March 24, 1998. Copyright, 1998, Graphic News. All rights reserved

NINETEENTH TARZAN MAKES HIS DEBUT
By Oliver Burkeman

LONDON, March 24, Graphic News - CASPER Van Dien swings on to the screen in ÔTarzan and the Lost CityÕ as the nineteenth ÔofficialÕ cinematic incarnation of the English aristocrat-turned-jungle warrior created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1914. The musclebound star of ÔStarship TroopersÕ is joined by Jane March (ÔThe LoverÕ, ÔColour of NightÕ), as Jane, in Ôa thrilling fast-paced action adventureÕ directed by Carl Schenkel (director of 1994 horror epic ÔThe SurgeonÕ), which opens in the U.S. on April 24. It will be released in Europe in the autumn as ÔTarzan and the Lost City of GoldÕ. Disney is also preparing a return to the jungle in 1999 with an animated Tarzan feature including the voices of Minnie Driver (ÔGood Will HuntingÕ) and Glenn Close (Ô101 DalmatiansÕ). The new Tarzans have some hard acts to follow: among nearly 50 films which have followed the silent 1918 movie ÔTarzan of the ApesÕ, starring Elmo Lincoln, are the twelve performances of Johnny Weismuller, whose trademark wail is still the first thing called to mind by the name Tarzan. But it should be rather easier to improve on the unauthorised 1973 Spanish movie ÔTarzan y el misterio de la selvaÕ (ÔTarzan and the Jungle MysteryÕ), which plunged the creeper-swinging hero into a plot about Nazi gunrunning in Africa. As one reviewer put it bluntly: ÔIt makes no sense.Õ
ENDS

ÔTarzan and the Lost CityÕ (of GoldÕ), a Village Roadshow picture, distributed in the U.S. by Warner and in the UK by First Independent

Village Roadshow Pictures USA (+1) 310 282 5300
Village Intermedia UK (+44) (0)171 495 3322
Warner Bros USA (+1) 212 636 5200
First Independent UK (+44) (0)171 528 7767