Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981)

Director:

John Derek

Writers:

Tom Rowe (screenplay) and
Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
(more)

Release Date:

17 September 1981 (Argentina)

Genre:

Adventure

Tagline:

The most beautiful woman of our time in the most erotic adventure of all time.

Plot:

The Tarzan story from Jane's point of view. Jane Parker visits her father in Africa where she joins him on an expedition...

Plot Keywords:

Tarzan | Expedition | Africa | Dog | Bare Chested Male

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Bo Derek	...	Jane Parker
Richard Harris	...	James Parker
John Phillip Law	...	Harry Holt
Miles O'Keeffe	...	Tarzan
Akushula Selayah	...	Africa
Steve Strong	...	Ivory King
Maxime Philoe	...	Riano
Leonard Bailey	...	Feathers
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Club Member (voice)
Laurie Main	...	Club Member (voice)
Harold Ayer	...	Club Member (voice)

Directed by
John Derek

Writing credits
Tom Rowe		(screenplay)
Edgar Rice Burroughs		characters
Gary Goddard

Produced by
Bo Derek	....	producer

Original Music by
Perry Botkin Jr.		(as Perry Botkin)

Cinematography by
John Derek

Film Editing by
Jimmy Ling		(as James B. Ling)

Art Direction by
Alan Roderick-Jones

Costume Design by
Patricia Edwards

Makeup Department
Norma Collins	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Eva Chun	....	production manager
Jack Oliver	....	unit production manager
Tom Shaw	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Lally	....	first assistant director
Jack Oliver	....	first assistant director
D.B. 'Warner' Warnasiri	....	assistant director: Sri Lanka (as Warner Warnasiri)

Art Department
Tommy Tomlinson	....	property master
J.A. Vincent	....	assistant art director: Sri Lanka

Sound Department
Pamela Bentkowski	....	sound editor
Alan Bromberg	....	sound editor
Jack Cheap	....	sound editor
David B. Cohn	....	sound editor (as David S. Cohn)
Virginia Cook-McGowan	....	sound editor (as Gini Cook)
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist
David Lee Fein	....	foley artist (as David Fein)
Robert Glass	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert Knudson	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Robert 'Buzz' Knudson)
Don MacDougall	....	sound re-recording mixer
Keith Olson	....	foley artist
Charles Randall	....	boom operator
William Randall	....	sound mixer
Norman B. Schwartz	....	supervising dialogue editor
Donald L. Warner Jr.	....	supervising sound editor (as Don Warner)
Robert Waxman	....	sound editor

Visual Effects by
Bobbie Johnson	....	optical supervisor

Stunts
Jock Mahoney	....	stunt coordinator (as Jack O'Mahoney)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mike Bartlett	....	first assistant camera
Armando Contreras	....	key grip
Somapala Dharmapriya	....	camera operator: Sri Lanka
Wolfgang Dickmann	....	camera associate
Allan Goodchild	....	second assistant camera
John Harnish	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Errol Kelly	....	costumer

Editorial Department
John A. Amicarella	....	assistant editor
Kevin Krasny	....	assistant editor (as Kevin A. Kresny)
Edward A. Warschilka	....	supervising assistant editor (as Edward A. Warchilka Jr.)
Janet Barbara Weiss	....	assistant editor
Randee Lynne Jensen	....	post-production coordinator (uncredited)

Music Department
Daniel Allan Carlin	....	music consultant (as Dan Carlin Jr.)
James Harbert	....	orchestrator
Harry V. Lojewski	....	music supervisor
Curt Sobel	....	music editor
Bill Stafford	....	orchestrator
Armin Steiner	....	music recording engineer

Other crew
Eva Chun	....	production executive
Linda Kemp	....	script supervisor
Burke Mattsson	....	title designer
James L. Michaelson	....	title art
Allan Placko	....	technical advisor: mountain climbing
Paul 'Sled' Reynolds	....	head animal trainer

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)
• Svengali Productions

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1985) (Greece) (VHS)
• CBS Television Network (1983) (USA) (TV)
• Esselte CIC Video (198?) (Netherlands) (VHS) (through)
• MGM / UA Home Video (198?) (Netherlands) (VHS) (through Esselte CIC Video)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1984) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Regie Cassette Video (RCV) (198?) (Belgium) (VHS)
• Veronica (2004) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Vídeo Arte (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Boone's Animals for Hollywood  animals provided by
• Gentle Jungle  animals provided by
• La Da Productions  music editing
• Lipssync Inc.  dialogue replacement
• Modern Film Effects  opticals

Also Known As:

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 (cut) (1981) | Iceland:L | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Seychelles

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This movie's working title was 'Tarzan, the Ape Man - Me Jane'.

Goofs:

Factual errors: There are no wild Ourang-utans in Africa.

Quotes:

[It's night. We hear Tarzan yelling]
Parker:Oh, shut up, you boring son of a bitch!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Blockbuster Buster: Tarzan & the Lost City (#2.16)" (2012)

A legendarily bad film

So, just how bad is the 1981 version of Tarzan the Ape Man? Everybody knows that it has a reputation as one of the very worst movies ever made, so when you sit down to watch it, you know it's going to be rubbish. The main element of fun is experiencing just how bad it really is. Can it really surpass Plan 9 From Outer Space? Is it as idiotic as Astro Zombies? Is it as boring as The Bible....in the Beginning? Is it as unitentionally funny as The Swarm? The answer is.... yes! This movie really is right down there with the worst twenty or so films ever made.

The story focuses more on Jane (the beautiful but talentless Bo Derek), who arrives in Africa to reunite with her tyrannical, boozy, abusive father (Richard Harris). During a jungle expedition, she goes missing and is rescued by ape man Tarzan (Miles O'Keefe), only to fall in love with him.

O'Keefe is unquestionably the worst Tarzan ever, and Derek is probably the worst Jane. Richard Harris's performance is energetic and entertaining, but why he bothered to put in such a lively performance is anybody's guess. It's certainly a wasted effort.

The backdrop is nicely photographed, but then again anyone can design a nice postcard. The characters moving around in front of the scenery are so banal and idiotic that the film fails on every level. The worst moment of all is the dreary slow-motion snake wrestling sequence. Bo Derek strips off regularly, and she looks stunning, but after seeing her tits five or six times, you start to get fed up even with that.

Miss this movie at all costs. Unless you want to compile a list of the worst films ever.... if that's your aim, then this is a must!