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Sheena

Catalog Number
4202
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Primary Distributor (If not listed, select "OTHER")
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VHS | LP | Slipcase
117 mins (NTSC)
N/A | N/A | N/A
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Sheena (1984)

Additional Information

Additional Information
Rated PG
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A hybrid of action-adventure and soap opera–style drama, Sheena was shot on location in Kenya. It tells the tale of a female version of Tarzan who was raised in the fictional African country of Tigora by the equally fictional Zambouli tribe.
The movie starred Tanya Roberts, Ted Wass (later to star in the television series Blossom) and Trevor Thomas. It was directed by John Guillermin and written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., who had previously collaborated on the infamous 1976 remake of King Kong.
Sheena bombed in theaters and was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Tanya Roberts), Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Musical Score, but it reportedly did find some cult success on home video and DVD.


On the television program At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Sheena received two thumbs down. Ebert commented that "This movie is rated PG, not PG-13. It's probably the only PG-rated movie that will play continuously on the Playboy Channel—you see more of Tanya Roberts than you did of last month's playmate." They later listed Sheena as one of the "Stinkers of 1984". Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin seemed to agree, rating the film as a BOMB and stating: "Tanya definitely swings as Eisner & Iger's comic-book jungle-queen, but Mother Nature forgot to endow her with a script. Supposed to be campy, but it's just plain awful."
The New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael was among the very few critics who liked the film. Calling it a "lighthearted, slightly loony adventure film, there are some good silly gags, and the animals look relaxed even in their dizziest slapstick scenes. And the picture certainly never starves the eye; the cinematography is by the celebrated Pasqualino De Santis." Kael even had some (qualified) kind words for the star: "Tanya Roberts is too tense and earnest for her blond-goddess, queen-of-the-jungle role, but she has the face of a ballerina, and a prodigious slim, muscular form, and she gazes into space with exquisitely blank pale-blue eyes. She's pretty funny when she presses her fingers on the center of her forehead and summons legions of waterbucks or swarms of tall birds.


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