the film was widely panned upon its release. film critic and historian leonard maltin considers this one of the worst films ever to appear in his popular "tv, movie and video guide" (now simply "movie guide"): "deranged 'remake' lacks action, humor and charm; forget about comparisons to johnny weissmuller; o'keefe makes elmo lincoln seem like edwin booth." leslie halliwell described "tarzan, the ape man" as "certainly the worst of the tarzan movies and possibly the most banal film so far made; even the animals give poor performances". in