Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Good concept, poorly executed.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959) *** (out of 4) Gordon Scott's fifth attempt at playing Tarzan is certainly a step above the previous four. In this outing he must try and track down four British diamond smugglers who are blowing up African villages trying to gather supplies for when they reach this diamond cave. Along the way Tarzan rescues a woman (Sara Shane) and she joins him for the adventure. TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE was clearly meant to try and take the series to a higher quality level and I think it's fair to say that this is the most lavished film in the long running series since the early MGM/Johnny Weissmuller films. I think there's a lot of good here and this is clearly one of the best films in the series. You can start off with Scott who by this time was perfectly comfortable in the role and you must admit that he's probably the best Tarzan since Weissmuller. The actor certainly has the physical appearance to pull the part off but he also works well when it comes to delivering the dialogue. The earlier films always had Tarzan speaking in this weird broken English but this wasn't how the character was originally written so it's nice to see a different approach and Scott does a very good job with it. The supporting cast is equally great here including Shane who makes for a terrific love interest. The actress is very strong in the part and her and Scott share some real chemistry. The bad guys are all terrific with Anthony Quayle doing a remarkable job as the main guy. Niall MacGinnis is perfect as the snake diamond expert and a young Sean Connery plays the loud-mouth tough guy. Another major plus is that the majority of this was actually filmed in a jungle and this really adds some nice atmosphere. The cinematography really picks up everything quite nicely and adds an added dimension. The story itself is another winner as it clearly tries to break away from a lot of the comedy and silliness that a lot of the series had. Instead of comedy we pretty much get one action scene after another and most of them are quite fun and a few even has some nice suspense. There's a chilling scene involving quicksand and of course you have to have Tarzan battling a crocodile. With that said, if you're looking for high art you're certainly not going to find it here but there's no question that this is an entertaining little film with some strong performances and nice action.

Scar-faced Anthony Quayle (as Slade) and his cut-throat crew are in Africa looking to get rich on diamonds, which doesn't sit well with loin-clothed lord of the jungle Gordon Scott (as Tarzan). Beautiful Sara Shane (as Angie) crashes the scene, gets rescues by Mr. Scott and chased by a lion. All of this sounds like the usual fare, but there is a rub. With new producer Sy Weintraub taking over, the "Tarzan" franchise decided to become more adult in orientation. In an early scene, Scott symbolically bids farewell to his adorable chimp "Cheta" before going on to face real danger...Parents who sat with their kids for the "Tarzan" films must have been squirming in their seats as "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" presented increasingly realistic scenes of violence. Drama teachers could be proud as Scott and his guest stars, including sexy while clothed Sean Connery (as O'Bannion), are given opportunities to do some real acting, too. The inserted animals are still a stock footage nuisance, and it's easy to over-praise this film in context, but keep watching as the exciting ending may be the series' best. Scott had good reason to give a "Tarzan" shout-out.******* Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (7/8/59) John Guillermin ~ Gordon Scott, Anthony Quayle, Sara Shane, Sean Connery

Most Tarzan fans will recall the lousy, poorly acted black and white films of Johnny Weismuller and Lex Barker....there were lots of grunts, elephants, nasty villains and wild out of control natives. Saw one, pretty much saw them all kind of thing. Then after producer Sol Lesser sold the Tarzan rights to producer Sy Weintraub the series got serious. In 1955 a bulging muscleman named Gordon Scott took over the role of Tarzan. His first Tarzan was a dud called "Tarzan's Hidden Jungle", another 1940s, early 50s style Tarzan with the typical bad guys, elephants and natives getting restless. Weintraub had a vision of a much more intelligent Tarzan. A man who could think, reason, and not grunt or say 2-3 word sentences for a whole film. Scott after four average to poor Tarzan films got a top notch script with excellent actors/villains for TGA. Story concerns Tarzan tracking down 5 mean, nasty villains who had murdered several people stealing dynamite needed to blow up a diamond mine they intended to plunder. Scott is very likable and very well adjusted to the role of an intelligent Tarzan. He thinks, makes smart comments and is all business as he decides to wipe out the bad guys. Thrown in for some good mixture are two very beautiful ladies, one a villain, a gorgeous Italian lady named Scilla Gabel and an aviatrix lost on a trip from England named Angie, played by noted British model Sara Shane. Shane soon crashes her plane as she tries to dive bomb Tarzan with some fancy plane maneuvers. Scott rescues her and tries hard throughout the whole film not to show his feelings of affection for her. A torchy kissing scene with Tarzan and Shane is taken out of the final cut. Along the way Scott wipes out each villain one by one until his final showdown with the villain leader, Anthony Quayle. A superb final minutes of the film show Tarzan periously dueling Quayle on the edge of a mountain top with a nasty 100 ft. drop. Quayle gives Tarzan all he can handle and the fighting scenes at the finish are very well photographed and acted out.....Scott is exhausted as he dumps Quayle over the edge and gives out the famous Tarzan yell in triumph. This Tarzan tale is far and away the best with a very tight knit script and no wasted minutes....you will be kept on the edge of your seat throughout the film as Tarzan closes in on his enemies while serenading Shane. At the end Shane departs and Tarzan returns to his realm. Scott is handsome and muscular to the extreme in this film. Followed up by the equally good "Tarzan the Magnificent" with Scott. Don't miss either film if you are a Tarzan fan. Scott to me by far the best Tarzan ever and the most muscular.

When producer Sy Weintraub took over the reins of the "Tarzan" franchise, in 1958, he set as his goal the dream of Edgar Rice Burroughs and countless fans of the Jungle Lord over the years; a return to the character as originally envisioned in Burroughs' novels. An intelligent, articulate 'defender of the jungle' gifted with nearly superhuman abilities, John Greystoke, aka Tarzan, had the savagery to survive in a primeval environment, but could also function comfortably in the world of men. MGM had thought the concept too far-fetched, and had turned Tarzan (as personified by Johnny Weissmuller) into a monosyllabic savage, only 'humanized' by the love of British society girl Jane Parker (Maureen O'Sullivan). When the formula proved successful, the Ape Man was 'locked' into the characterization, much to the chagrin of Burroughs, and when RKO took over the series, in 1943, no effort was made to change the formula. Weismuller eventually aged out of the role, but successor Lex Barker, despite credentials that would have made 'smartening' Tarzan logical (he was an Ivy Leaguer with a pedigree nearly as impressive as Greystoke), was forced to carry on the "Me, Tarzan" tradition through four more films. When Barker became fed up with being stereotyped, and passed the Tarzan loincloth to ex-lifeguard Gordon Scott, in 1955, the powerfully-muscled Scott carried on the duties of role adequately, but the series had degenerated into low-budget formula pictures, only notable for an occasional future star in an early role (Vera Miles appeared in TARZAN'S HIDDEN JUNGLE, and would, in fact, marry Scott, after filming was completed).After four mediocre Gordon Scott "Me, Tarzan" films, the time was ripe for change, and Weintraub was a man of vision, and terrific entrepreneurial skills. Not only would the actor speak full sentences in TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE, he'd be backed by a first-rate supporting cast, and the film would be the first "Tarzan" shot, in Technicolor, in Africa! With a large contingent of press on hand, the cast and crew arrived on location, and Gordon Scott proved himself the very personification of Tarzan, riding a zebra, wrestling a lion, and performing other tasks with grace and astonishing skill. It was an auspicious start to what would become a landmark "Tarzan" film.The tale of a band of escaped British criminals killing innocents, and stealing dynamite for a robbery, the gang leader, Slade (Anthony Quayle) is a homicidal maniac that Tarzan had put in prison before, making the Ape Man's pursuit a 'personal' vendetta. Not even the presence of an alluring distraction (Sara Shane) would deter him on his quest, and the frequent close-ups of the scarred and cold-blooded Slade, and Tarzan, with a fixed, merciless grin across his face, give clear evidence of two predators, circling for a kill. As Tarzan whittles down the gang, the stage is set for a terrific, violent climactic fight that ranks as one of the best of the entire "Tarzan" series. When Tarzan beats his chest and gives the classic Ape yell at the conclusion of TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE, he's EARNED the right!Featured in the cast is 29-year old Sean Connery, excellent as the brutal, but wise-cracking "O'Bannion", Slade's right-hand man, and he so impressed Weintraub and director John Guillermin that the pair actually asked him to become the next screen "Tarzan", after Gordon Scott's last contracted film, TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT. Connery, thrilled, was prepared to accept the role, but a call back from another audition...to play a secret agent in an upcoming production called DR. NO, resulted in a contract, and he, regretfully, passed on Tarzan, and became James Bond, instead! Weintraub ended up replacing Gordon with his 41-year old TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT co-star, Jock Mahoney, and the new, literate Tarzan would continue on into the sixties.TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE may not be everyone's favorite Tarzan film, but in it's daring approach to both the character and the use of actual locations, it certainly deserves it's place as a classic of the series!