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Click above to purchase "Tarzan" at amazon.com
Tarzan
review by Zach B.
Rated G
Studio: Disney
Running Time: 88 Minutes
With the voices of Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Glenn
Close, Rosie O'Donnell, Nigel Hawthorne, Wayne Knight
Based on "Tarzan of the Apes" by Edgar Rice Burroughs,
Written by Tab Murphy and Bob Tzudiker & Noni White
Directed by Kevin Lima and Chris Buck
Retail Price: $29.99
Features: Read Along, Trivia Game, Phil Collins Music
Video, NSYNC Music Video, Sneak Previews, DVD-ROM
Specs: Digital Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer (Aspect
Ratio 1:66:1), 5.0 Dolby Digital in English, Spanish and
French, Chapter Search (36 Chapters), English and Spanish
Subtitles, THX Certified
In the summer of 99, Disney hit box office gold once
again with their newest animated feature, Tarzan, based on
the classic story by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Past summers,
Disney did struggle a little with their animated features,
they only made 100 million or a little bit over that sum.
But with great animation, catchy music by Phil Collins and
good voice acting, Disney did sort of redeem themselves,
Tarzan made over 170 million at the box office. The film was
also critically praised. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the
film, but I did find it lacking in some areas. I thought
some characters needed a little more development, and I saw
ways the story could have been a little bit more expanded.
But my biggest complaint was that there could have been more
conflict between two central characters: Tarzan and his ape
father Kerchak.
Anywho, the story of Tarzan begins when two parents and a
baby get off a burning boat wreck, and settle down in an
African jungle. But a mean animal by the name of Sabor kills
the baby's parents, as well as the young daughter of two ape
parents. The mother ape parent, Kala, finds the baby, who is
all alone, and is adopted into their ape tribe, but still
not excepted by her husband, Kerchak. Yet soon it all
clashes together when a few years later humans arrive in the
jungle, who Tarzan makes friends with. That includes Jane
and her father. But soon enough, Tarzan suffers an identity
crisis. Who is he? What is he feeling? And with a ruthless
villian named Clayton, who is a threat to his family, it's
time for Tarzan to find his place.
The lesson of family and being who you are in Tarzan is
very good, and like all Disney movies, all the values and
morals are good. Though I did point out the parts I did
dislike about the film earlier, there is still lots to like
about it. The voice acting is very good, and the animation
is Disney's best yet. With some parts created with the help
of computers, there are some great angles and shots are
breathtaking to look at. The music is great and I must say
catchy. All the songs were written by Phil Collins, and, he
was awarded an Oscar® for the song "You'll Be in my
Heart". Mark Mancia's score is very nice, but not up to par
with other Disney features like "The Lion King", but it does
work on many levels and fits perfectly into the film. It is
better then some of their recent features though, but either
how, I really did enjoy it.
Tarzan is great family fare, and if you are the least bit
interested in it and have not seen it, it is worth checking
out.
Simply put: Perfect. This is another great reference
disc. No scratches or artifacts whatsoever, all the colors
and detail are vibrant and perfect. It's a marvel to look at
and it's a digtial transfer too, plus it's anamorphic.
Still, I did notice some slight pixelation during the
"Trashing the Camp" scene, which is about halfway through
the movie. But I believe this was the layer change, and only
occurs for a second. Truly a top-notch transfer, all in the
ratio of 1:66:1. It's THX too. WOOHOO!
The Dolby Digital 5.0 mix is very nice, and it is needed.
The chirps of the birds, the crashes, the various noises,
without a good mix it's hard to watch the movie. But
thankfully, it is a nice sound mix. Dialogue is clear too,
and things are loud and ear-crackling. But for some reason,
something feels missing in this mix, but I can't put my
finger on it. Perhaps the lack of the .1 LFE. You may have
heard there were some problems with early discs, that the
sound was defected, so make sure you get a good version!
Go with the
Collector's
Edition if you like features... here, you'll find some
Sneak Previews of upcoming Disney feaures and such.
Tarzan Read-Along, basically a storybook which
you can read yourself or have read to you. For the kids,
basically. There is also a somewhat hard Trivia Game,
Disney seems to be including these in all their animated
discs now. And just for the record, I scored 13 out of 15
the first time I played.
The Phil Collins Music Video is here, as well as
some Behind The Scenes Footage of him and teen pop
group NSYNC (ech). Finally, there are some DVD-ROM
features.
If you don't like extras, then this is the version for
you. While supplements are lacking, the picture and audio
are spellbinding. Still, this is a great deal. You can score
two wonderful movies in the same package for a retail of
forty dollars. Online you can probably get them for cheaper.
These movies deserve to be in your DVD collection, so just
get them!
 (4/5, NOT included in
final score)
 (5/5)
 (4.5/5)
 (2/5)
 (3.5/5, NOT an average)
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