I just got in from watching the new Legend of Tarzan movie, and I thought that I would give it a quick review for those who might be considering watching it in the theater.

If you are looking for a Tarzan movie that is an amazing action movie set in Africa, you might want to rethink going to see this one.

Yes, it is set, mostly, in Africa, and yes there are action sequences, but it not an action adventure movie. It is more an epic journey highlighting hope, survival, and love. Yes, love plays a big part in the movie, not just for Tarzan and Jane, but for a lot of the other characters as well. No, it is not a "chick flick" either, but it might, just might, make a good date movie, if you know what your date likes and you think they would enjoy a movie that is not fast paced, is not set up for humorous giggles and jokes, and is not just a series of prolonged fight scenes.

LoT is not a face paced movie, as I mentioned, but it does hold its pacing and does not slow down or lag, but it also does not sacrifice plot or story just to keep things moving quickly either.

The pros:
Tarzan is yummy. Yes, I said yummy and I meant it.
Jane is endearing, not argumentative or annoying.
Jane is not passive, but knows how to go forward with the flow instead of fighting needlessly.
Most of the actors do excellent jobs.
Most of the CGI animals are very well done.
LoT is a moving picture (pun intended) on many levels.
The panoramic views of Africa are breathtaking.
This is not another origin story! It continues the lives of Tarzan and Jane.
Whoever the choreographer is, they know animal behavior and movements, and Tarzan does a great job of mimicking them.
Most of the action sequences were not terrible... and actually most were well done.

The cons:
Some of the CGI animals (the felines) were easy to spot as CGI (I love cats though, so that might make a difference).
Samuel L. Jackson... yeah. He did an okay job, but his portrayal of his character just felt out of place.
Some of the fight sequences... well I never understood why people would take on one man one at a time when you are in a mob around him. DOES. NOT. MAKE. SENSE. (this excludes any duels or fights of "honor," I get those.)

I would cautiously recommend this movie to most people, with the cautionary statements I have mentioned already.

Personally, I loved the movie, and if you want to see it, it is well worth an evening theater price.

My rating system, by the way is:
Evening theater price (five stars)
Matinee price (four stars)
Wait for DVD (you get the idea)
Cable
Cable if nothing else is on
Heaven help you if you are forced to watch this movie while being tortured by terrorists

This is a movie that I will probably watch one more time in the theater just to watch the landscape and action on a big big screen.

And... did I mention Tarzan was yummy? He really is.

PS. I left off actor's names on purpose, except for Sam's.

Not one I would have considered but might now. Thanks!

Willing to wait till it is on Netflix. I am mostly swayed by the mention of 'CGI animals' <sigh> The Tarzan that I remember had real live animals :-/

Mike, the CGI animals, for the most part, are done really well, and there are some parts of fight scenes involving them that real animals could not have been part of.

I don't mind when they 'fudge things a bit' when a stunt might endanger the animal. But there is always something ... missing with CGI animals ... at least the one's I have seen so far ... more so in the more peaceful parts ... if you know what I mean.

I remember seeing one rating scale like this where the final entry was "Wait for it to come out on cable, then rent something different."

<heh heh heh> I like that addition the the list Argus <g>

Argus, I like that one! Thanks for sharing

For my money, Tarzan is Johnny Weismuller (with real live animals, even if they were rear-projected), just as Robin Hood is Errol Flynn and James Bond is Sean Connery. Some characters are just too deeply imprinted.

<heh heh heh> I feel ya muh brother!! <g>

Tarzan, until this point, was Casper Van Dien. James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, and Robin Hood Carey Elwes (the only one with a real English accent).

J-J, I'm on your side of this one.

I think we've hit what is called the Generation Gap.

Mina, I'll stipulate to the 'real English accent' -- Flynn was an Aussie.

J-J Aussies get insulted if you say they have an English accent, so I think Cary is still at the top of the Robinhood list.

Never could stand Connery as Bond. I favor Pierce as during Moore's time he was so interchangeable with The Saint. As for Robin Hood, Errol will always have my heart but Carey was wonderful. However, Connery made a wonderful older, end of life Robin.

Casper Van Diem was Tarzan? I'm cringing. Other than Weismuller, I'll take the animated version, or better yet, George of the Jungle with Brendan Fraser.

As for Superman, either Reeves is fine by me.

Sean Connery has always been my favorite Bond and, contrary to most, my second favorite Bond was Timothy Dalton. I thought those two actors came closest to Fleming's image of Bond.

ividia, glad I am not the only Brosnan fan! And, yeah, Fraser as George is a lot more fun than most of the Tarzans

While I was not a Timothy Dalton-Bond fan, I did love him in Brenda Starr. The tragic hero, Basil St. John.

Mina, by stipulating to your comment about Elwes being the only one with a real English accent, I was agreeing with you. We hosted an Aussie exchange student when I was in high school, so I know full well that they object to being told they have a Pommy accent.

OK ... I =tried= to let it go, honest!

The actor that =I= think was closest to the Bond that Flemming created is George Lazenby. There! I said it!! Sorry Ex ... ya got it wrong <weg>

J-J, my mistake, sorry And who is George Lazenby?

GL - the one hit wonder.

MikeD, you ain't even close.

Lazenby looked like Bond should look, but he acted like one of those animatronic presidents you see at Disneyland.

Mina, George Lazenby did one Bond film (the one where Telly Savalas was Ernst Stavro Blofeld) called On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Guess we will have to agree to disagree Ex <chuckle>

Basically, Mina, Lazenby had the unfortunate luck to be the first person to play Bond after Connery <sigh>

As I recall, Lazenby also had a small role in The Kentucky Fried Movie.

Everyone makes mistakes <chuckle>

Jumping in late as I am still recovering from my holiday weekend from hell.

This is what Ian Fleming says about Bond.

In Casino Royale Vesper Lynd remarks, "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless."

Likewise, in Moonraker, Special Branch Officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond is "certainly good-looking ... Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold."

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the composer, singer and actor, Hoagy Carmichael here are a couple of pics.



If anything Timothy Dalton's looks come the closest to Carmichael's, I think.

Bit of Bond Trivia. Did you know that the Cubby Broccoli's first choice to replace Sean Connery as Bond was Dalton but he was rejected in end for being too young and they rolled the dice with Lazenby who was a model and not an actor at the time.

It is a shame they came up craps because On Her Majesty's Secret Service would likely have been the best Bond film ever if any other of the Bonds had been in it, it certainly had the best supporting cast. Telly Savalas, Diana Rigg and a song by Louis Armstrong and as it is most people have never seen it.

Not that anyone would care but I actually met Lazenby, at Dragon Con.

More Bond Trivia: Fleming hated Connery as Bond at first. But warmed up to him to the point that he mentions that Bond is a Scot in very last short story he wrote before his death.

Going back to the beginning. Casper Van Dien? Mina you must be a baby if that is your image of Tarzan. Like many others here I grew up on the Johnny Weismuller's "Me Tarzan, you Jane." movies. And come on, everyone who can remember the Jungle Jim TV show raise your hand. You know who you are.

I do seem to remember that that Casper Van Dien Tarzan movie wasn't nearly as bad as the Christopher Lambert one.

Last bit of Bond. The babies out there might not know this one either. Since they probably never saw Remington Steele. Those of us who do remember Steele also remember talking one look then pointing at the TV and declaring "That guy should be James Bond!"

Did you know that Pierce Brosnan was supposed to be Bond years earlier instead of Dalton. NBC cancelled Remington Steele and Cubby Broccoli announced his choice to replace Roger Moore was Pierce Brosnan and the dirty dogs at NBC renewed Remington Steele for another season and Cubby, who had a rule that said Bond actors couldn't do anything else, hired Dalton instead.

Guess I'm not done after all. When you talk about the 'best Bond' I think you have to distinguish between the best Fleming Bond and best Broccoli Bond. Because they are two very different guys. Fleming's Bond is an assassin who fixes problems by making them go away. Broccoli's Bond is basically a super hero, who saves the world, not just the day. I think Sean Connery, especially in Dr. No and From Russia With Love comes the closest to being a Fleming Bond. And that Pierce Brosnan is by far the best Broccoli (movie) Bond. Daniel Craig might just be the worst, IMHO he is James Bourne, not James Bond.

J-J I am a big WWII Buff and have seen many pictures of the Real George Patton, I even read his autobiography, but the George C. Scott version has become so imprinted in my mind that I tend to think of the real Patton as not looking enough like Patton.

Other imprints

Ralph Bellamy as FDR
Henry Fonda as Young Lincoln
Roger Moore as the Saint
Brian Keith as Teddy Roosevelt
Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo
I would have said David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin but slowly over the years he has transformed himself into Ducky.

One of my favorite moments from NCIS is still the time when Kate asked Gibbs, "What did Ducky look like when he was young." Gibbs thought about it for a minute and said, "Illya Kuryakin."

OK ... I will admit that I really like the Connery Bond movies. It is that they seemed to be so at odds with the image of Bond I had from reading the books. So, I guess that I would have preferred it if they had called it something other than James Bond ... I =LIKE= the 'Broccoli Bond' label <chuckle>

It may be that Lazenby's 'lack of acting' skills is what made me like him as the 'emotionless Bond' I remembered from the books. I had mostly quit watching after I say Moore in the role <shudder> I may try going back and watching some of the later movies on NetFlix after all this <g>

The Saint is the one the exception for me on your list Don. I really liked Val Kilmer's version a lot <g>

Mike,

You right in that Goldfinger, the third Bond film, established the movie Bond formula and after that there was little or no attempt to honor the books, or Fleming, who was dead by then, as well.

I actually like Live and Let Die but the Moore films, through no fault of his, turned into caricatures of the movie formula, more like live action cartoons than movies. I also don't blame Dalton for how bad his films were. Licence to Kill tried to break the formula and ended up directionless telling two separate stories at same time ans ended up terribly muddled.

They tried to give a harder edge back to Bond in the Brosnan movies but by then the formula was what sold tickets not the character.

I won't dispute that 'lowest common denominator' idea driving the studio to 'demeaning' the ideal. But I actually had also always thought that Goldfinger was the ... 'inspiration' for the Coburn 'Flint' movies ... which I =really= love, by the way <chuckle>

While, as I mentioned, I haven't seen the later movies, from what I have seen and read, I agree that 'they' sold out Flemming to make box office numbers <sigh> Although, I would like to think that the films ... if done correctly ... would still have made money ... just not as much money <sigh>

(raising my hand on Jungle Jim)

All this talk about James Bond has put me in the mood to watch some and as it turns out Starz is running the lot right now so I just finished watching Dr. No. Haven't done the full run since the 50th anniversary back in 2012, so I am due.

Johnny Weissmuller had to do Jungle Jim because he developed too much of a gut to be Tarzan anymore.