Here's (maybe) something different... Tarzan

alongoria

Gold Member
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Hello. I've seen posts about movies where knives are a prominent or memorable part of the story, used by a character, part of a particular scene, etc..

I'm 57 years old and when I was young, I grew up watching cowboy/"Indians" movies, war movies, etc.. However, not sure why, but I was just thinking and it came to my mind that there were movies and a character that I always loved as a kid. Tarzan. I liked Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan in the older movies. If I recall correctly, Tarzan always had a fairly large fixed blade knife. I recall it was made to look fairly old fashioned (I'm thinking older French or German style cutlery) in a "primitive" sheath, or just held in the waist of his loincloth (?).

Anyway, I don't think I've ever consciously made the associate, but thinking back, I'm sure I was influenced to think of a/his knife as being a critical tool for his successfully living in a jungle environment.

Thoughts or comments? Thanks. Regards, Adam
 
Hello. I've seen posts about movies where knives are a prominent or memorable part of the story, used by a character, part of a particular scene, etc..

I'm 57 years old and when I was young, I grew up watching cowboy/"Indians" movies, war movies, etc.. However, not sure why, but I was just thinking and it came to my mind that there were movies and a character that I always loved as a kid. Tarzan. I liked Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan in the older movies. If I recall correctly, Tarzan always had a fairly large fixed blade knife. I recall it was made to look fairly old fashioned (I'm thinking older French or German style cutlery) in a "primitive" sheath, or just held in the waist of his loincloth (?).

Anyway, I don't think I've ever consciously made the associate, but thinking back, I'm sure I was influenced to think of a/his knife as being a critical tool for his successfully living in a jungle environment.

Thoughts or comments? Thanks. Regards, Adam


It was a great book! :)

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I had the same realization about the movie Last of the Mohicans. Hawkeye and Magua where the baddest of the badasses to me and the knives and tomahawks they carried would be weapons second tools first. I also loved the movie The Edge helped me to understand that a big tough survival knife isn't the end all be all tool. What you have on you and your proficiency with with that tool is what really matters.
 
He needed that knife to kill the crocodiles that were always chasing Jane in the swimming hole.
 
I had the same realization about the movie Last of the Mohicans. Hawkeye and Magua where the baddest of the badasses to me and the knives and tomahawks they carried would be weapons second tools first.
'Last of the Mohicans' hooked me in too. As Daniel Winkler was asked to make some of the knives and tomahawks used in the film, I have been glad to be able to purchase three of his knives since then. The TM Hunt 'Magua' is next on my list (though that's just because I really like the knife).
 
The early Tarzan films are what got me into knives as a boy. In the books it was his father's hunting knife which he discovered in the cabin they built after being marooned by pirates along the African coast; he had been raised by the apes and discovered the cabin later. His father was part of the Aristocracy, old family name and estate, and I believe had British military training( correct me if wrong, been a long time since I read the first book), so another thread had pondered if it was a Sheffield bowie or one his father could have picked up on a military deployment across the British Empire. The book only describes it. But the films are what started me to find my "Tarzan" knife as a boy. The use and skill and what Tarzan learned are what kept in him alive. The knowledge and how to use it are key.

I believe the rubber and wood movie props were discovered and auctioned off a few years ago.
 
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Same here, Tarzan as portrayed by Johnny Weissmuller was what started my interest in knives in the late '60's early '70's.
Having seen pics of the rather ugly movie knife props years ago i constructed a picture in my mind of what the knife in the Edgar Rice Burroughs books might have looked like.
Some time ago i found a few pics on this very forum of a knife that imo resembles something that the young Tarzan could have found in the cabin near his deceased parents.
It was made by the Solingen, Germany manufacturer Fr.Neeff & Söhn.

 
Hello. Very interesting comments everyone. Thanks.
Tarzan movies are some of the earliest I remember in which I specifically remember a knife getting my attention and interest. Of course, any movie or TV show that had just about any bladed instrument used or shown (knife, hawk, axe, sword, etc..) would get my attention... even now, Lol.
There are too many movies/TV I could mention re. knives shown, used, featured, etc... However, the last knife I'll mention in this thread that really caught my eye was in the movie "Apocalypse Now". There was a scene in which Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) was in Colonel Kurtz's (Marlon Brando) living space. What I recall was Brando was speaking to Sheen about the nature of war, the irrationality of the conduct of war (limited objectives, collateral damage, etc..), etc.. and during the scene, the camera panned across the room and I believe a MACV/SOG "SOG knife" was shown laying on a small table (?) along with a couple of books, military decoration/medal, etc..
When I initially saw the movie in the early 80s, I didn't have any awareness of any particular knives that were associated with the Vietnam War. It was only later when after I had started "studying" and learning about knives in general, but more specifically about knives used in various military conflicts that made me take particular notice of that knife displayed in the movie when I watched the movie again later. I remember thinking that it was a very small, momentary detail included in a movie scene, but for some reason I was particularly impressed that the "movie" got that small particular item "right" re. historically accurate and consistent with the content and context of the movie.
Sorry for the rambling post. *It is not too important, but if I'm incorrect about the knife in the movie scene or about those knives re. the Vietnam War, please reply and inform me with more accurate info.
Thank you. Regards, Adam
 
It's funny to mull over knife styles that explode in popularity after being a movie feature. Rambo knives being the most glaringly obvious. There must have a million cheap Rambo knives made after those movies came out. :D
 
I had the same realization about the movie Last of the Mohicans. Hawkeye and Magua where the baddest of the badasses to me and the knives and tomahawks they carried would be weapons second tools first. I also loved the movie The Edge helped me to understand that a big tough survival knife isn't the end all be all tool. What you have on you and your proficiency with with that tool is what really matters.

Simply, I have to say that The Last of the Mohicans is, hands down, my favorite fictional novel by an American author (Sorry, my favorite fictional novels belong to Dostoevsky, The Idiot being my favorite, and a couple other Russian novels. I love how most Russian novels do not end "... happily ever after". Often times in life, the nice guy finishes last, and The Idiot exemplifies that... with some naivete & ignorance/stupidity as well by that nice guy that finishes last). I absolutely love The Last of thet Mohicans. I've read 3 different prints (I didn't notice any difference whatsoever. I've read and have 3 different translations & publications of The Idiot by Dostoevsky and they are slightly different but not noticably)... I love the movie as well...any movie that Daniel Day Lewis is in.

Edit. And, sorry. I knew it was slightly off topic, but whenever I hear "The Last of the Mohicans" or J(ames) Fenimore Cooper I cannot prevent myself from saying that I absolutely love that book!
 
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It's funny to mull over knife styles that explode in popularity after being a movie feature. Rambo knives being the most glaringly obvious. There must have a million cheap Rambo knives made after those movies came out. :D
They're still making and selling those Rambo knives. I'm guessing that there has been more Rambo knives made and sold than tactical folding knives altogether, hahaha.


Edit. Mye grammer an spellin kneads werk,
 
For those too young to remember:


Sorry- just realized this is the French version, with a little bit of Spanish thrown in as well. Tarzan pops up at about 33 minutes, 15 seconds. Knife comes out at 35:28.
 
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It's funny to mull over knife styles that explode in popularity after being a movie feature. Rambo knives being the most glaringly obvious. ..... :D

No, I would say that title belongs to Alan Ladd's The Iron Mistress. That single film is more responsible for the Renaissance of the entire global knife industry then anything else....and we are still making lots of Bowie knives.

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n2s
 
Many a movie, many a knife. I remember the ones from Last of the Dogmen, Flight of the Intruder, Seraphim Falls, and of course The Revenant. Just to name a few, a lot out there, but again the ones from the early Tarzan films did it for me, even ones from Gordon Scott's Tarzan films, I think it was Tarzan's Greatest Adventure that also starred Sean Connery.
 
Thinking about it, the blade depiction that really got me going was Jenner's sword from the Rats of NIMH, the one used in the sword fight against Justin. I was just a tiny kid, but even as an animation, the sword made a huge impact on me. Never forgot it, and it was probably the initial spark that led to making real swords later in life (big credit to Leonardo from ninja turtles also but Jenner was first).

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