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It's clear from early on when Tarzan (Mike Henry) arrives in Mexico by airplane and is lured into an ambush in a bullring where a sniper wants to take him out that this is not the Tarzan one has come to know and love on the big screen but much more of a James Bond surrogate. Once Tarzan has gotten rid of his assassin by burying him under a giant Coca Cola bottle, he receives his task, to accompany a young boy, Ramel (Manuel Padilla jr) through the jungle to his home, the legendary Valley of Gold, the location of which is unknown to anyone on the outside world. And that's the very problem, as legend has it the valley's rich in gold, and thus Vinero (David Opatoshu), a villainous millionaire with a predilection for explosives, wants to find the valley and thus kidnaps the boy before Tarzan can even get his mission started. But Tarzan, accompanied by a chimpanzee, a lion and a leopard, is quick to free the boy, down one of Vinero's helicopters using a couple of handgrenades, then relieve Vinero's girlfriend Sophia (Nancy Kovack) he has grown tired of of the explosives around her neck which were to blow her up, and still he manages to arrive at the entrance to the valley before Vinero and his small army, including a couple of tanks. Once in the valley, which seems to be riddled with pyramids (actually this was filmed in the ancient city Teotihuacan with special focus on the Pyramid of the Sun), Tarzan tries to warn the high priest of impeding danger, but the high priest, like everyone in the valley, is a peaceful man who'd rather give up all the gold in his city than to lose a single man in fight. Vinero and his army arrive, and despite the locals showing little resistance, he has a few of them killed just to demonstrate his power. The high priest gives him all the gold his tanks can carry, but Vinero wants more - and his greed proves to be his downfall, as ultimately he finds himself locked in a room that's flooded with gold that ultimately suffocates him, while it's up to Tarzan to single-handedly takes care of of his men ...

The first of three Tarzan movies starring Mike Henry, a former NFL football linebacker rather than professional linebacker, and he might not be the best actor to ever have played the role, but sure has the physique to convince as Tarzan, plus he looks good enough in designer suits - important for the more James Bond-ish direction the series took with Henry in the lead. And with that in mind, psychopathic supervillains, gadgets of all sorts, Tarzan trained in machine guns, grenades and tanks shouldn't surprise, nor the rather high body count. In all, this might sound a little anachronistic given the direction the series has taken so far, but makes for an ok little romp that does profit from its authentic locations, some nice action setpieces, and a fittingly unhinged performance by David Opatoshu, but despite all the gadgetry, the basic plot feels very routine to tired. Not a bad film, mind you, just at the end of the day nothing to write home about.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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