The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

[imsounoriginal]

Pleasantly surprised with how this BD turned out, as far as WB discs go it's good. A little noisy but that's about it, although the CGI looks a little rougher in certain sequences than I remembered in theaters (especially the bit where they're running on the tree branches and swing onto the train). The audio is fantastic, too; I don't have Atmos but even on my dinky 5.1 setup it sounds phenomenal. As for the movie -- I liked it in theaters and liked it again. It's not gonna set anyone's world on fire, but as far as mid-tier action/adventure movies go, we've seen a lot worse recently (especially this summer). This seems like it'll be a $10 or $7.99 title on Black Friday, so hopefully more people give it a chance then.

[Donnie D]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

Pleasantly surprised with how this BD turned out, as far as WB discs go it's good. A little noisy but that's about it, although the CGI looks a little rougher in certain sequences than I remembered in theaters (especially the bit where they're running on the tree branches and swing onto the train). The audio is fantastic, too; I don't have Atmos but even on my dinky 5.1 setup it sounds phenomenal. As for the movie -- I liked it in theaters and liked it again. It's not gonna set anyone's world on fire, but as far as mid-tier action/adventure movies go, we've seen a lot worse recently (especially this summer). This seems like it'll be a $10 or $7.99 title on Black Friday, so hopefully more people give it a chance then.

Cool review. Want to check this out because of Alexander Skarsgard (in 3D). Thought he was awesome in 'True Blood'. Will wait for the drop in price which seems likely since it didn't do too well.

[BerryTheMusicMan]

Most underrated movie of the summer a solid A !

[hYPE]

Anyone recommend Tarzan? Thinking of pulling the trigger soon, would be a blind buy for me.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by hYPE

Anyone recommend Tarzan? Thinking of pulling the trigger soon, would be a blind buy for me.

It was a blind buy for me as well. It was ok but honestly not something id revist very often or maybe even at all. My dad seemed to enjoy it more then I did.

[Batmon77]

I enjoyed this with a rewatch.

[hYPE]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

It was a blind buy for me as well. It was ok but honestly not something id revist very often or maybe even at all. My dad seemed to enjoy it more then I did.

Originally Posted by Batmon77

I enjoyed this with a rewatch.

Thanks gents, I guess I'll wait & hope for a Black Friday price drop before picking it up.

[ddwall]

Just watched Tarzan and I thought it was good.Better then a lot of newer movies. I'll be getting this on black friday

[levcore]

I rewatched this on 3D blu ray yesterday after my IMAX disappointment and you know what, I really enjoyed it. A lot of the problems I had with the movie the first time I saw it are still there. Margot Robbie's character is horribly written and has absolutely excruciating dialogue throughout and her accent and performance just doesn't seem to fit the era the movie is set in. Also the CG is still a real mixed bag. A lot of the background stuff is OK (apart from the jungle stuff) but the main FX are far below what we would expect from a summer blockbuster and a movie that apparently cost around $180 Mil. I don't know what went on with the fx but they are just not up to scratch. However since my initial disappointment I have come around to the visual FX in this and accepted them for what they are.

It definitely feels like there was a longer, better cut of the movie and that it got hacked down quite a bit. I think the big problem this movie has is that as soon as shooting finished David Yates buggered off to do Fantastic Beasts so wasn't around for post production! This is crazy to me that a director essentially 'didn't finish' their movie properly and left it in other hands. I think this is the reason for the poor VFX, ie the director isn't around to oversee the CG work and give approval or not. Also I think this is why the movie got chopped down from being much longer, because the director once again isn't around to put his foot down and insist on his cut.

I did read an interview with the cinematographer Henry Braham that supports all of this:

"Interesting. I saw it with David Yates in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago, and he said, “It’s more of a movie now than a film.” And I know what he meant. What he meant was it’s become more two-dimensional. So whether that’s a Warner decision or how that’s come about – actually, David’s probably somebody who’s not pushed around too much – the journey the movie’s taken is actually a lot of scenes, a lot of the layering of drama has been taken out of it, and you pretty much go from A to B pretty quickly. Now when you consider the market for this kind of entertainment, it kicks off on 8,000 screens in China, it’s big in Russia, you get it. You’re talking to such a broad cultural spread that maybe you see the argument for that. I think if you want to make something really personal, you’re going to have to be super-powerful and committed and prepared to take a big box-office bomb if it doesn’t work. Or you do a smaller, more personal movie, which may be a lot more interesting as a film but is not going to have the same outreach as a piece of entertainment."

So whilst Yates may not have been happy with the edit of the final movie I think he only has himself to blame for going off and doing another project rather than actually finishing this movie first.

Anyway the big drawback's are Robbie, Waltz's very average villain, CGI and editing.

That aside this is a rollicking adventure fantasy movie with some exciting and well staged action, large scale, a good sense of adventure and nice 3D. I love these kinds of movies and I guess I was expecting a lot more than what we got but to be honest, in retrospect what we got is very entertaining and I really loved rewatching it last night.

The 3D comes across so much better at home (I was very critical of the 3D in the IMAX). I don't know whether it's just me or whether it really does look vastly improved on blu ray but there are loads of really nice 3D shots, a few fun pop outs (the ostrich head, Tarzan swinging towards the screen in the train scene, the beads from the villain's necklace popping out towards camera to name three) and good depth throughout. I am much more pleased with this movie second time around.

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by levcore

Also the CG is still a real mixed bag. A lot of the background stuff is OK (apart from the jungle stuff) but the main FX are far below what we would expect from a summer blockbuster and a movie that apparently cost around $180 Mil. I don't know what went on with the fx but they are just not up to scratch. However since my initial disappointment I have come around to the visual FX in this and accepted them for what they are.

They clearly spent all their money on the creatures at the expense of the plates/environments, but even then I thought most of it looked fine. Just that walking on the branches/swinging onto the train bit was noticeably awful.

[Batmon77]

The little icing for me was they tried to fit Tarzan into a historical colonialism context.
And theres some connection btwn the lead villain and The Heart of Darkness.

[weberrygt]

Well, I was ready to get this at Best Buy. Website has it as 14.99, but the store had it at 24.99 (or 19.99). Either way, I was completely turned away by the lackluster slip. Nothing interesting about it. Felt like one of the most generic covers ever (cheap, thin, etc.). I decided to just wait until Black Friday. Yes - there is no guarantee it will be on sale more than 14.99, but that slip just made me say I don't need it. If I get a slip, then great, but I'm really not super interested in this movie for more than 10 bucks.

Is this how I decide to buy movies now? ... YES!

[Dunemoon]

Originally Posted by weberrygt

Well, I was ready to get this at Best Buy. Website has it as 14.99, but the store had it at 24.99 (or 19.99). Either way, I was completely turned away by the lackluster slip. Nothing interesting about it. Felt like one of the most generic covers ever (cheap, thin, etc.). I decided to just wait until Black Friday. Yes - there is no guarantee it will be on sale more than 14.99, but that slip just made me say I don't need it. If I get a slip, then great, but I'm really not super interested in this movie for more than 10 bucks.

Is this how I decide to buy movies now? ... YES!

Once again. Cardboard Trumps Content.

[StingingVelvet]

Wanted to see this eventually so a rental priced BD on Black Friday was hard to pass up. Got it today and was immediately put off by the special feature listing on the back saying "see how they turned a stage into the wilds of Africa using green screen!" Vomit.

[film11]

Originally Posted by weberrygt

I'm really not super interested in this movie for more than 10 bucks

At least you got your wish!

[StingingVelvet]

This was an okay time-waster. It's biggest issue is it looks pretty ugly a lot of the time. Obvious CG all over the place, fake looking animals, flat digital photography most of the time and boring locations. Pretty much every cool Africa shot was a fly-over one in a helicopter, as the back of the box makes clear. It looks like a set 90% of the time. Some cool shots when rain and nighttime make that less obvious, but overall not a good looking movie. Also there are some super silly and unrealistic moments like swinging on what must be a two mile long vine connected to a cloud so they can board a moving train. Reminded me a lot of the Hobbit movies.

Story and such are better though. Some issues with a lack of proper character building but there are some good moments, especially a lovely fireside chat between Tarzan and Sam Jackson's character. Waltz is just Waltz all the time, as usual. Robbie is just kind of there. It ain't Shakespeare but it's okay. 3/5 type stuff.

BD looked as perfect as it can probably, but man that digital photography looks rough sometimes...

[levcore]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

This was an okay time-waster. It's biggest issue is it looks pretty ugly a lot of the time. Obvious CG all over the place, fake looking animals, flat digital photography most of the time and boring locations. Pretty much every cool Africa shot was a fly-over one in a helicopter, as the back of the box makes clear. It looks like a set 90% of the time. Some cool shots when rain and nighttime make that less obvious, but overall not a good looking movie. Also there are some super silly and unrealistic moments like swinging on what must be a two mile long vine connected to a cloud so they can board a moving train. Reminded me a lot of the Hobbit movies.

Story and such are better though. Some issues with a lack of proper character building but there are some good moments, especially a lovely fireside chat between Tarzan and Sam Jackson's character. Waltz is just Waltz all the time, as usual. Robbie is just kind of there. It ain't Shakespeare but it's okay. 3/5 type stuff.

BD looked as perfect as it can probably, but man that digital photography looks rough sometimes...

Poor CG is the biggest problem, after that it's Robbie's character and performance, after that it's Waltz.

With the budget this had, there's no excuse for the inconsistent CG. Some shots look spectacular (those hippos are great) but so many shots fall far below the current accepted level of quality for a $170Mil movie. It's baffling, although I partly blame Yates for running off to do Fantastic Beasts rather than sticking around for post production on Legend of Tarzan. He also might have put his foot down and had the cut be closer to his original vision, rather than hacked down to what we got.

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by levcore

With the budget this had, there's no excuse for the inconsistent CG. Some shots look spectacular (those hippos are great) but so many shots fall far below the current accepted level of quality for a $170Mil movie. It's baffling, although I partly blame Yates for running off to do Fantastic Beasts rather than sticking around for post production on Legend of Tarzan. He also might have put his foot down and had the cut be closer to his original vision, rather than hacked down to what we got.

Did this really happen?

[AKORIS]

all I can say about this movie is that I watched it just over a week ago......

and can hardly remember a single thing about it....

[levcore]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

Did this really happen?

Yes, as soon as production on Tarzan wrapped he was off to start Fantastic Beasts. I believe it was even in his contract that he get to begin FB immediately after production on Tarzan.

I read an interview with the editor where Yates had complained about WB butchering the movie in the edit.