gridoon2018
Gordon Scott has a truly magnificent physique ("lucky Jane!" is all I can say), and is an excellent brawler, but his acrobatic ability is questionable at best: nearly all of his vine-swinging is filmed in long shots and appears to be stunt-doubled. Eve Brent is a stunning Jane, but she's barely in the film. The story itself is generic. ** out of 4.
quridley
George Scott's Tarzan is very much like Superman and this "film" is probably modeled on the old Superman TV show. This is 3 episodes of a planned series edited into a movie and it works. I think the use of 3 directors and stories gives the film more structure and diversity of tone than the typical films from that period.The 1st story details evil white hunters hurting animals and meeting Tarzan. Pt 2 has the hunters hunting Tarzan like game and the 3rd has Tarzan getting revenge for his tribesman friend (played by Scatman Crothers!). Its cheap and stagey, but well shot and the action is good. There's the usual inserts of safari footage but its good footage of cute and exotic animals. The treatment of the black characters is well done. Jane and Boy are barely in this but the cast is good. Gordon Scott is really a lovable hero, so it all comes off well.Minus color, effects and a multimillion dollar budget, this is comparable to today's superhero films. Modest fun.
Eric Stevenson
When I first heard the title of this movie, I thought it was going to be about Tarzan stopping some trappers, that is, people who were trapping animals. It turns out I got exactly what I expected...and not much else. I hate this if only because it was just so boring. There's relatively nothing of substance here at all. I haven't seen all the Tarzan movies so maybe this goes back to the classic days of the Weismuller era. You know, like how it takes place in that continuity. Tarzan was one of the few film series in Leonard Maltin's movie guide I was fully aware of when I first read it.It's vaguely like "The Most Dangerous Game" with one hunter talking about how he wants to take on Tarzan. At its very short length, it's mostly just a B-movie. There is very little going on at all. This would have been a great movie to feature on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". I'm used to films like this being shown there. I got bored without any riffing. *1/2
rkinsler
Of the countless actors who have portrayed Tarzan since Elmo Lincoln first appeared in 1918's `Tarzan of the Apes,' Gordon Scott remains the best to ever don a loincloth. So it's no surprise that `Tarzan and the Trappers' is one of the better Tarzan films of the past 80 years. The 1958 film was actually intended to comprise the first three episodes of a television series, but instead was made into a better-than-average Sol Lesser production that runs 74 minutes. The film's story remains contemporary, with Tarzan forced to fight for his own life while stopping greedy traders from illegally trapping and removing wildlife from the jungle.With the future of much of the world's wildlife in question, the story is as compelling now as it was 45 years ago...
