Post by Heineken Skywalker on Apr 15, 2007 12:08:24 GMT -5
I like the concept and idea of Tarzan. A man and his wife are shipwrecked in Africa, their baby is born, he is orphaned and then raised by apes. He grows up to be the lord of the apes, as well as pretty much all the other animals, and he fights injustice in the jungle. Everyone from slave traders to animal poachers have to deal with Tarzan. And his adventures would sometimes take him to the proverbial "lost cities" within Africa. Once you suspend disbelief and get past the implausibility of it, it's a pretty cool concept.
Though I like the idea, I'm not a huge fan of Tarzan movies in general, mainly because most of them have been so damn silly. As a kid I would watch them fairly religiously whenever any of them were on tv. I mean they had animals and natives and jungle adventures. But as an adult, most of them just induce unintentional laughter and eye rolling.
Before I was born in 1966, there were a whole slew of Tarzan movies, many of them starring Johhny Weissmuller. In my lifetime, there have been several Tarzan projects brought to the large and small screens, including a campy, almost softcore, Bo Derek movie and an underrated animated Disney version. Then in 1984 came GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES. Besides having one of the longest titles, it was also one of the few Tarzan films to take the subject matter and treat it absolutely realistically. As realistically as this material can hope for anyway. There's none of that, "Me Tarzan, you Jane", stuff in this one. Not once do we even hear the famous Tarzan yell that had become his trademark on film. In fact, in this film, he's never even called Tarzan by name.
This Tarzan was brought to the screen by director Hugh Hudson (CHARIOTS OF FIRE) and writer Robert Towne (CHINATOWN) and they stick pretty close to the original source material, the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
This time around, the man in the loin cloth is played by Christopher Lambert (HIGHLANDER) and he's perfectly cast. Think Christopher Reeve as Superman, who was the absolute perfect actor to play that role at that time. The same goes for Lambert. Not only is his performance convincing and understated, but he really looks the part. This isn't the cleancut Johnny Weissmuller version of the old films or the musclebound male model-type of more recent Tarzan films and tv series. This Tarzan has long, dirty hair and a physique that is more realistic. He's muscular, but it's more like a runner's body, not like someone who spends hours in the gym pumping iron. Also, his body is scarred, as you would expect from someone who's everyday life is a struggle to survive, and it definitely adds to the believability.
The cast is rounded out by Ian Holm (ALIEN) as an explorer who figures out Tarzan's true identity and brings him back to civilization, Ralph Richardson in a touching performance as John Clayton/Tarzan's grandfather and Andie MacDowell (GROUNDHOG DAY) as love interest, Jane Porter. A bit of trivia, Andie MacDowell's southern accent was so thick during filming that her voice was later entirely dubbed by actress, Glenn Close.
Also, nice to see in this film, is the actual raising of Tarzan by his adoptive ape family. The apes are brought to life by the costume and special makeup effects of Rick Baker (PLANET OF THE APES, GORILLAS IN THE MIST), who is a genius at this sort of thing. It's a true testament to Mr. Baker's talent that even to this day, with all the advances in makeup and effects, the apes in the film still hold up pretty well.
GREYSTOKE is one of the few times I have wished the original cast and filmmakers had made a sequel. In 1998 an "unofficial" sequel was made starring Casper Van Dien (STARSHIP TROOPERS) in the lead role, but it's pretty terrible so watch it at your own risk.
In the history of Tarzan movies, GREYSTOKE is by far the best of the bunch. This movie is to Tarzan as SUPERMAN (1978) and BATMAN BEGINS (2005) are to those characters. An epic, well acted, and pretty serious take on the origin and early adventures of the title character.
8/10
Though I like the idea, I'm not a huge fan of Tarzan movies in general, mainly because most of them have been so damn silly. As a kid I would watch them fairly religiously whenever any of them were on tv. I mean they had animals and natives and jungle adventures. But as an adult, most of them just induce unintentional laughter and eye rolling.
Before I was born in 1966, there were a whole slew of Tarzan movies, many of them starring Johhny Weissmuller. In my lifetime, there have been several Tarzan projects brought to the large and small screens, including a campy, almost softcore, Bo Derek movie and an underrated animated Disney version. Then in 1984 came GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES. Besides having one of the longest titles, it was also one of the few Tarzan films to take the subject matter and treat it absolutely realistically. As realistically as this material can hope for anyway. There's none of that, "Me Tarzan, you Jane", stuff in this one. Not once do we even hear the famous Tarzan yell that had become his trademark on film. In fact, in this film, he's never even called Tarzan by name.
This Tarzan was brought to the screen by director Hugh Hudson (CHARIOTS OF FIRE) and writer Robert Towne (CHINATOWN) and they stick pretty close to the original source material, the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
This time around, the man in the loin cloth is played by Christopher Lambert (HIGHLANDER) and he's perfectly cast. Think Christopher Reeve as Superman, who was the absolute perfect actor to play that role at that time. The same goes for Lambert. Not only is his performance convincing and understated, but he really looks the part. This isn't the cleancut Johnny Weissmuller version of the old films or the musclebound male model-type of more recent Tarzan films and tv series. This Tarzan has long, dirty hair and a physique that is more realistic. He's muscular, but it's more like a runner's body, not like someone who spends hours in the gym pumping iron. Also, his body is scarred, as you would expect from someone who's everyday life is a struggle to survive, and it definitely adds to the believability.
The cast is rounded out by Ian Holm (ALIEN) as an explorer who figures out Tarzan's true identity and brings him back to civilization, Ralph Richardson in a touching performance as John Clayton/Tarzan's grandfather and Andie MacDowell (GROUNDHOG DAY) as love interest, Jane Porter. A bit of trivia, Andie MacDowell's southern accent was so thick during filming that her voice was later entirely dubbed by actress, Glenn Close.
Also, nice to see in this film, is the actual raising of Tarzan by his adoptive ape family. The apes are brought to life by the costume and special makeup effects of Rick Baker (PLANET OF THE APES, GORILLAS IN THE MIST), who is a genius at this sort of thing. It's a true testament to Mr. Baker's talent that even to this day, with all the advances in makeup and effects, the apes in the film still hold up pretty well.
GREYSTOKE is one of the few times I have wished the original cast and filmmakers had made a sequel. In 1998 an "unofficial" sequel was made starring Casper Van Dien (STARSHIP TROOPERS) in the lead role, but it's pretty terrible so watch it at your own risk.
In the history of Tarzan movies, GREYSTOKE is by far the best of the bunch. This movie is to Tarzan as SUPERMAN (1978) and BATMAN BEGINS (2005) are to those characters. An epic, well acted, and pretty serious take on the origin and early adventures of the title character.
8/10
