Tarzan et la cité perdue

Since there was so much comment on the "fake gorillas," I think it is worth pointing out that these were not in fact intended to be gorillas but rather the fictional race of "great apes" that raised Tarzan in the Burroughs novels. They were supposed to be something closer to humans, with a language developed enough that it could be translated into English - in fact Tarzan was a word in the great ape language meaning "white skin." You can quibble about how successful the movie portrayal of these creatures was, but any Burroughs fan will recognize what they were trying to do. In any case, it was a brief sequence.

I thought this movie was surprisingly good and came closer to capturing the flavor of Burroughs' later Tarzan novels than anything else I have seen. Burroughs, after all, was primarily a fantasy writer and there is no point in holding his fiction to any "realistic" standard. The production standards were quite good and I liked the principal actors. In fact, Van Dien may be my second favorite Tarzan, after Gordon Scott.

As a big Tarzan fan, of both the books and the movies, I gotta say watching this as a kid on VHS was disappointing. I only watched it again many years later because I just happened to stumble onto it while curiously skimming over Casper Van Dien's filmography and decided to make this review.

In 1913, John Clayton aka Tarzan (Casper Van Dien) is preparing to marry Jane Porter (Jane March) in England. But suddenly, he receives a vision sent by a shaman named Mugambe (Winston Ntshona), informing him that explorer and treasure hunter Nigel Ravens (Stephen Waddington) is plundering African villages in search of the lost city of Opar. Now, Tarzan must return to Africa to stop Ravens while Jane follows him to assist on his adventure.

First of all, the story is pretty humdrum and shows little faithfulness to the source literary material. For example, the origin of Tarzans name came from his tribe of apes, not the natives. Jane is American, not British. And Opar is portrayed almost completely differently as a gigantic pyramid instead of an actual city. And finally, with the uncharacteristic supernatural elements, it felt like director Carl Schenkel was going for an Indiana Jones styled adventure, but it all went wrong.

Everyone was miscast here. Casper Van Dien might have made an acceptable Tarzan with his build, but he was no Johnny Weissmuller or Christopher Lambert. His awful fake British accent didn't help. Jane March is a run-of-the-mill damsel in distress who mostly just complicates things for Tarzan. Finally, Steven Waddington just isn't tough or intimidating enough as a villain to impress the intended child audience, let alone challenge the King of the Apes.

The special effects were very poor and spoke volumes of the films modest $20 million budget; its quality looked similar to the TV series "Tarzan: The Epic Adventures" from 1996-1997. We see badly made slow-motion effects and choppy camera work everywhere. Tarzan's ape friends were men wearing ridiculously fake looking suits and Mugumbe's CGI Cobra form is very cheesy, even for 1998. Speaking of which, what did Mugumbe even need Tarzan to fight the bad guys for if he could turn into a snake? And even bees?! It doesn't make any sense. And, finally, due to the PG rating and a desire to make this a kids film, the action scenes aren't that exciting or impressive.

There were some redeeming qualities though. I loved the beautiful landscape of South Africa where filming took place, from the lush jungles to the savannah fields. The porters in Ravens expedition sang a pretty catchy song while crossing a field, and the soundtrack composed by Christopher Franke had some decent pieces here and there. The massive pyramid of Opar itself, which was made with practical effects, looked fairly impressive. Finally, there was some pretty nice footage of real animals to counter the fake gorillas, including a Chimp named Jebba.

In the end, this was a bold but failed attempt to create a modern Tarzan in the 90's that didn't do Casper Van Dien's career any favors, and there wouldn't even be another live action Tarzan flick until 2016. So don't watch this unless you're either bored or a massive fan.

Tarzan and the Lost City was a failed attempt to bring the Lord of the Apes into the 90s. Caspar Van Dien was physically imposing as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, and his loincloth-clothed alter ego, but he is just not a good enough actor to bring Burroughs' real character to the screen. The special effects were well made, but trite and really not needed, and the villains were never a good match for Tarzan, a man physically capable of doing just about anything. Jane March is attractive, but in a more British sort of way, which really doesn't translate well to American movie-going audiences.

I can't complain at all about this movie. It gave me everything I was hoping for. It's cheesy and fun! I grew up on classic Tarzan flicks and jungle movies. I watched various classic Tarzans including Ron Ely and Johnny Weissmuller. I never missed a chance to catch a Tarzan movie on TV as a kid. Tarzan and the Lost City recaptures that type of childhood magic. It entertained me from start to finish. Its flaws are part of its charm and only add to the fun. All classic Tarzan movies have flaws. So what!? That's part of what makes 'em GREAT FUN! Tarzan and the Lost City is no exception. It provides this classic jungle movie fan with plenty of entertainment value. It's great fun with a big bowl of popcorn and a cold beverage!

I enjoyed this film. It was nice to jump PAST the point where Tarzan was discovered, to a point where he had left the jungle and returned to England for socialization. Casper is an intelligent, grunt-free version of Tarzan who returns to the jungle after getting a psychic call "home" from his shaman friend. The movie remained focused on the goal set at the beginning, to save the Lost City from a power hungry treasure hunter. I didn't feel lost or that any of the events were fluff. There is a nice display of magic which was presented well by the special effects team. All of the acting was well done and not overdramatized. I would very much like to see the story continued by this team of creators and actors.