Tarzan - La grande avventura

Anyone who thinks Johnny Weissmuller is what Burroughs Tarzan is all about doesn't know anything about Tarzan. While Johnny looked great in the role, he did not portray Tarzan the way ERB created the character. And unfortunately it has taken a long time to try to bring the true Tarzan to the movie and TV screen. Joe Lara looked more like most artists drawings of the Apeman and the lost civilizations was what ERB wrote many stories about! What Epic Adventures did wrong was do stories about Tarzan's search for his "inner self" which was a bad idea. Also they brought too much fantasy into the series. Anyone who has read the Tarzan novels know Tarzan visited lost civilizations of Romans, Greeks, prehistoric worlds, Opar with Queen La, etc. The silent films were a lot more true to ERB's vision than anything done since sound movies came into being. Also Jane should have been brought into the series. And whatever happened to the so-called second season and Xavier DeClie stepping in as Tarzan (a bad move in my opinion) and Jane being introduced? Fact is the pilot TARZAN'S RETURN was a lot better than the actual series that followed. Instead of Tiemba, they should have introduced Muviro, the leader of the Waziri and Tarzan's friend in the books and kept Paul D'Arnot in the stories. A return to the Weissmuller "Me Tarzan You Jane" apeman now would be a worse move if another live action Tarzan movie or TV show is produced.

God bless Joe Lara, he was the best Tarzan for me. As a big Edgar Rice Burroughs fan in my school days, I still admire the Universe of Tarzan, John Carter, Carson Napier and David Innes. This show has good production level overall, but I'm sure, someone can improve the CGI in the pilot episodes (if it hurts your eyes). Stories are close to the books, but rearanged in Hercules/Xena manner (no campy humour and musical burlesque numbers though). All episodes have classic "two layers of meaning" or two parallel stories which serve as a metaphor to each other. Frankly speaking, I was expecting something weaker and cheaper, so I prepared all my positive vibes and states of mind before watching the show. But it turned out quite good without any strain of imagination. I would go further and say that some episodes are fantastic. It proves that nice stuff can be created with limited budget. I wouldn't mind if the crew moved to New Zeland (Hercules sets) or Canada (almost all sci-fi sets) and did a few seasons more! Of course, now it's too late. But what about Korak aka John Clayton III? He can fill the dady's shoes and give us the crossovers the world needs. With all respect to Godzilla vs Kong's Hollow Earth adventures, I find Korak of the Jungle vs John Carter of Mars far more exciting. In this day and age I give The Epic adventures of Joe Lara 10 out of 10 without doubt.

The good thing about this series is that it didn't last. Considering how bad it was, I'm surprised it got made at all. I saw about 2 maybe 3 episodes (To give it a fair chance) and the trauma hasn't fully left me yet, even some 3 years later.

The one episode I remember the best is the one that convinced me that the writers weren't even really trying. The scene I recall involved some Roman soldiers that had a woman under arrest. Tarzan (As tragically slandered by Joe Lara) spots them and proceeds to make it his business to see to her safety. A fight ensues in which Tarzan kills the soldiers, tosses off a lame platitude that I can't remember (Fortunately), and frees the woman who promptly states that now she can get back to slaughtering Nuns and Orphans again.

OK, she didn't actually say that, she was the daughter of a political prisoner and thus was being taken herself. But Tarzan DID NOT know that until after he minced and diced the soldiers. It would have served his careless ass right if she DID go back to stuffing puppies into blenders and the like. It surely doesn't match up with Johnny Weissmuller's far superior portrayal. IE he stated something like "Other men live to fight, but Tarzan only fights to live" when he refused to fight Germans during "Tarzan Triumphs!", a film made during WWII no less!

The one thing that made me decide to attempt to suffer through more than one episode was the way Tarzan's home was made to look like it was within easy walking distance of some 50 or so 'Lost Civilisations' (Romans, Greeks, Antlantians, maybe Martians would have showed up if the series continued long enough) like the earlier Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan was (Why Tarzan didn't build a tourist trap around this has always eluded me, he coulda made a fortune). I was hoping for a more 'fantastic' (Giant spiders, Lizard Men, ETC) portrayal than most low budget TV series could afford to have, like the 30 minute Tarzan show that lasted in syndication from 1991 to 1993 (Merely boring), or the series about Tarzan with Ron Ely that was produced in the 1960's (The best TV series about Tarzan so far).

There was no Jane in this version, but I recall a contest being offered where the winner would get the role. What can be said about a leading role being given away as a contest prize? I guess no reputable actors wanted to put their names on this thing (At least not after seeing what was being perpetrated) so an act of desperation was called for.

I recommend that you stick to Johnny Weissmuller or Ron Ely if you just plain need a good Tarzan fix.

Oh the 90s, were such a fascinating period for cheesy fantasy shows. It was truly a time for the reincarnation of the 'sword-and-sandal' subgenre, which had once been popularized in the 50s-60s, into the 'sword-and-sorcery' subgenre for TV. Everything is cyclical after all.

That was the period which saw the rise of series such as Sorbo's Hercules, Lawless' Xena or Moeller's Conan. And there was an underrated one but nonetheless notable, if not, the most notable of all: 'Lara's Tarzan'.

In this (awfully familiar) version, Tarzan who was once raised by the great apes, got civilized and lived as the Earl of Greystoke in London for a while. However, he returned to his true homeland Africa, to become the Lord of the Jungle once again.

Starred with Joe Lara. Let me tell you, not only was he physically well-fitted for Tarzan's classic description: 'tall, athletic, handsome, and tanned with grey eyes and long dark hair' --but his portrayal was one of the closest, if not the closest portrayals of Tarzan of all time. The stoic nature of the Ape-man was on point.

I believe this was one of the closest interpretation of Burrough's pulps, there I said it.

The supernatural elements were no stranger to the good ol' Ape-man tales, only if it weren't for the 90s VFX, though the 90s mentality, practical effects, and make-up made up for it.

Oh and one thing is sure, back in the days they really did know how to choose such beautiful actresses.

Anyway, it's a recommend. I rated it a 7/10, it certainly had a great charm to it. It's a guilty pleasure of mine. Also, just a piece of advice: please don't judge it so quickly based on the pilot, it gets way better.

(RIP Joe Lara.)

PS: Regardless, you can't go wrong with reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels.

I really liked this Tarzan series because it attempts to use the science fiction Tarzan from the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. Joe Lara is a fantastic Tarzan and the most gorgeous guy in the world! He seems to understand the loneliness and solitude of portraying Tarzan and that is refreshing. All the technical credits are cool including the photography, locations, design and music. I really enjoyed the episodes where Tarzan is forced to survive the elements in whatever world he has been taken to. I also loved the science fiction characters in many of the episodes which are not overdone but feel almost realistic in a fantasy world. I wish the series could lasted longer as it was a breath of fresh air in the often dry jungle of television!!