The movie begins with Jane searching for her father in Africa. This film introduces a new aspect to the Tarzan mythos. The estrangement of Jane and her father. In this version James Parker abandoned his wife and daughter in an endless search for adventure. Upon the death of her mother Jane begins her quest to find the father she never knew. It isn't a happy reunion. James Parker is played by Richard Harris, who may be familiar to most viewers as Dumbledore from the first two Harry Potter films.
As with the 1932 film we once again have the character of Harry Holt in place of William Clayton. The object of their expedition is also the same, the elephant graveyard. As they make camp one night the (reused) cry of Tarzan is heard. In this film James and Holt know of the existence of Tarzan...and regard him as a myth.
Once they reach an inland sea Jane decides this is a great time to take a bath. As she is out frolicking in the water a lion approaches. As the lion paces back and forth the cry of Tarzan sounds and the jungle lord approaches. He briefly interacts with her, mostly frightening her, before Mr. Parker and Mr. Holt drive both Tarzan and the lion away.
That night Jane and Mr. Parker argue over Tarzan's true intentions. The expedition continues to move forward. Tarzan manages to capture Jane out from under Holt's nose. When a large snake tries to kill Jane, Tarzan comes to her rescue...and the movie enters this very drawn out slow motion montage. It goes on and on...and on. The 'real' Tarzan would have killed this snake in a matter of minutes...much like James Bond did in Moonraker. Eventually they both just swim away.
Tarzan collapses after his epic struggle and is met by his animal friends: several apes and an elephant. After he is nursed back to health the couple spend some time getting to know one another. Jane tries to teach him how to smile and he uh...investigates her girl parts.
Just as Jane is about to be reunited with her father everyone except Tarzan is captured by hostile natives. Jane is uh...given a bath and is then painted. Tarzan arrives, but is too late to save James Parker. For the battle between Tarzan and the native chief the movie goes back into slow motion. Tarzan manages to snap his neck and rescue Jane. In the end Jane stays with Tarzan. As the credits roll we see footage of Tarzan, Jane and an orangutan playing...though one gets the feeling the orangutan wants more than 'play time'.
This is very much Jane's movie, as the movie is told from her point of view. As pointed out at the beginning of this review, Jane spends 90% of the film in a wet t-shirt or topless. This is, in fact, the sole reason anyone should ever watch this movie. When I sat down to to these Tarzan reviews I knew I wanted to cover this film as it is somewhat infamous...but I have dreaded re-watching it. It's just such an odd film.
If this film feels a bit too erotic you will be glad to know the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate felt the same way and sued to prevent this film from being release. Obviously, the law suit failed but it is rumored they were successful in having several minutes of footage removed. The lion's share (ha!) of blame can be placed on Bo Derek, serving as producer in addition to actress, and her husband John Derek who directed this film.
Aside from reusing the iconic Tarzan yell from the 1932 film, the stunt coordinator for this film is Jock Mahoney, who actually played the role of Tarzan in two previous films. If you're looking for a good Tarzan film to watch...avoid this film as if were the plague. It fails as a Tarzan adaption and it simply fails as a film.
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