Call it "Tarzan Goes to Thailand!"
In his second outing as the invincible Lord of the Jungle, sinewy Jock Mahoney ventures off to Asia at the request of a country's critically ill leader, the dying Khan (Woody Strode), strewn on his death bed, to escort his rightful heir, Prince Kashi (Rocky Der), from a religious monastery high up in the hills through miles of jungle to the capital city for his inauguration. Cho San, Prince's Nursemaid (Tsu Kobayashi)is pretty a good shot with a rifle when raiders almost abduct Kashi. Naturally, Woody Strode with a mustache has a son that could sit on the throne so he has plans to eliminate the so-called chosen one. We learn that Khan's son fears him and refuses to assume the throne. Ultimately, Khan challenges Kashi to a test of strength and Kashi asks Tarzan to represent in this trial by combat. There is a huge fire in the jungle that nearly kills the little boy as he prays to his god.
Later, Tarzan and his chief nemesis Woody Strode battle it out with sabers while balancing on a rope net above vault of boiling oil. Well, it looked like oil. Guess who dies? Jock Mahoney makes a tanned, taciturn Tarzan who is quite agile whether he be strung up between two water buffalo and stretched in opposite directions or doing a bungee cord jump before most of us knew they existed off a bridge into a narrow river. When he arrives at the monastery, he has to submit to tests at the hands of the monks. They explain that as a test of strength, he must neutralize the tug of two buffalo for five strokes of the gong. Earlier, he had fired several arrows into a bouncing ball. The scenery is exotic. The sight of be-jeweled elephants marching at the head of grand processions, and thousand girls performing a dance of the candles adds to the spectacle of "Tarzan's Three Challenges." Woody Strode sounds dubbed in the style of a treacherous Italian movie villain as he performs in a dual role as the dying Khan and his brother Khan. The Chosen one picks up a cute little elephant along the way that he calls Hungry who steals the show. Guess who replaced Cheetah? This is one darn cute little fellow. They could have launched a series out of this small elephant.
Woody Strode makes a worthwhile villain and Tarzan is virtuous as usual with Jock swinging on vines through the jungle. During the fire, a villain who had infiltrated the ranks of Tarzan and his followers dies a flaming death. Nevertheless, an above-average, old-fashioned Tarzan movie lensed in Thailand. Think of it as a glimpse at Asia before Vietnam erupted. Robert Day does a good job of storytelling and juggles suspense and tension rather well in some scenes, particularly the net fight and the burning temple.
In his second outing as the invincible Lord of the Jungle, sinewy Jock Mahoney ventures off to Asia at the request of a country's critically ill leader, the dying Khan (Woody Strode), strewn on his death bed, to escort his rightful heir, Prince Kashi (Rocky Der), from a religious monastery high up in the hills through miles of jungle to the capital city for his inauguration. Cho San, Prince's Nursemaid (Tsu Kobayashi)is pretty a good shot with a rifle when raiders almost abduct Kashi. Naturally, Woody Strode with a mustache has a son that could sit on the throne so he has plans to eliminate the so-called chosen one. We learn that Khan's son fears him and refuses to assume the throne. Ultimately, Khan challenges Kashi to a test of strength and Kashi asks Tarzan to represent in this trial by combat. There is a huge fire in the jungle that nearly kills the little boy as he prays to his god.
Later, Tarzan and his chief nemesis Woody Strode battle it out with sabers while balancing on a rope net above vault of boiling oil. Well, it looked like oil. Guess who dies? Jock Mahoney makes a tanned, taciturn Tarzan who is quite agile whether he be strung up between two water buffalo and stretched in opposite directions or doing a bungee cord jump before most of us knew they existed off a bridge into a narrow river. When he arrives at the monastery, he has to submit to tests at the hands of the monks. They explain that as a test of strength, he must neutralize the tug of two buffalo for five strokes of the gong. Earlier, he had fired several arrows into a bouncing ball. The scenery is exotic. The sight of be-jeweled elephants marching at the head of grand processions, and thousand girls performing a dance of the candles adds to the spectacle of "Tarzan's Three Challenges." Woody Strode sounds dubbed in the style of a treacherous Italian movie villain as he performs in a dual role as the dying Khan and his brother Khan. The Chosen one picks up a cute little elephant along the way that he calls Hungry who steals the show. Guess who replaced Cheetah? This is one darn cute little fellow. They could have launched a series out of this small elephant.
Woody Strode makes a worthwhile villain and Tarzan is virtuous as usual with Jock swinging on vines through the jungle. During the fire, a villain who had infiltrated the ranks of Tarzan and his followers dies a flaming death. Nevertheless, an above-average, old-fashioned Tarzan movie lensed in Thailand. Think of it as a glimpse at Asia before Vietnam erupted. Robert Day does a good job of storytelling and juggles suspense and tension rather well in some scenes, particularly the net fight and the burning temple.