Tarzan the Magnificent

Gritty, violent (mostly suggestively), well-made and adult in tone (there is even an attempted rape, and hints of perversity in Betta St. John's character), but with a few too many slow spots. Gordon Scott is rock-solid (literally!) as Tarzan, and Jock Mahoney (the following Tarzan!) is a worthy antagonist; their climactic fight is exhausting. **1/2 out of 4.

This is probably the best of all Tarzan films to date, and the closest to the original character created by Burroughs. Grim, violent, and threatening, it has Tarzan as the silent and determined hero, just reeking with machsimo with no silly Jane and Cheetah antics. This exciting adventure also boasts one of the greatest on-screen fist-fights ever filmed (between Scott and Mahoney, himself a future Tarzan) rivaled only by the one between John Wayne and Randolph Scott in "The Spoilers".

For a Tarzan movie, this is about as good as you're going to get. Gordon Scott does an excellent job in this film, as he did in the previous "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure". Unlike previous Tarzan actors, Scott's version of the Ape Man speaks good English and is quite intelligent. The story in "Tarzan the Magnificent" is well-written and mature. Again, for this type of genre, "Tarzan the Magnficicent" and "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" are as good as you're going to get.