Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981 film)

Plot

James Parker is a hunter in Africa, searching for a mythical "white ape". He is joined by his estranged daughter, Jane, after her mother's death. They discover the "white ape" is actually Tarzan, an uncivilized white man raised by apes living in the jungle. James continues to pursue Tarzan with the purpose of capturing him, dead or alive, and bringing him back to England.

Realizing that James is on his trail, Tarzan kidnaps Jane. Jane and Tarzan become fascinated by each other. Jane is then kidnapped by natives who intend to make her a wife of the tribe leader, forcing Tarzan into action.

Main cast

Production

In a 2012 interview with the film history magazine Filmfax, co-writer Gary Goddard revealed that he had originally been commissioned to write a screenplay for Bo Derek based upon the Marvel Comics superheroine, Dazzler; a 30-page treatment was completed before the project was cancelled and work instead proceeded on Tarzan, The Ape Man which initially carried the working title Me, Jane reflecting its focus on Jane Porter as a showcase for Derek.

Reception

The film was widely panned upon its release. Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin considers this one of the worst films ever to appear in his popular "TV, Movie and Video Guide" (now simply "Movie Guide"): "Deranged 'remake' lacks action, humor and charm; Forget about comparisons to Johnny Weissmuller; O'Keefe makes Elmo Lincoln seem like Edwin Booth." Leslie Halliwell described Tarzan the Ape Man as "certainly the worst of the Tarzan movies and possibly the most banal film so far made; even the animals give poor performances". In a discussion of Tarzan films, Thomas S. Hischak was also negative: "Produced and directed without a shred of talent by John Derek, Tarzan, the Ape Man often ranks high in the lists of the worst movies ever made".

However, critic Roger Ebert offered a somewhat more positive review of Tarzan, the Ape Man, awarding it two and a half stars out of a possible four. According to Ebert, the film was "completely ridiculous, but at the same time it has a certain disarming charm." Ebert thought Harris's talents were completely wasted and the film's dramatic peak was "incomprehensible," yet he praised the forthright depiction of the sexual passion and tension between Tarzan and Jane, which had more typically been downplayed in film adaptations of the characters: "The Tarzan-Jane scenes strike a blow for noble savages, for innocent lust, for animal magnetism, and, indeed, for soft-core porn, which is ever so much sexier than the hard-core variety."

Awards and nominations

Box office

Despite the negative reviews it received, the film was a success at the box office, grossing more than US$ 36,565,280 in the United States.

DVD

Tarzan, the Ape Man was released to DVD by Warner Home Video on June 8, 2004 as a Region 1 widescreen DVD.

In popular media

The popular Japanese manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure references the movie and its female lead in chapter 265, the final chapter of the manga's third so-called "Part", Stardust Crusaders, when main character Joseph Joestar pretends to be possessed by the story arc's main villain, the vampire DIO, but quickly admits to merely be joking when main protagonist Jotaro Kujo goes to attack him, spouting off details of his life to convince him of that fact. Jotaro proceeds to further test the validity of his claim by asking him two trivia questions, the first of which is "Who's the female lead in the 1981 film, Tarzan, the Ape Man?", which Joseph correctly names as Bo Derek. Jotaro concludes he must be the real Joseph "if [he] know[s] pointless crap like that." This scene is also featured in the last episode of the second season of the manga's 2012 anime adaptation, though it is not featured in the 1993 Original video animation adaptation of the Stardust Crusaders arc.