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 Tarzan's "father" is shot, Tarzan is seen from the left. His hair is messed up on both sides. When Tarzan is seen from the right, the hair on the right side of his head is perfectly combed. Then when seen from the front again, when carrying his "father", the hair is messed up on both sides again.

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Quotes

Sir Evelyn Blount: Although the circumstances indicate that he is your grandson, we cant prove it. Of course, we, erm, might be able to do so if we could do some tests.
Sixth Earl of Greystoke: [Looking out the window] He's here!
[turns to Sir Evelyn]
Sixth Earl of Greystoke: If he's a Greystoke, I'll know him at a glance!

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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

Tarzan as Burroughs intended!

If you are looking for a modern film version of Buster Crabbe or Johnny Weismuller's overcoming the machinations of unscrupulous, white safari guides or cunning, black tribesmen, while saving the animal kingdom, this is NOT the movie for you. This is a recounting of the Tarzan "legend" from its beginning in intelligent, adult terms. It is beautifully filmed and faithful to the Edgar Rice Burroughs stories.

Tarzan is no action hero, but a man torn between two worlds - the natural and the civilized. In a stunning performance, Christopher Lambert portrays this angst with absolute realism. If he slips up just once the cat will be out of the bag: the audience (especially the adult audience targeted by the film) will laugh, and the film will completely lose its grip. It will plummet into the cheesy depths. But Lambert never lets that happen. (Forget what you may think of him in other movies; when I saw this film at the theater on its original release, I thought he deserved an academy award.)

The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, as other commentators have noted. I disagree with most of them in that I didn't find anything wrong with Andie McDowell's performance. I wouldn't have nominated her for an academy award - the role is undemanding - but she is completely up to it, such as it is. I don't know why her voice was overdubbed, either.

The cinematography of the African segment of the tale is absolutely beautiful. It captures both the beauty of the African wilderness and the exotic expectation it holds in the collective imagination of those who have never been there. The scenery is lush and exotic, and the colors are vivid.

But this is also a "period" film, and the cinematography also magnificently depicts Victorian England - the countryside, the city and the interiors. The costumes are outstanding. The soundtrack is beautiful without being overwhelming or obtrusive.

There are some disturbing scenes - especially for animal lovers - but no more disturbing than a few scenes in Dances with Wolves. This is an excellent film about the conflict between civilization and nature, personified in the young Lord Greystoke, convincingly portrayed by Christopher Lambert.