Christopher Lambert stars as Tarzan (though the name Tarzan is never used in the film's dialogue) and Andie MacDowell as Jane; the cast also includes Ralph Richardson (in his final role), Ian Holm, James Fox, Cheryl Campbell, and Ian Charleson.

[4] Greystoke received three Oscar nominations at the 57th Academy Awards ceremony for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Richardson, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and Best Makeup.

John, Lord Clayton, the heir to the 6th Earl of Greystoke, and his wife Alice are shipwrecked on the Congolese coast.

Kala, a female ape carrying her dead infant, hears the cries of the human baby in his crib.

Years later, Belgian explorer Phillippe d'Arnot is traveling with a band of British adventurers along the river.

He befriends a mentally disabled worker on the estate and in his company relaxes into his natural ape-like behaviour.

Lord Greystoke enjoys renewed vigour at the return of his grandson and, reminiscing about his childhood game of using a tray as a toboggan on a flight of stairs, decides to relive the old pastime.

One day, while visiting London's Natural History Museum with Jane, John is disturbed by the displays of stuffed animals.

Righteously sickened by a society where humans mistreat their fellow animals as well as each other, while also tired of the other nobles who only wish to use him to further their own agendas, John decides to return to Africa and reunite with his ape family.

The distance between the page and the stage is so enormous that it is unbelievable how even the brightest people can misread your intent or not see it altogether.

This movie, about female athletes, came out of Towne's interest in human movement, which arose from his research into Greystoke.

However filming Personal Best proved extremely difficult – Towne had to deal with an actors strike and a budget blow out.

He wound up in conflict with producer David Geffen and Warners that led to him selling his interest in Greystoke.

Part of the $1 million that Towne received for Greystoke was put in escrow to be held against any money he went over budget on Personal Best.

"[14] A new director became attached to the project – Hugh Hudson whose debut feature Chariots of Fire had been a surprise box office hit.

I'd have been learning on the job and that could have proved expensive and one of the things I rely on is people's belief that I can deliver good value for money.

Stanley Canter [who's credited as producer alongside Hudson] had a deal with Warners and the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, but he wasn’t involved in the making of the film.

The story asks you to consider how society lives, halfway between the apes and the angels, aspiring to go up yet coming from down there.

"[17] Hudson tested four people as Tarzan: a Danish ballet dancer, Julian Sands, Viggo Mortensen and Christopher Lambert.

He also used Professor Roger Fouts of the Central Washington University, a primatologist who has successfully instructed chimpanzees in sign language for the deaf.

"[17] In preparation for the movie, Christopher Lambert trained with real apes and said " I wasn't afraid of them, but you must show them respect."

According to Hugh Hudson, this was due to MacDowell's southern US accent, which he did not want for the film, and that she was not (at the time) a trained actor.

[2] The young Jane featured at the beginning of the film is portrayed as American, which is consistent with Burroughs' story.

Ralph Richardson, who played The 6th Earl of Greystoke, died shortly after filming ended, and he received a posthumous Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

"[3] John Corigliano was considered to compose the film score, but he was unable to commit to the job due to scheduling conflicts.

[20] Vangelis was also considered, but according to Hudson, he got "writer's block", so the production hired John Scott, "and he did a very good job in a very short space of time", said the director.

[3] In a departure from most previous Tarzan films, Greystoke returned to Burroughs' original novel for many elements of its plot.

It also utilized a number of corrective ideas first put forth by science fiction author Philip José Farmer in his mock-biography Tarzan Alive,[citation needed] most notably Farmer's explanation of how the speech-deprived ape-man was later able to acquire language by showing Tarzan to be a natural mimic.

According to Burroughs' original concept, the apes who raised Tarzan actually had a rudimentary vocal language, and this is portrayed in the film.

His return to the wild (having already succeeded his grandfather as Lord Greystoke) is portrayed as a matter of necessity rather than choice, and he is separated, apparently, forever from Jane, who "could not have survived" in his world.