It's a different approach and will not satisfy viewers intent on seeing thrilling fights and derring-do.
Points of interest (well, to me, anyway): One of Tarzan's first words is "razor," a straight razor, an instrument he has apparently never seen before but quickly learns to use. Yet, it doesn't appear he needs the razor because even though Lambert is clearly a grown man by the time D'Arnot shows up, he is clean shaven. Has he been shaving all this time with the knife he found? If so, why the great surprise at a straight razor? Interestingly, too, while in his youth and early teens Tarzan goes about naked; but by the time he's being played by Lambert, he's wearing a loincloth. Presumably, he's learned modesty from the neighboring tribesmen (or from the movie ratings board).
The second half of the film is all about Tarzan's reactions to the civilized world. It's amusing for a while but doesn't maintain the dramatic tension of the first half. The movie's single greatest weakness, in fact, is its lack of a central conflict beyond Tarzan's amazement at his new surroundings. The whole story is mainly a series of reactions on Tarzan's part to the differing worlds he's engaged in. But, as I said in the beginning, I did enjoy the way the two parts of the movie mirrored one another, both in their agonies and their joys.
The movie ends with a rather goofy, if touching and highly unlikely, incident. It reminds us that this story was written a long time ago and wears its heart on its sleeve. It's a refreshing change of pace.
Video:
The picture quality is likely as good as Warner Bros. could make it on DVD. The screen dimensions measure a healthy 2.09:1 anamorphic (enhanced) ratio across a normal television, closely approximating its 2.35:1 theatrical-release size. The bit rate used for the transfer is quite high, ensuring deep, solid colors and few or no shimmering lines. There is also very little grain that wasn't probably in the original print. However, it appears the movie was photographed in a purposely soft, romantic light, so ultimate object definition is not as perfectly sharp as modern technology can make it. In any case, the cinematography is beautiful, and the picture we see is appropriate to the story and its evocation of a proper fairy-tale mood and atmosphere.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 remix comes up reasonably well, but it does not direct a lot of information to the rear channels, nor with the most pinpoint accuracy. The best things the audio does are to spread the sound widely across the front speakers and to add a bit of musical ambiance enhancement to the surrounds. Thunder and rain and a large fire also make their presence felt in the rear or sides of the room, but it is not excessive. Bass, frequency range, and dynamics are adequate for the job, while tonal balance and voices are mostly natural and realistic.
Extras:
This all-new, twentieth-anniversary transfer is advertised as having material in it not seen in North American theaters. It's about eight minutes longer than the regular theatrical version I saw years ago, but I couldn't tell you where the new material comes in. Perhaps if I had listened through the entire audio commentary by director Hugh Hudson and associate producer Garth Thomas, I would have found out. Besides the few additional minutes and the commentary, the only other bonus items are a widescreen theatrical trailer and a generous thirty-seven scene selections. English and French are the spoken language options (the former in DD 5.1 surround, the latter in DD 1.0 mono); with English, French, and Spanish subtitles.
One of the misfortunes of WB changing from the dreaded snapper case to a more conventional keep case is that unless they include a paper insert, we no longer have a chapter index at hand. For "Greystoke," the studio provided no insert in the box they sent me.
Parting Thoughts:
You can take the man out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the man. Or something like that is about what Edgar Rice Burroughs had in mind when he first created the Tarzan character. Certainly, "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes," despite its wild and unwieldy title, maintains this message. We all owe our origins to the wilderness of long ago, and perhaps we all long to return. Whether we as "civilized" humans are any better off, any happier, any more content, than our primitive ancestors is still open to question. Well, at least we've got our home theaters and DVDs.
The second half of the film is all about Tarzan's reactions to the civilized world. It's amusing for a while but doesn't maintain the dramatic tension of the first half. The movie's single greatest weakness, in fact, is its lack of a central conflict beyond Tarzan's amazement at his new surroundings. The whole story is mainly a series of reactions on Tarzan's part to the differing worlds he's engaged in. But, as I said in the beginning, I did enjoy the way the two parts of the movie mirrored one another, both in their agonies and their joys.
The movie ends with a rather goofy, if touching and highly unlikely, incident. It reminds us that this story was written a long time ago and wears its heart on its sleeve. It's a refreshing change of pace.
Video:
The picture quality is likely as good as Warner Bros. could make it on DVD. The screen dimensions measure a healthy 2.09:1 anamorphic (enhanced) ratio across a normal television, closely approximating its 2.35:1 theatrical-release size. The bit rate used for the transfer is quite high, ensuring deep, solid colors and few or no shimmering lines. There is also very little grain that wasn't probably in the original print. However, it appears the movie was photographed in a purposely soft, romantic light, so ultimate object definition is not as perfectly sharp as modern technology can make it. In any case, the cinematography is beautiful, and the picture we see is appropriate to the story and its evocation of a proper fairy-tale mood and atmosphere.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 remix comes up reasonably well, but it does not direct a lot of information to the rear channels, nor with the most pinpoint accuracy. The best things the audio does are to spread the sound widely across the front speakers and to add a bit of musical ambiance enhancement to the surrounds. Thunder and rain and a large fire also make their presence felt in the rear or sides of the room, but it is not excessive. Bass, frequency range, and dynamics are adequate for the job, while tonal balance and voices are mostly natural and realistic.
Extras:
This all-new, twentieth-anniversary transfer is advertised as having material in it not seen in North American theaters. It's about eight minutes longer than the regular theatrical version I saw years ago, but I couldn't tell you where the new material comes in. Perhaps if I had listened through the entire audio commentary by director Hugh Hudson and associate producer Garth Thomas, I would have found out. Besides the few additional minutes and the commentary, the only other bonus items are a widescreen theatrical trailer and a generous thirty-seven scene selections. English and French are the spoken language options (the former in DD 5.1 surround, the latter in DD 1.0 mono); with English, French, and Spanish subtitles.
One of the misfortunes of WB changing from the dreaded snapper case to a more conventional keep case is that unless they include a paper insert, we no longer have a chapter index at hand. For "Greystoke," the studio provided no insert in the box they sent me.
Parting Thoughts:
You can take the man out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the man. Or something like that is about what Edgar Rice Burroughs had in mind when he first created the Tarzan character. Certainly, "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes," despite its wild and unwieldy title, maintains this message. We all owe our origins to the wilderness of long ago, and perhaps we all long to return. Whether we as "civilized" humans are any better off, any happier, any more content, than our primitive ancestors is still open to question. Well, at least we've got our home theaters and DVDs.
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[release]12526[/release]