BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Fluke_Skywalker Plot; A young baby, orphaned after he and his parents are shipwrecked off the coast of Africa, is taken in and raised by apes. After reaching adulthood he finds himself caught between two worlds and must make a choice between his now foreign homeland and the only home he's ever known.Razor thin, Cliff notes version of the Tarzan story skates by (or is that swings?) on gorgeous visuals, a surprisingly strong and emotional bond between Tarzan and his adoptive ape mother and a charmingly quirky performance from Minnie Driver as Jane.As a courtesy I must warn you that approx. 79 of its 88 minute runtime contains music by Phil Collins. The type of which you typically hear in the candles section at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

The_Light_Triton From 1989 to 1999, Walt Disney studios created some of the most amazing, mind-blowing animated movies of all time. From the little mermaid to beauty and the beast, from Aladdin to the lion king, from Pocahontas to Hercules, and finally, Mulan to Tarzan, these movies still hold their staying power to today. However, Tarzan was the last of these films, from the period known as the Disney Renaissance. Disney remains a popular animation studio in the public eye, but no one could deny how popular they were throughout the 1990s.Tarzan itself is based upon the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the movies from the 1930s. Tarzan is a baby who loses his parents, and is adopted by a family of gorillas, who raise him up as their own.For a Disney film, this one is one of the best. For a renaissance film, It's not the best of them. I still like to say that the first 2 (The Little Mermaid & Beauty and the Beast) were the best. I know that some Disney fans would chew on me for not saying The Lion King, but that's just my personal preference.I still think it's a great movie, worthy of being part of the collection of Disney's best.9/10

karagoraymond A different but brilliantly adapted version of Borough's classic novel. From the get go Tarzan will have you wide eyed and waiting to see what will happen next. The opening sequence is one of the most impressive I have ever seen in film. The opening sequence is just so powerful as it shows the contrast of the human family (infant Tarzan with his parents) and the gorilla family living happily before tragedy strikes both families which leads Kala to finding the baby Tarzan. All done without dialog, all done with the great song "Two Worlds" in the background.Changing Tarzan's adoptive family to gorillas worked well because it showed a more gentle side to these great apes, which are often depicted as savage bruits in such films as King Kong and Planet of the apes. Tony Goldwyn did a great job as Tarzan; he hit the right balance of fun loving, relaxed and also emotional when it was required. However, Glen Close gave a soft, angelic voice to Kala that only a mother could have and her bond with both the child and adult Tarzan was at the emotional soul of the film. This was contradicted perfectly by Henriksen's performance as the un-accepting and judgmental ape leader Kurchack. Jane, Tantor, Turk were all great characters that all did well with adding humor at the appropriate times and what I liked about Driver's performance was that she was neither the defiant heroine nor the damsel in distress but rather she was simply a girl who had come to an untamed land and became enchanted with the world of a man she would later fall in love with. I would even go as far as to say that Jane is one of Disney's best female leads.I also give the movie points for the animations, most adaptations would have Tarzan swinging through the trees, but here he actually surfs through the trees.However, I do feel that the villain (voiced by Brian Blessed) was slightly weak in comparison to other characters, Clayton is not very interesting in terms of motivation but I do feel he could have been more unique if he had been made to look younger, I would have preferred to see him have the looks of say John Smith from Pocahontas, he just seemed quite forgettable but held up in the film's final third. I also feel the film would have been more effective if Sabor was given a speaking part. Simply having the leopard growl and roar seemed to make him a brainless carnivore as opposed to an enemy and in my humble opinion Sabor would have been more intimidating if the had a speaking role to match his ferocity.The film's strongest point was it's music and Phil Collins and Mark Mancina joined forces to create one of the greatest soundtracks I have heard in a very long time. With the exception of "Trashing the camp" which was sung by Turk, Collins used his actual voice for all of the songs and tunes such as "Son of Man" or "Strangers like me" or the Oscar winning "You'll be in my heart" will all go down as classics and give the film for being original and not sticking to the traditional musical tone.As one of the final traditionally animated films to be considered a hit, and is probably the greatest depiction of the story of Tarzan ever put on the big screen. An absolute must see.

Robert Thompson (justbob1982) Version: UK bluray releaseActors: 7/10Plot/script: 5/10Photography/visual style: 6/10Music/score: 4/10Overall: 6/10Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan has become a very cinematic legend over the century since his first story was published but, for me, the Disney version comes during one of the dips in the quality of their output. Their initial Golden Age ended with the Jungle Book, followed by a revival during the 80s and 90s. More recently, they've come back to the top again with The Princess and the Frog, Tangled and Frozen.It's interesting that both the directors of Tarzan were involved with this latest renaissance: Chris Buck co-directed Frozen (with Jennifer Lee), and Kevin Lima got it all started with Enchanted, which re-assessed the glittering Disney back-catalogue, and came away with an attitude that was affectionate, yes, but not actually reverential. Sadly, there is little evidence in Tarzan of that healthier relationship with the legacy.The setting is a problem, for me. I grew up with Disney films that each had a distinctive setting, be it Arabia or under the sea. However, The Jungle Book had already covered, erm, jungle, and The Lion King had done Africa. An adult perception says that the African jungle is distinct from both of these, but Disney are not about adult, subtle distinctions.Another problem with Tarzan is the soundtrack. I found Phil Collins' voice dull and detached throughout, and when I bothered to tune into the lyrics, they just explained what I could already see was going on on-screen, thus making them pointless. Okay, they got Elton John in to make good songs for The Lion King, and there are versions sung by him, but they are distinctly poorer in my book, and in the main film I am glad they stuck with the cast as singers.The animation is pretty good for the period, especially in the sequences where Tarzan is racing through the branches... although they are also suspiciously reminiscent of a roller-coaster ride, coming from the company that must always be on the lookout for new Disneyland attractions. The movements of Tarzan and his ape 'family' are also well-observed, I was pleased to note.Such a shame, then, that the character of Tarzan himself (as voiced by Tony Goldwyn) is so unengaging. I'm not sure why it is; he certainly has enough character drama, what with an identity crisis and overall coming-of-age in classic film style. Maybe it's because they have set aside the traditional Tarzan symbol of masculinity in favour of something more vulnerable and adolescent; a defensible choice, but one that requires real attention to detail to instigate. He just didn't quite grab me... in stark contrast to his love interest, Jane (Minnie Driver). Driver was at the height of her powers back in 1999, and brings to the role the confidence of an actress in charge of her destiny. She has so much more screen magnetism and, quite frankly, I would have preferred it if she had just been the main character throughout. Maybe Tarzan's development would have been more interesting through her eyes.Oh, and TWENTY-ONE story writers! What's that all about? There's barely enough story here for one writer, once you take out the contributions of Burroughs and the screenwriters. It would appear that they just gave a writing credit to everyone who did some work on designing the characters or settings. Office politics, I guess.For my full review, see my independent film blog on Blogspot, Cinema Inferno: http://cinemainferno-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/tarzan-1999.html