Over the years, there have been approximately 374,085 Tarzan films, give or take a couple. In all of the ones other than "Greystoke" that I've seen, Tarzan is played by a guy who looks more at home on the cover of GQ and the guy seemed about as ape-like as you or me. So, it is refreshing that this film takes a much more realistic look at the Edgar Rice Burroughs character.

Unlike other Tarzan films I've seen, this version shows a LOT of young Greystoke in the jungle...hanging with his ape family and being all lord of the apey. I appreciate this and was blown away by the costumes, as these chimp-like apes* looked real and had real expressions. To me, this is the best part of the movie...though I am sure many viewers did not enjoy seeing about an hour of the film devoted to this. Also, while I am not a big Christopher Lambert fan, here he was exceptional and perfectly cast...I can't say this about the Highlander films, as he was oddly cast as a Scotsman...despite his very French accent.

Overall, if you want a Tarzan film which is very close to the books, then this is it. In no way am I putting down previous Tarzan films (particularly the very well made Johnny Weissmuller ones),but this one is simply closer to the author's vision...and looks exceptional. It's obvious the filmmakers spent a lot of time and energy crafting such an authentic looking picture.

In the author's books, the apes Tarzan/Greystoke lived with weren't chimps or gorillas but some fictional species. For the film, the costumes were decidedly much more chimp-like.

In 1885, Lord John Clayton, son of Earl of Greystoke, is shipwrecked in Africa with his wife Alice. They have a baby and Alice dies. Lord Clayton is killed by an ape while the baby is adopted by Kala. Years later, Philippe D'Arnot (Ian Holm) is the sole survivor of a hunting scientific expedition after a native attack. He is rescued by a wild male (Christopher Lambert) who he realizes is the child of Lord Clayton. D'Arnot brings him back to civilization as the heir to Greystoke. His grandfather (Sir Ralph Richardson) is overjoyed. He's taken with his grandfather's ward Jane (Andie MacDowell).

This is a two part movie. The first part suffers from a lack of individuality in the apes. It's hard to differentiate the various apes. That limits the drama within the ape society. The second part has Tarzan returning back to Scotland. I actually find this idea quite fascinating and this could be a great story by itself. However the drama never truly takes off. There is a lack of a dangerous villain. He is completely protected by his grandfather. I think there is a valiant attempt here but it doesn't really work for me.

A bit of an oddity, this: a few years ago I read through the original Burroughs novel and was eager to find out how this adaptation held up. The answer is that it follows the story in the book extremely closely – especially in the first half – depicting events with a kind of vicious believability that's miles away from the chest-beating, vine-swinging Tarzans of old.

It's not entirely accurate – there's far less of that grisly business involving the hostile tribesmen – but what I saw, I liked. The apes are played by men in pretty convincing suits, and watching Tarzan growing up to become lord of the jungle is a lot of fun. In addition to that, the film plays an ace in the casting of Ian Holm as the Belgian captain who 'civilises' Tarzan. Holm gives a subtle, mannered, quite excellent performance, one that's filled with emotion and is the best in the entire movie.

That's not to say that Christopher Lambert, as the title character, is bad. It's a memorable debut turn, carefully judged and entirely physical. He gets the movements and mannerisms of a jungle-born man just right, which is why it's a shame that the ridiculous decision was made to rub him over with animal noises. If he's angry, a lion's roar comes out of his mouth, etc. The filmmakers rely on such things a lot, especially in the second half, and it's a real shame.

That's not the only problem with the second half. Once the action shifts to England, the pacing slows right down and the film feels devoid of incident. Andie MacDowell is fairly uninteresting in playing an insipid Jane, and even a final, unexpectedly touching turn from Ralph Richardson fails to liven things up. As I remember, this part of the film deviates quite substantially from the book, and it suffers for it. Basically we get an hour of Tarzan wandering around his mansion and it's all rather depressing. It's a shame, because earlier on a great deal of effort was made to bring those jungle scenes to life, and it all fizzles out at the end.