DVD The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan the Ape Man / Escapes / and His Mate / Finds a Son / Secret Treasure / New York Adventure):
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Editor: Warner Home Video
Category: Action / Adventure - Feature Film-action/Adventure - Gift Set - Movie
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DVD The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan the Ape Man / Escapes / and His Mate / Finds a Son / Secret Treasure / New York Adventure)
Many actors have slipped on a loincloth and swung from a jungle vine, but nobody reached the treetops of Tarzania quite like Johnny Weissmuller, the Olympic swimmer. And Tarzan's greatest Jane was Maureen O'Sullivan, who moved into T's treehouse for six films at MGM, all collected in this splendid boxed set. It is possible to find these films hokey... but only if you have absolutely no feeling for the magic of early-sound pictures, or no joy in the gee-whiz, Saturday-matinee wonder of Tarzan's prelapsarian lifestyle. To say nothing of the surprisingly overt running theme of (implied) hot jungle sex.
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932), made with the blessings of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, establishes the basics of the series (and uses extra Africa footage MGM had compiled for Trader Horn). There'd been many Tarzans before, but Weissmuller's buff bod and innocent charm won over audiences. Tarzan and His Mate is generally considered the best of the lot; it is also the sexiest, especially after the restoration of a hotsy-totsy nude swimming scene. The formula still works in Tarzan Escapes, which brings Jane's cousins out for a visit to the Mutia Escarpment, with its elephant-powered elevator for Tarzan's pad. (Always keep in mind that this is Africa of kiddie imagination, not the real deal.)
Tarzan Finds a Son! introduces Johnny Sheffield as Boy, and stirs up the nest. Things were getting rote by the time of Tarzan's Secret Treasure, and the jungle is left behind entirely for Tarzan's New York Adventure, which has some fun stunts. Also included in the boxed set is the documentary Tarzan: Silver Screen King of the Jungle, which is a fine overview not just of the MGM Tarzan series but of its predecessors (though it does not mention the fact that Weissmuller went on to crank out more Tarzan pictures at RKO). It does delve into the mystery of just what the heck "ungawa" means. --Robert Horton
Review(s): DVD The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan the Ape Man / Escapes / and His Mate / Finds a Son / Secret Treasure / New York Adventure)
Old but good.
This movie had some amazing parts. It was also amazingly politically incorrect (but so were the books). I used to love these movies when I was little; it was a lot of fun to see them again.
The story is about a girl named Jane who comes to visit her father in Africa. They go on a journey to find an elephant burial ground. Their party is separated by an attack from dangerous spear-wielding natives. Enter Tarzan. Tarzan meets Jane and decides...well he decides he wants her in his tree. He doesn't really do anything with her, I think he was just bored and wanted something fun to look at. And he has a monkey. That's pretty much it. He plays with Jane, saves some people, and screams a lot. It is better than it sounds.
This movie has Tarzan wrestling several animals. A leopard, some sort of deer, and two lions. What amazed me was that he actually fights live animals. This isn't one of those movies where they unconvincingly fight a stuffed or animatronic animal. These animals are the real deal and let me tell you, the lions especially did not seem happy. They sure don't make movies like they used to. The scenes where Tarzan is flying through the jungle rate right up there with Spiderman for amazing and awe-inspiring acrobatic movie performances.
There is one point in the movie where Tarzan is arguing with the chimp and he gets angry and pushes the chimp. I don't know why but I laughed so hard watching that. I rewound it and watched it 5 times. I mean who does that? How often do you see a movie where someone shoves a chimpanzee. Never. You never see that in a movie. Another of my favorite scenes is when a herd of elephants stampede through a pygmy village (really just a whole lot of black midgets). And elephant runs up to a pygmy, picks him up with his trunk and throws him. I was in awe. "How did they film that?" I thought. How do you get an elephant to throw a midget without hurting him? I don't know, but if you watch this movie keep a lookout for that scene and maybe you can tell me.
It's a little outdated, but still a lot of fun. I think they should make a live action Tarzan movie; sort of a cross between Planet of the Apes Spiderman and King Kong; they have the technology to do it right. It could be totally awesome. They should follow the books more though. The books are great too.
Worth buying for the documentary alone
I love classic movies but have never really been a Tarzan fan. I have seen bits and pieces of the Weismuller MGM films on TMC but never thought I'd get this set. When I saw this collection for a crazy cheap price at one of those discount big-box club stores I couldn't pass it up. When I got it home the first thing I watched was the great Tarzan documentary. This documentary alone is well worth the price I paid for the set.
The documentary features, among others, the always knowledgeable Rudy Behlmer, an Edgar Rice Burroughs historian, Weissmuller's son and the late Maureen O'Sullivan. It chronicles the origin of the Tarzan character, his early silent screen appearances and then leads into Tarzan's genesis at MGM. The lead actors (and cheeta, too) are profiled and each film gets its own segment.
There is a wealth of material in the documentary. I learned that there was originally a racy pre-code nude swimming seen in "Tarzan and His Mate." This was amazing as the film was shot in 1934! The scene was rediscovered and returned to the film in the 80s. O'Sullivan's Jane outfit in this film was also way ahead of its time. Among other things I also learned that the third Tarzan film, "Tarzan Escapes," was completely scrapped after it was shot and an entirely new film was made (unfortunately the original version is not known to exist). I also learned that one of the screen Cheeta's who appeared in the MGM Weismuller films is still living. After a quick Google search I discovered he is still alive at 74 as of this writing (amazing as chimps aren't known to live much past 50 years).
If I was to make any complaint about the documentary I'd say that they make no mention of the series' move to RKO and the films that followed. After they get done with all the MGM Tarzans they quickly wrap-up the film. If you didn't know Weissmuller went on to make more Tarzans at RKO you'd think "Tarzan's New York Adventure" was the last one he ever made. Also Johnny Sheffield, Boy in all the Weismuller films, isn't in any of the interviews.
Overall this set is well worth getting.
Weissmuller's Classic Preformance
Johnny Weissmuller, the best of a long series of Tarzan pretenders. These were the films rated among the very best of his preformances.
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