Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)

A shipping disaster in the 19th Century has stranded a man and woman in the wilds of Africa. The lady is pregnant, and gives birth to a son in their tree house. Soon after, a family of apes... See full summary »

Director:

Hugh Hudson

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (novel), Robert Towne,

Stars:

Ralph Richardson, Ian Holm, Christopher Lambert

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ralph Richardson	...	The Sixth Earl of Greystoke
Ian Holm	...	Capitaine Phillippe D'Arnot
James Fox	...	Lord Charles Esker
Christopher Lambert	...	John Clayton / Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
Andie MacDowell	...	Miss Jane Porter
Cheryl Campbell	...	Lady Alice Clayton
Ian Charleson	...	Jeffson Brown
Nigel Davenport	...	Major Jack Downing
Nicholas Farrell	...	Sir Hugh Belcher
Paul Geoffrey	...	Lord John 'Jack' Clayton
Richard Griffiths	...	Captain Billings
Hilton McRae	...	Willy
David Suchet	...	Buller
Ravinder	...	Dean
John Wells	...	Sir Evelyn Blount

Storyline

A shipping disaster in the 19th Century has stranded a man and woman in the wilds of Africa. The lady is pregnant, and gives birth to a son in their tree house. Soon after, a family of apes stumble across the house and in the ensuing panic, both parents are killed. A female ape takes the tiny boy as a replacement for her own dead infant, and raises him as her son. Twenty years later, Captaine Phillippe D'Arnot discovers the man who thinks he is an ape. Evidence in the tree house leads him to believe that he is the direct descendant of the Earl of Greystoke, and thus takes it upon himself to return the man to civilization.

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Plot Keywords:

ape | civilization | africa | stranded | 19th century | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Greystoke, la leyenda de Tarzán, el rey de los monos

Filming Locations:

Bimbia, Southwest Province, Cameroon

Box Office

Gross:

$45,900,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc., WEA Records

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min 143 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally 180 minutes long, but was eventually cut down, with a number of key roles being turned into bit parts.

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Goofs

When the Ape in the tree is shot in the chest, the bullet wound is almost touching its left nipple, and sprays blood across a largish area of the chest. The ape then falls, lands face down and is turned over, Tarzan picks the dead animal up and carries it. The wound on the ape has moved several inches lower and at an angle to where it was last. All the blood spray has vanished as well.

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Quotes

Sixth Earl of Greystoke: [Towards Tarzan:] Have a look at the wall.
[... ]
Sixth Earl of Greystoke: It comes all around the estate to keep them out - and keep us in.

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Connections

Referenced in HBO First Look: I Dreamed of Africa: On Location (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Riding On Top Of The Car"
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

not the Tarzan you think of......

SPOILERS Edgar Rice Burroughs's famous character was adapted thousand of times for the screen til one's thirst is quenched, notably during the thirties and the forties by Hollywood. Its productors made Tarzan one of the most successful cinema characters. Several years later, Hugh Hudson decided to make a more ambitious version of the monkey-man and it's a more natural, more wild and more down-to-earth Tarzan that he gives away here. Hudson skilfully avoids the clichés that you usually grant to Tarzan such as his famous scream or his friendly pet, Cheetah. Not only, are we far from the designed and invented character made by Hollwood but we are also far from the film set used to make his stories. The movie was partly made in Africa (more precisely in Cameroon). The movie introduces two obvious parts: the first one which takes place in the jungle where Tarzan lives among his adoptive friends, the apes and considers himself as their lord. But he ignores his real origins. The second one in England where Tarzan discovers the English society. Ian Holm epitomizes the link between the two parts and Hudson avoids all that could make the movie falls into the ridiculous thanks to a clever screenplay. Indeed, Holm teaches Lambert basic rules of manners so as to behave correctly in the English society and the result works. Moreover, in the second part, no-one ever laughs at Tarzan and he's even really appreciated. As far as the end is concerned well it's a both bitter and happy end. Happy because Tarzan comes back to the jungle and meets again his adoptive close relatives. But bitter too, because this homecoming means that the Greystoke line won't be ensured and is condemned to disappear... Christophe Lambert finds here, his first (and last?) great role. Sadly, he'll never equal the achievement of his performance in this movie and he'll play in poor and insipide action movies. Nevertheless, as I said previously, a clever screenplay, a performance of a rare quality, some impressive natural sceneries (both the jungle and the English country and we get a gorgeous movie. It's also an excellent rereading from a popular novel. So why is it only rated barely (6/10)?