Tarzan à Manhattan

I will admit I watched it to see JM-V but it was fun for a few hours. Some in other reviews feel Joe Lara was the best Tarzan ever as he portrayed him in 20+ Tarzan movies. I remain astounded by how much he reminds me of Nicolas Cage. I don't think he does a bad job at all, for the kind of movie it is. I will not set out to find the other 19 but I did learn he has become a country singer and has a very nice voice. Check his website or YouTube. So, it was fun for few hours not to have to try to keep plots and characters in mind but just laugh. He is not bad as Tarzan but my favorite remains the Disney animated one, or Alexander Skarsgard! If you enjoy Tarzan movies, this should be fun for you.

This is basically light hearted action/adv. Movie with comedy elements. Strange that comedy is out of genre description here. And there was lot of it - for instance in early part, where New Yorkers were described as worse than worst beasts in jungle. And of course, did not miss to call that city as different kind of jungle.

Part where they said that monkey may speak Hungarian, then started to drive a car was hilarious.

Screen writer's name Anna Sandor indicates Hungarian origin. And same for Archimedes :-)

Joe Lara does not look as typical tough action movie star. Sensitive part was important, and I think that it was good, and probably the reason for lower ratings by many.

I liked Kim Crosby as Jane, she was exactly what Tarzan needed in for him unknown and hostile environment.

And good side is that movie did not take self too seriously. Actually, this is very good for TV movie.

Good movie? Not particularly. Then again, I suppose it depends on what you're looking for. If you want some mindless entertainment with a hunky lead about an ape-man who visits the big apple and sweeps an outlandishly beautiful/bright cabbie off her feet while finding his jungle friends who were kidnapped in the introduction ... this should do fine. At its heart, the story is something we've seen recycled by one trillion other films. It's the kind of movie that Mystery Science Theater would have a field day with, cuz it's just the right combination of high production values and crapola. Speaking of production values ... the photography is very easy on the eye. The soundtrack features Grace Jones and Warren Zevon. And, Tony Curtis plays the cabbie's lovable dad (also a PI which is convenient). Harmless Schlock.

Joe Lara was the latest in a long line of players to take on the role of Tarzan as Edgar Rice Burroughs hero goes to Manhattan to rescue his pal Cheetah. And he thought Africa had some jungles.

Someone has kidnapped Tarzan's favorite simian and has left a few nondescript but telltale clues. With that Tarzan is off to New York.

Where he meets Jane Porter a cabdriver played by Kim Crosby and her father retired detective Tony Curtis. They aid an abet his search for his friend.

Cheetah is in the hands of Jan-Michael Vincent a rich sportsman hunter who doubles as a mad scientist. He has the usual mad scientist nefarious reasons for capturing Cheetah and a whole lot of other apes.

The whole cast plays this one tongue in cheek and it's got some good moments. This is not a film to take seriously.

Though if this is ever remade I'd have Joe Lara wind up in Greenwich Village where at any number of drinking establishments he'd have made all kinds of friends.

Good God, he'd have a personal posse likeno other.

It really boggles my mind when i think that someone wasted a month or so of their lives writing this script. And then to think that he/she handed this script out to probably a dozen people and they all gave this project the go ahead, thinking that it might be a good idea to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it, is truely mind blowing. Joe Lara is Tarzan, or at least thats what they lead you to belive. His acting skills fall somewhere between Ron Jeremy and Vanilla Ice. He plays a very unconvincing Tarzan in a caricature of New York city in the eighties. The only actors in this movie that i have ever heard of are Jan-Michael Vincent and Tony Curtis. Vincent and Lara are BAD ACTORS, and Tony Curtis acts like a bad actor. This movie is not funny, not romantic, not suspenseful, not beliveable and, not entertaining. Possibly the funniest thing about this movie is the fact that i found it on DVD. I bought it for $2 out of a clearance bin to give as a joke gift to a film buff friend of mine. This is THE ONLY valid reason that anyone would ever want to purchace this horrible, horrible film.