MartinHafer During the 1930s and 40s, Johnny Weissmuller starred in a series of excellent Tarzan films for MGM. However, by the late 40s, Weissmuller's handsome good looks were giving way to middle age and MGM tired of the films. So, Weissmuller went looking for work and was hired to essentially play Tarzan in some very low-budget films. But, since they didn't own rights to Tarzan, the films were marketed as Jungle Jim films--Jim being a comic character which was much cheaper to license! Plus, Jim isn't exactly a jungle savage-- allowing the now paunchy Weissmuller to wear more clothes. While I love Weissmuller's Tarzan flicks, the Jungle Jim ones are not especially good...but at least they helped the aging actor to pay the bills.Here in "Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land", our hero is approached by a sexy scientist to go to some legendary land where there are giants. Jim knows better and refuses--especially since it involves ivory. But then he eventually is forced to go on this expedition-- one where you'll see all sorts of stock footage and crappy 'creatures'. One of my favorite is just before he agrees to go--- when Jim struggles with a vicious hippo--a hippo that clearly is rubber AND while he's supposed to be under water, Weissmuller clearly isn't and footage of water is superimposed over the scene! Talk about crappy!! There's also a wolfman sort of guy! Why? Who knows?! And then there's the Indian elephants (in Africa) with tusks taped onto it (you can see them wiggling about). The bottom line is that if you like crappy jungle films, then you will like this one. If you think it in any way approaches the quality of the classic Tarzan films, then are you in for a rude awakening! Rather awful overall...and a bit dull.

bkoganbing Jungle Jim In The Forbidden Land is about Jungle Jim refusing to take anthropologist Angela Greene to a place in the jungle where living evidence of the fabled missing link is supposed to be. At the same time another woman of less character played by Jean Willes is looking to drive elephants through the jungle pass that goes through the missing link country. So a pair of agendas send Johnny Weissmuller into the forbidden land.Weissmuller is doing the humane thing, let these people alone. And one look at them when a man and woman get out of the jungle and start wreaking havoc on all around would convince most anyone that's a practical policy. Still both women want to get that hidden valley where Mr.&Mrs. Missing Link come from. And both are checking out Weissmuller too, for the specimen he is.Put all that together with Jungle Jim being framed for a murder he didn't commit and you have all the ingredients for this Jungle Jim feature. This one is done a bit more tongue and cheek than some of the others so it's bearable for adults.

james higgins 31/100. This is the eighth entry in the Jungle Jim series, and unfortunately not the last. The were profitable at the time, mainly because the had minuscule budgets. As with most in the series, the plot is lame and stupid. This time he gets entangled with a greedy and evil ivory hunter. That's not all folks, he also has to grapple with a "giant man," in bad make up, a phony looking costume and a desperate need for a dentist. As with all in the films in the series, a lot of obvious stock footage is used, and a menagerie of animals that in reality do not co-exist anywhere in the universe. The acting is, as expected, poor, the art direction painfully obvious. The film looks as though it took perhaps a week to film.

classicsoncall Gee, what would have possessed Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) to take on a hippo, and under water no less? That's one of the offerings in 'The Forbidden Land', as the jungle hero aids an anthropologist seeking the fabled Land of Giant People. When a couple of the 'giants' actually appear for the first time, my first thought was who might have raided Lon Chaney's Wolfman wardrobe. If you take all the Jungle Jim films together, this would have to be right up there with the goofiest, if not the most dangerous for Jim. He would actually have been a goner if not for chimp sidekick Tamba wielding a coconut bean ball when the male giant had him down for the count.For trivia fans, it's finally revealed here that Jim's home is near Ingaba Lake in the Wasabi District, even though most of his earlier stories took place in the Nagandi District. Or maybe he just moved. This film more than any of Weismuller's other Jungle Jim flicks looks like it was slapped together with as many elements as possible and as little coherence necessary to pull off the story. For example - 'The Old One', the wise old man of Tiku. In the scene establishing that he was blind, he fires off the film's cleverest line - "When eyes are dead, heart must see". That advice was never needed again.The story itself involves ivory poachers, merely tall 'giant' people, and Jim tackling the earlier mentioned hippo and a black panther. Oh yes, and he's injected with a truth serum to reveal the location of the giant homeland. It would be interesting to hear Weissmuller express his thoughts about the picture after being injected with truth serum.Keeping track of non African animals in an African setting? This one has a South American jaguar battling a bush hog. As for that black panther, it's hilarious to watch it turn into a stuffed animal and back during it's wrestling match with Jim; as always, no blood drawn against the intrepid jungle tracker.Second chances notwithstanding, Weissmuller tries to do as much as he can with the material he's given, but is shown to best advantage in his swimming and diving scenes. Not as trim as in his earlier Tarzan days, but still impressive enough. But can you really kill a hippo using just a knife?