Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Tarzan Revisited

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    C.D. Workman
    Senior Member

  • Tarzan Revisited




    Released by: Umbrella Entertainment
    Release date: March 1, 2018
    Directed by: Robert De Young
    Cast: Christopher Lambert, Casper Van Dien, Ron Ely, Lydie Denier, Scott Tracy Griffin, Hugh Hudson, Wolf Larson, David Yates
    Year: 2017
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie:

    Born in Chicago in September of 1875, Edgar Rice Burroughs drifted through a number of schools and occupations in his youth, including joining the military. His many and varied experiences throughout the United States of the late 19th and early 20th centuries served him well when he finally turned to writing. In 1912, his first story, “Under the Moons of Mars,” became serialized in the magazine The All-Story. It became the first in the Barsoom series and was later published in book form, along with other parts of the serial, as A Princess of Mars, though not before Burroughs published his first Tarzan novel.

    Burroughs' first dive into the forbidden jungles of Africa, Tarzan of the Apes, was published in October of 1912, a mere three months after “Under the Moons of Mars” had concluded its initial run. Little did anyone realize what a hit Tarzan of the Apes would be with the reading public. The book involved one John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke, who, as a baby, was marooned along the western coast of “darkest Africa” with his parents. His mother died shortly after his birth, while his father was killed by a Great Ape of the Mangani Tribe. Adopted into the tribe, Tarzan is raised as an ape, though he teaches himself to read from the children's books in his late parents' encampment. The name Tarzan, then, is Clayton's ape name (meaning “white skin”) given him by his tribe.

    Tarzan makes the jungle his own, but as he grows into adulthood, his world is rocked by a chance meeting with the beautiful Jane Porter, who, along with her family, have become stranded in Africa. When she returns to America, Tarzan follows her, and eventually the two marry and have a son, Korak. They also eventually become tired of human ways and return to the jungle. (Note: These incidents happen over multiple novels.)

    Tarzan of the Apes was an instant success, and Burroughs followed it up with innumerable books centered on its titular character. As the series went on, it became more outlandish and was given more of a science fiction bent. Burroughs even found ways to work his most famous creation into stories built around other characters he had created, including John Carter of Mars and David Innes of Pellucidar. More importantly, Burroughs understood the increasing popularity of film and radio. The first film adaptation of Tarzan of the Apes came four years after the book's original publication and starred Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan. Like the book, it proved a resounding success, and the character carried over into the sound era. But it wasn't until MGM purchased the rights to the character that Tarzan cinema as we know it today was born.

    Tarzan Revisited is the story not only of Tarzan's literary birth and ascendancy, but also of his transition to the big screen. It traces his centuries-long career path, as a lion-fighting muscleman of the silent era to the lean, defined, and refined romantic English lord of The Legend of Tarzan (1916). Along the way, documentarian Robert De Young offers up plenty of film clips, movie posters, and interview snippets to provide an all-too-brief and cursory look at one of literature's most enduring creations. It's unlikely that there will be anything new here for Tarzan fans to find, but for novices in the ways of the jungle, its an entertaining journey that hits all the expected highs.

    Among the interviews are many of the actors who played Tarzan, each assigned a number based on which Tarzan in cinematic history he played: Johnny Weissmuller (6), Denny Miller (12), Ron Ely (15), Christopher Lambert (18), Casper Van Dien (20), and Wolf Larson (22). (Weismuller's snippets come from archival interviews.) Janes Maureen O'Sullivan (archival) and Lydie Denier are also interviewed, as are directors David Yates and Hugh Hudson, comic artist Thomas Yeates, publisher Mike Richardson (Dark Horse Comics), and Burroughs' estate representative, Jim Sullos. The rest of the subjects are an assortment of historians, listed as follows: cultural critic Marianna Torgovnick, literary historian Alex Vernon, Tarzan historian Scott Tracy Griffin, film historian Gabe Essoe, historian Virginie Rey, and academic Barbara Creed. These interviews comprise the backbone of the documentary, and without them it would have been much drier. Regardless, the whole affair comes across as something that should have been included as an extra on a larger release, either as part of a Tarzan DVD box set or as part of a Blu-ray release of The Legend of Tarzan.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    Umbrella Entertainment brings Tarzan Revisited to standard-definition DVD in the NTSC format in anamorphic widescreen. Because many Tarzan films were shot full frame, Umbrella has replaced the black sidebars that would normally accompany a full-frame feature with an artist's rendition of black-and-white jungle foliage. Given the number of Tarzan films and the disparities in prints, transfers, and owners, one would expect there to be major inconsistencies in the video quality. That does not prove to be the case, however. Most of the films were released by MGM or Warner, and these companies have taken care to preserve and restore them over the years. The only films to suffer a sub-DVD look are the silent features and a couple of early sound features that are in the public domain today. Some of the footage from the various MGM and RKO releases is a little soft, but overall the program looks surprisingly sharp. In addition, while most of the interviews were shot recently and in high definition, there are a couple of archival interviews—Johnny Weismuller, Maureen O'Sullivan—that were shot on low-grade video many years ago. These archival interviews are of varying quality, but the newly shot interviews look fantastic. Colors are rich and stable, and there's a nice level of detail despite the standard-definition format.

    Umbrella has opted for an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Again, there's a large number of films from which snippets have been culled, and these make up about two-thirds of the film. Yet, despite that, voices are clear and discernible. Older films are slightly more muffled than newer ones, but the mix is appropriate, and conversations take precedence over music and sound effects.

    Unfortunately, there are no extras. (A Tarzan trailer reel would have been perfect.)

    The Final Word:

    Tarzan Revisited is a pleasant time-filler for people who know little about the basic history of Tarzan and his many cinematic appearances. Interviews are educational and often entertaining, and film clips help speed along an already short running time. The image looks good and the sound is sans problems. Unfortunately, the documentary is far from definitive, and the lack of extras is a detriment.

    Christopher Workman is a freelance writer, film critic, and co-author (with Troy Howarth) of the Tome of Terror horror film review series. Horror Films of the Silent Era and Horror Films of the 1930s are currently available, with Horror Films of the 1940s due out in 2018.





























      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X