also worked well and like any illusion, if you destroy it, it returns to its natural state which is what happened to those warriors at Opar who were defeated by Waddington's men. The film had some great camera shots of Van Dien running through the jungle mist and I also liked the head-on shot as he ran towards Opar.

Yes I definitely enjoyed this film after all the doom and gloom that was touted around on the ERB lists prior to its screening and hope that it succeeds enough with the public at large to spawn its own sequel.

Laurence

Just saw the Big T movie. It was a command performance, I was the only one in the theater for the 3:20 show. I also think I conned the theater manager to give me the Tarzan movie poster after its run. He knew I was serious when he saw my Tarzan license plates.

Now the movie. When will Jane ever be a blonde from Baltimore. It's been said before, Caspar is to short/needs deeper voice, but he did do the character well. Too much magic. I like Tarzan movies, so I give it a 6 for plot and 9 for cinematography.

Dan Gire of the Chicago area Daily Herald wrote a scathing review, but muffed his facts by saying " William Rice Burroughs was spinning in his grave.......", I called him to set it right with "Edgar"

And speaking of movies, has anyone noticed the strong ERB themes in Iceman, some years back. How about Sullivan's Travels from the forties and compare it to The Oakdale Affair, or the R rated Cave Girl from the eighties.

Till next time,
Ray Le Beau

Good Points:
* Had the whole theatre to myself
* great trailers to other movies
* Opening drumming
* Breathtaking South African scenery. Yes, gang, S. Africa
* beautifully coiffed lion
* Ravens as a villian
* Tarzan's expertise with the bow
* tension between Tarzan and native warrior
* council scene
* Magombi's cool makeup
* Jane shooting like a man
* cobra morphing
* Ravens turning into lightening rod and crispy critter
* the bone trick
* Casper's vine swinging
* elephant riding
* animals released and watching poachers scramble like the fools they are
* ship captain
* Roly Jenson stunt coordinator from TEA
* Greg Pouste stunt double to Casper, Joe's stunt double

Bad points:
* Jane is a bow wow
* ship captain's assistant who talked like a stereotypical native. When he was killed, WHO CARED??
* Jane shows temper but screetches at harmless snake in treehouse
* Jane bitching that Tarzan must do jungle bit, yet follows after him. Shows desperation to get hitched
* Jane can shoot at men but screetches at cobra and Sabor
* Elephants released and Jane shouts "you're free!" Duuuh!
* Casper being cast as Tarzan
* Casper's girly girl voice
* Casper's height!!!Short Tarzan doesn't work for this she ape
* Casper taking too long to be in bloody loincloth!!!!!
* Tarzan yodel.Still a giggle drawer, but belongs to Weismuller. Keep it with him.Casper ain't no yodeler
* Bee scene. Corny
* dynamite guy almost blowing himself up till Ravens took the stick and threw it.
* Casper should have longer hair
* Casper seeming to have an American and English accent. Which is it fella?
* Jane trying to swing on vine and screetching like a fool then falls into water. Finishing school is for you, not vine swinging, girlfriend.
* chimp dancing and making me dizzy and stealing dress
* having a gramaphone in tree house and the dancing.Thought Tarzan liked the jungle to get away from it all not keep silly civilized trappings. What happend to less is better in jungle dwellings?
* spinning camera angles of Tarzan and Jane in England. Dizzying
* Tarzan not being called Tarzan the whole bloody movie
* bad ape costumes that look like bad imitations of Lucy the missing link
* Tarzan shimmying around like crazed tarantula so couldn't see movement up trees too well
* the use of a chimp for comic relief
* Joe not being used as Tarzan [g]
* $6.50 ticket
* chinzy looking gold in Opar
* almost constant smooching by Tarzan and Jane
* falling floor and tunnel with water ride a lą Disney hokiness
* Tarzan can't grunt like Kala taught him to do. Bad Tarzan!
* Ravens' saying after Tarzan bloodies him in the temple:"I don't want to die here" and Tarzan falls for that trick!
* Casper's reeeallly bad acting.
* Casper's annoying belt buckle on his loincloth. Stupid! If Mugambi supposedly dressed him after curing him of cobra venom, he could've given him a decent loincloth that didn't have a Pilgrim belt buckle to hold his drawers up
* No La
* no muscles. For someone who works out as much as he, Casper is a girly girl!
* Total rating compared to the few Tarzan movies I've seen:6. And that ain't sayin' much so maybe that shouldn't count

Kala

I saw the 4:15 PM showing of "Tarzan and the Lost City." For some reason as soon as the opening titles started to roll, I got real nervous. See: Everytime I've seen a movie in the last few years, the curtain goes up, I maybe see a short sequence advertising the theater chain and what's available at the snack bar, and then 10 - 20 minutes of trailers. Well... Today there were NO trailers! Zip! Zilch! Zero! In the lobby there were fancy signs for Godzilla, Zorro, Mighty Joe Young, and a host of others, but not one little titillating trailer. Do you think Lowe's didn't bother since they knew the audience was going to be empty? (There were about 20 people in the theater, and half of them were junior high school kids cracking jokes and acting wise.)

The movie opened well. African music, jumping natives, nice shots of African wildlife and terrain.

Then Numa appeared and witnessed nefarious goings on between Raven (the villain) and some natives. Meanwhile, John Clayton is in England celebrating his forthcoming marriage to Jane. Suddenly he turns and gazes into the fire, and in the flames he sees what is happening at home. It is not made clear that Numa is sending these images telepathically. The association can be made, but it is not spelled out. And for some unexplained, and probably stupid reason, the sequence worked for me.

Cut to: John talking to Jane, explaining why he must return home. She is upset and angry, but still he must go.
Cut to: Africa, and John is there. He has some discourse with Mugambi.
Cut to: A small boat sailing along an African river. Jane is on board.

Huh!!!!!!! Why is she there? Why did she follow John? If somebody knows, please tell me.

Anyway... The movie sort of meanders back and forth for the balance of the hour and twenty-three minutes. (Those idiots at Netscape must have seen the director's cut to post 1:42 as the running time.)

It is basically a chase movie, with a lot of running about. Jane is with Tarzan, frolicking in the jungle. Then she is captured by Raven and made to stumble through the jungle. Tarzan gives chase. And... He finally catches up. Duh!

Some of it made no sense, but what the hell. If Hercules and Xena can use martial arts moves to fight their villains, why can't Tarzan?

There was a sequence early on, where Raven and his men were being followed by anthropoids who were in the trees. The camera did some neat cuts and swishes, and it looked like the apes were racing through the middle terraces. Yet when Tarzan appeared, he swung on vines. But I was very hopeful for a little while.

The biggest problem I had was the lack of *any* Mangani words or names. Jesus! Even the Keller's shows use them (albeit incorrectly). And then to discover that the chimp that hung about briefly had a dumb name like Jembo, or something.

The morphing just looked like another Epic Adventures episode, meaning it pretty much sucked. And when Tarzan's allies appeared by changing from bone joints, to skeletons, to warriors, I only wished for the presence of Ray Harryhausen.

I don't know if I could recommend the movie. I've seen much better, and I've seen much worse, so I guess I could. It was fun; stupid fun, but fun nonetheless. It doesn't really matter anyway... All the Tarzan fans around here will see it regardless. Just don't look for it to be in the top five money-makers after its first weekend.

My wife and I were going to be traveling through the Omaha area on opening day so I managed to talk her into stopping and seeing the first showing of Tarzan and the Lost City. I really had not planned to see it this soon because of all the nasty comments posted of the list serves.

It was listed for 5 theaters in the Omaha area. There were only five other people in the theater. Two of them were an older couple who got up and left in the middle of the movie. After a while another person got up and left. It was not that bad.

As a movie I would rate it as a C. As a Tarzan movie in comparison to other Tarzan movies it was a B.

Each media has there own Tarzans. The book Tarzan obviously is the best. The movie Tarzan and the comic book Tarzan are naturally going to be different because of the restrictions and requirements of the media itself. I was happy to see Tarzan on the big screen again. It has the potential to be developed into a block buster series. But it did not happen in this film.

Van Dien's performance was enjoyable except when the native insulted him and he wanted to retaliate. Like Tarzan cares what anybody says about him.

Neither my wife nor I were aware that Van Dien was short. I think they shot around that beautifully. I smiled when he used the rope and bow -- at last! I also appreciated showing him speaking multiple languages including the language of the animals. And Tarzan running tirelessly, endlessly through the jungles and the plains to rescue Jane that was my Tarzan. Marsh's Jane was plucky and thoroughly modern. My wife found it totally unacceptablethat in 1913 a young unmarried woman would be allowed to travel unaccompanied -- and unaccompanied to Africa?

Yes it dragged in the first half of the film. But then it raced (literally and figuratively) towards the end. The first part of the film was edited like a television show and I found that disturbing. Towards the end it was much better. Probably because they figured out what the movie was going to be about. I don't know if that is the fault of the writers or the director, but it needed a tighter story line. I can accept the magic and the morphing and the swinging on vines and the yodeling and the having a pet snake -- in other words I can accept all the stuff it takes to bring people into the theaters as long as they will keep making Tarzan movies. My only request is to spend more than a dollar on ape costumes.

Some people complained about the music (Chris Franke-B5). The drums at the beginning and the end were terrific. The scenery - absolutely glorious. The scene with Tarzan and Jane riding on Tantor in the mist of the jungle is the most beautiful shot ever in any Tarzan movie and as good of cinematography in any movie.

Oh ya, I almost forgot. The lion was the most wonderful looking lion in any film -- maybe too perfectly quaffed.

The Lion Man (The Ghost and The Darkness lions were pretty damn cool)

Kaor, fans!

I'm just home from the Clarksville premiere of TARZAN AND THE LOST CITY. The local paper carried an interview with Van Dien this morning, but no review. We shared the theater with one other adult couple who sat on the back row (we were on row 5 as usual) and with half a dozen 12 or 13 year old girls and one adult female chaparone on the front row. I guess they were there to see Casper. They sure went "oouuuu!" when he appeared in a loin cloth for the first time.

What can I say? The film makers had made me no promises and I went with very low expectations. But Linda and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It may be on a "B" picture, but the production values were consistently high, and the performances uniformly serious, never campy. You can quibble over the use of magic and computer morphing (neither used to great excess) and you might object to Opar being nothing whatsoever like ERB's Opar. BUT FOLKS, this is a film we can be proud of. I place it among the top five or six Tarzan pictures of the "talking movie" era. There were some sublime visuals, a few moments with the apes, a couple of marvelous scenes of Tarzan (w and w/o Jane) riding an African elephant, smart editing that gave Van Dien's Tarzan the appearance of considerable strength and even more considerable agility, and one special moment using close-ups of hands and feet to suggest Tarzan racing by hand and foot over the branches of the middle terraces, even if vine swinging was emphasized more. There was a chimp, but not named "Cheetah." The new modification of the classic Tarzan yell was used judiciously and worked well. I've never considered jane March particularly pretty, but after the first scene or two while in England her characterization was quite satisfying.

This may not be the greatest Tarzan movie we've ever seen, but it is very definitely a winner. It's very suitable for young folks. go see and take your friends! Enjoy!

Jim

My biggest problem was the amount of sorcery in the movie. Why did the guardians of Opar need Tarzan's help at all. If that guy had done his BEE-TRICK in front of the bad guys, I think most of them would have called it quits.

The guy could summon undead warriors! Tarzan did NOTHING in the climax. NOTHING!

Having said that, I enjoyed the movie. I, obviously, love Tarzan movies and had a great time watching this one. It could have been MUCH better, though.

The scenery was fantastic. Jane was so-so (although I don't find March all that attractive). The villain was decent. Van Dien was okay ... kinda short with a lame voice, but he has a great glare!

The movie did have some strong points, but not enough to be successful...

Have Tarzan fans just given up? A couple Tarzan-like scenes and that's enough? Is just seeing Tarzan on the big screen so intoxicating (I admit to loving the big screen experience) that we don't care about plot or characterization and don't need our hero involved in the climax?!

The potential was there! The pieces were in place. But they wasted it!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie and I'm very happy to see Tarzan back on the big screen (I'm happy seeing Tarzan on ANY screen)! I also think it has its moments (the early quick-cut footage of Tarzan and the apes in the trees, Tarzan in the water, etc.). I'd recommend it to anybody - Hey! It's a Tarzan movie and that makes it worth seeing! It just wasn't very good.

Somebody mentioned the running shoes - I spotted them, too. I also thought, in a few scenes, Tarzan's bow looked a little less than taut.

-Matt

Matt Winans has reviewed every Tarzan movie ever made. See how many stars he gave "Tarzan and the Lost City" at his web page:
Matt's Tarzan Movie Guide

I wrote the other day that I never met a Tarzan movie that I liked and I guess I'll have to get out the ketchup and the steak sauce and eat my keyboard. We went, we saw, and it wasn't all that bad. In fact, for a "Hollywood" Tarzan effort, it was damn credible.

Certainly better by leaps and bounds than all but about 10 minutes at the beginning of Greystoke, Bo's travesty, and several others of recent vintage. I know that Casper is not very tall, but someone behind the camera or in the editing booth paid attention to that fact and managed to avoid shots that show his true stature. And he's not too muscular, either. A full 2 inches over six feet he's not. But Ed is....and Ed's got gray eyes too.

Let me say first that going into this I was prejudiced against the choice of Jane March as Jane. In everything I've seen her in before today she always played a slutty character. But as Jane Porter, granted with a brother Doug and hailing from England, not Baltimore, she did get the best lines: "I taught myself to shoot but my brother taught me to drink Scotch and smoke cigars." and later, when warned not to show fear she mutters: "I guess fainting is out of the question."

Tarzan is not an illiterate, grunting savage and Jane is not a shrinking violet, fainting at the slightest inconvenience. She's certainly got balls in this movie.(Did the screenwriters read Tarzan's Quest?) Good job from both Casper and Jane. Granted, he did some things that I'd never expect ERB's Tarzan to do, but I'll chalk that up to Hollywoodism. Tarzan would never have let the cobra bite him or Jane, he'd have bitten the snake and it would've died.

And they got ERB's classic Tarzan's triumvirate of weaponry correct: the knife, the bow and arrows, the rope.

The story is weak, but when taken in the vein of all those silly lost race adventures that ERB's Tarzan of the 1930s had, the plot, or what little of it that there was, was, as Seven of Nine would say, acceptable. I also have no problem with the snake morphing (it was pretty good and certainly fit the plot action at the point where it was used) and the skeletons becoming warriors stuff worked too, but the bees, well, those bees, that was really stretching it. By the way, Ed liked the bees sequence. Go figure! Witch doctors of the world, untie! (G)

And I never really got the gist of what Opar was supposed to be. Good? Evil? A New York deli? Early on I felt that it was a place of evil, and that the whites were going to unleash the devil and his hordes on the world either as revenge for snitching the gold or for entering a place sealed up for the outer world's protection from the great evil. When you actually get there, Oparians are the good guys. The jury's still out concerning Opar as far as I'm concerned. But I guess the avenue of statues is doubling for La's fifty frightful men?

The lion mind meld was even acceptable. The way it was done you kind of think that the witch doctor had some hand in that too, using the lion as a familiarl Ask any native from darkest Africa of 1913 (and 50 years later, too) and they'd tell you magic exists and it can even KILL you! (Remember, if you believe it, it can happen.)

Well, I guess I've used up more than my alloted 50 lines. Oh, one last note: the theater's first showing was about 1 p.m. and Ed and I went to the 7:30 showing. I counted 30 people in the theatre. With those kinds of attendance numbers, better see it quick or you'll have to wait for the video release. And, thank ghod, they all but lost the stupid chimp! Ghod, I hate those stupid Cheeta chimp antics in Tarzan movies!

They even got the elephants right. I HATE it when they use Asian elephants instead of African elephants in Tarzan movies (unless the movie is set in India, of course).

J the V

P.S. I really was expecting a BOW WOW this evening.

Well, it was kind of a thrill seeing my name on the big screen, even though they added that "ton" to the end. My ancestors dropped the "ton" because it was too heavy.

I liked the movie, by the way. Except for the magic. And I could have done without the chimp. And the friend I went with said she glimpsed Casper's running shoes a couple of times when he was running, though I missed it. Also, it can't be Opar without La. In the scene early on where Tarzan and the ape troop attacked Ravenns' men, there was a nice shot of Tarzan travelling through the branches, shot in such a way that it let you know he was doing what we all want to see him doing (no vine-swinging), without having to actually have an actor or stuntman really doing it. He did some vine-swinging later on, though.

Steve Wadding (no "ton"), aka
Ghak the Hairy One, King of Sari

KAOR!!

I just returned from being the first in the theatre to see Tarzan and the Lost City. In fact, I was the only one in the theatre for the first showing!

I enjoyed it! It was NOT ERB, nor was it a good pastiche. It was, however, an enjoyable afternoon. The telepathy bit summoning T to Africa was kinda stupid. The guy morphing into a giant cobra was nausiatingly reminicient of T: The Epic Adventures.

Jane is ENLISH, and NOT American, nor are they married until the end of the movie. Plot is pretty weak, but it did move well at times. I think I would give it two stars. Cheers!

Erich von Harben, da early bird

Casper looks good and moves well. He comes off a bit young, but as this story occurs early in Tarzan's carrier, that's not altogether a bad thing. He seems to fight with some kind of ape fu which I liked. Jand March as Jane was funny looking. I've seen many worse Tarzan films, but this is still a disapointment. First the good stuff...

The Good

Bow and arrows
The ol' rope 'em from the tree trick
Ape fu
No boots

The Bad

Telepathy
Shapechanging
Dancing chimp in a dress (not called cheeta)
general magic crap
The Wrath of God

We don't waste too much time in England, about three minutes. The middle of the film is not too bad. Lots of swimming, swinging, and yodeling.

Mugambi apears to be such a powerful magician that I question why he needed Tarzan's help in the first place.

In the ridiculous end Tarzan's efforts turn out to be pointless. The villian is not stoped by Tarzan, but by the Wrath of God, (or the spirits of Opar or whatever) which presumably would have happened without Tarzan's involvement. In fact the villians would havew got thier's sooner if Tarzan hadn't slowed them down.

So there you go. Oh well, there's always Zorro this summer.

Well, I'm back from seeing Tarzan and the Magic Bees, or was it Mugambi and the Lost City? About thirty people attended the 3:30 pm matinee ($3.50 admission) on a Saturday afternoon at screen 14 in the Palace Theater ("largest multiplex in the four-state area"). For what it's worth, the film is showing at about six theaters throughout the city, and this is an especially bad time for a film to open in the New Orleans area--opposite Jazz Fest.

Since I expected it to be bad, I was pleasantly surprised throughout the first half. They managed to keep me interested and entertained, and provided a number of ERBish sequences that have seldom if ever been captured on film before. We got moments where the ERB Tarzan shone through--especially in the early action sequences (an ape attack! A noose from the trees!), and it was nice to have them build upon the Lord Greystoke element of the character. (Odd, too, how they couldn't decide if this was or wasn't a sequel to Greystoke.) I still haven't figured out why the opening legend referred to Tarzan being found (I think it said) in 1904, but then the story takes place in 1913. Either this Tarzan had a very long romance with Jane, or somebody isn't very good with dates.

Jane Marsh was appealing if miscast. Did anyone else notice her shoving cartridges into the front-loading percussion pistol she was carrying? Hey Mr. Director, that gun doesn't work like that. You have to pour powder down each cylinder and jam a lead ball in after it. (I know because a friend gave me a replica Navy model identical to it; it would have been considered obsolete by 1880.)

Then we got to the bees, and I gave up. From that point on, the movie piled absurdity upon absurdity, all the way through the totally out of place "Raiders of the Lost Ark" ending. I could put up with the telepathic message from Mugambi (though Tarzan has never been depicted anywhere as having native friends before he went to England), but this magical rescue, complete with unconvincing special effects, simply destroyed any suspension of disbelief during the remainder of the film.

Still, I agree with Jim (whichever one it was) that the film is among the top five or six Tarzan movies ever made. That's faint praise, though.

I'd say it was better than the Mike Henry films overall --great outdoor footage, great native footage, great pacing in the first half, and lots of (poorly filmed) action sequences. For a while they really captured the mystery of the Dark Continent.

John Guidry saw the film with me and pronounced it the best Tarzan movie in fourteen years. Of course it is the only Tarzan movie released in the last fourteen years. His reaction was a good bit more negative than mine. Doug Wirth came with us -- his second viewing -- and agreed with me overall: fun but stupid.

Principle problems with the film boil down to these: 1) Van Dien can't deliver dialog convincingly for this character and isn't imposing enough on screen. Tarzan requires an actor who dominates the screen. Imagine how different it would have looked if the actor had Weissmuller's body. 2) The film relies too much on slow and fuzzy motion for its action sequences, and is too enamored with trite karate-movie style flips and somersaults. 3) In an effort to avoid criticism for their inclusion of black savages, they've made the black shaman too powerful, diminishing Tarzan's role as hero. 4) The magic was unnecessary, trite, and harmed the story. In fact, it turned the story into nonsense.

As usual they mucked up a lot of ERB's original details, with no apparent reason for doing so. One more misrepresentation of Opar. Still, it's nice to see a new Tarzan movie. I just wonder if anything less than a truly top-notch film can turn Tarzan back into a successful movie franchise. I don't think so.

--Munango-Keewati

Guys, I absolutely loved Lost City. If you take away the magic I would rate this a 9. as is its a strong 8 !! Personally I saw lots of what I always pictured Tarzan like. I love the water scenes where he raises partially out of the water, then submerges to conceal himself from the bad guys. Using the bow with the accuracy only he has.

I thought Casper was fantastic. Man of few words (unlike myself), physically well built. (or as my daughter put it....FINE !!!! ) His movements were much better than Joe Lara (sorry Lisa) and ten times more athletic.

Jane was also fantastic. Now she would not qualify for Bay Watch, but she has something girl next doorish. She was a very good actress and handled herself very well.

Now the villain. Steve......YOU DE MAN !!!!!!!!! Fantastic performance doesn't seem good enough to describe the job you did. I didn't get to see you on Epic Failure because I quit watching it but you were great !!!! I hope your career really takes off if somebody important sees you in this part. We are not worthy !!!!

Whoever did the casting did a great job. Editing also did a great job. Everything just worked great for me. I kept sitting there, waiting like the jungle beast, expecting to be dissapointed, and the only time I cringed was when magic was used. This movie went leaps and bounds beyond my hopes. Now when does it come to video.

Here is how I score it.

Without the magic......strong 9.
With the magic...........strong 8. (since it was kept to a minimum)
Casper's performance...10
Jane's performance.......10
Steve's performance.....10
Rest of the cast............10
Locations......50 (some of the best location filming ever in a Tarzan)

Tony...the pleasantly surprised.

I am one of those who think that a movie could be in the top 5 or 6 Tarzans ever made and still score in the bottom hundred films ever made (all right, I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean). The split in opinion between everyone is pretty stark and the telepathic lion and treehouse angles don't sound too good.....thought we'd seen the last of the treehouse, anyway.

I went into "Tarzan and the Lost City" with an open mind. I didn't expect a great Tarzan movie. (Damn few of those have ever been made..."Greatest Adventure"..."Magnificent"...the first two Weissmullers...and Elmo Lincoln's "Apes," of course.)

I didn't expect anything. And I didn't get anything.

Midway through I was yawning and looking at my watch.

Was there any Tarzan in "Tarzan and the Lost City?" Hmm. The scene where John Clayton first confronts Ravens, in the tent, knocking the gun from his hand with lightning-quickness. It was a Tarzan move.

I liked the jungle. It was thick -- the kind ERB's Tarzan lived in.

I liked that Tarzan used a bow and arrow. And was barefoot. I also liked the scene where he rode Tantor into the village and went nose-to-nose with the native, staring him down.

It didn't feel like ERB, but I kind of liked the scene where Tarzan brought Jane to his treehouse and showed her his father's books. I liked how he told her he taught himself to read, but mostly looked at the pictures. And how he grew up here and how that was why they were worlds apart. (That could have been conveyed better, in my opinion, if he ripped out the jugular of a zebra with his teeth and started munching on a raw haunch.)

If it looks like I'm stretching to find something redeeming in this movie, well, I guess I am. The fact is, it was just plain boring and silly for the most part. I could forgive the morphing and magic if it somehow made sense. But it didn't. It was just there. Tarzan himself was just kind of there, too.

How can you do Opar without La?

The telepathic message that sends Tarzan back to the jungle was just...pathetic.

Casper Van Dien didn't impress me as Tarzan. He seemed too short. And his voice wasn't right. Too high-pitched. As for the yell, many of the 25 people in the theater I was at chuckled whenever he yelled it.

Jane March was an o.k. Jane. I liked her line about how she taught herself to shoot; her brother taught her to drink scotch and smoke cigars. (Her brother?)

The apes...Well, I've read that they had a limited budget. It shows. They were little better than the apes who raised Elmo, back in 1918.

This movie will not convert legions of new ERB fans.

A shame.

But...has any Tarzan movie ever done that?

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