All Rise...

Judge Roman Martel was a bit disturbed when Tarzan wanted to show him his secret treasure. But the leopard woman was impressed.

Editor's Note

Our review of The Tarzan Collection, Volume 2, published December 8th, 2006, is also available.

The Charge

Welcome to Tarzan's school of jungle survival. Read on to find out how you can train your own chimp named Cheetah!

The Case

Warner Bros. released its Tarzan catalogue once already. So it really becomes a question of, do I need to replace my existing versions? Or if I don't have any of the movies, is this the set to buy?

Here's the breakdown. In this set you get four movies: Tarzan's Secret Treasure, Tarzan's New York Adventure, Tarzan and the Amazons, and Tarzan and the Leopard Woman. They all come on flipper discs, with one movie on each side. There aren't any extras. Essentially this looks like the third disc from the first volume of The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller and the second disc of the second collection that Warner Bros. released back in 2004. So if you already own those sets, there's no need to pick this one up.

But it's a good buy for those who are looking to have these specific Tarzan films. If you are new to the franchise, I recommend you get TCM Greatest Films: Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan Volume 1 first. It contains the two best Tarzan movies. What you get here are some entertaining films that lack the overall adventure feel of the first two. These are played more for laughs and family fun. This set retails for less than half the price of either of the larger sets, and if extras don't make a difference, it's the way to go.

All four films generally look and sound pretty good for their age, but I did notice the audio was a bit quiet on all of them. And the Amazons and And the Leopard Woman looked a little more beat up than the other two.

Judges Mancini and Corupe provided very thorough reviews in their coverage of the two earlier box sets. I found that I agreed with most of their comments. So rather than rehash them, I'll take a different angle. I've never seen the Tarzan movies before, so I learned quite a lot from them. Here are my top five lessons for each film:

Tarzan's Secret Treasure teaches us:
1. Tarzan's secret treasure has nothing to do with his loin cloth. Sorry folks.

2. It's really hilarious to hear Tarzan say the word "nugget."

3. Every cad in these Tarzan movies has a pencil thin mustache. Odds are they also wear a pith helmet and khakis.

4. They killed Ebenezer Scrooge!

5. Tarzan's new nickname is tippy-canoe after the water based finale involving canoes full of angry natives, crocodiles chomping people, elephants ramming everything in sight and Boy sinking like a lead weight.

Tarzan's New York Adventure teaches us:
1. This is where John Hughes got the idea for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

2. Once you hit the sixth movie in your franchise, just embrace the comedy of the whole thing. That means more chimpanzees laughing with human voices.

3. All Asian elephants from Africa know Tarzan, even if they live in a circus in New York.

4. Tarzan can testify in his own defense. As long as you don't mind monosyllabic answers.

5. Cheetah can ingest just about anything for the sake of a few laughs. Poor dope.

Tarzan and the Amazons teaches us:
1. Tarzan wields a magic knife. If he throws it at a panther in a tree, that panther becomes a stiff legged plush that falls helplessly to the ground.

2. Tarzan has spent years with Boy and Jane, but can only speak two word sentences. The isolated Amazons speak perfect english.

3. The war years completely changed Jane. She's blonde, looks and sounds totally different and is a complete wimp.

4. Explorers in the 1940s that are surrounded by beautiful women have only one thing on their mind—GOLD!

5. There is a very good reason Tarzan never told Boy and Jane about the Amazons. All those lovely ladies wantÉ his magic knife. Seriously, with all the leopard print these gals wear, it's much more efficient to skin a leopard plush rather then a living leopard.

Tarzan the the Leopard Woman teaches us:
1. You know the series has gone downhill when the first scene with Tarzan shows him on a shopping expedition with Jane.

2. One of the biggest dangers in the jungle is plush leopards with stiff legs landing on people and smearing them with strawberry preserves.

3. The deadly leopard tribe wouldn't look as silly if their fearsome leopard garb didn't look like kitty pajamas.

4. Jane is now utterly useless. She stands around and gasps as her own son is in a battle to the death. Help him, you silly goof!

5. If you try to sacrifice Tarzan and his family to your cult god, Tarzan will destroy your entire village. Seriously.

The Verdict

Guilty of having its moments, but lacking the imagination of the first set.

Give us your feedback!

Did we give TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Tarzan, Volume 2 a fair trial? yes / no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.

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