IMDb RATING
4.9/10
5.9K
YOUR RATING
Sheena grew up in the African wild, raised by a mystical witch woman. When her foster mother is framed for a murder Sheena is forced to flee, helped by her ability to talk to animals and her... Read allSheena grew up in the African wild, raised by a mystical witch woman. When her foster mother is framed for a murder Sheena is forced to flee, helped by her ability to talk to animals and her knowledge of the jungle.Sheena grew up in the African wild, raised by a mystical witch woman. When her foster mother is framed for a murder Sheena is forced to flee, helped by her ability to talk to animals and her knowledge of the jungle.
- Awards
- 5 nominations total
Featured reviews
Not that bad. The production values are excellent and the story line is no worse than TV or low-budgeted action adventure. This is a PG film after all. I remembered this being marketed as a family film, however there are some very violent scenes. The shots of her swinging on a vine were very realistic as were the flamingo and rhino attacks. I was twelve when I first saw it and it was good to have a female action hero. She was very beautiful AND strong. In her early scenes she is shot sexy beautiful, but as the film progresses we see her more as healthy beautiful. I never saw earlier versions of Sheena, however no updated comic book hero movies ever match the originals (Batman, Superman, etc...) Lois Lane is forever updated to match social change, why can't Sheena become more politically correct when it comes to not wearing fur? I think Tanya Roberts has gotten a bum rap over the years. Besides being so beautiful, she has a certain charm and sweetness to her. The hauntingly beautiful theme song is one of the best of any movie. The final shot of Tanya Roberts, a reprise of her first shot, galloping on a zebra along an endless beach of flamingos in the background is breathtaking and worth the rental.
Tanya Roberts certainly got the best part of her career (alongside the Roger Moore Bond movie, of course) in "Sheena". It's hard to pretend so much innocence and naivete after a life spent in NY and Hollywood, of all places. That's acting... I'd like to point out many scenes with the animals, arranged better than in many Tarzan competitors, and I am not afraid to admit I still am fascinated by this fairy tale that was kindalike the last survivor in 1984 - before digital FX took control. Seen the OTT animal scenes in Jumanji? Maybe you feel the same then.
I will admit this is not a masterpiece of cinema but as for jungle adventures go this is very good and entertaining. It moves along at a swift pace, lots of action plus a very likeable and sexy heroine. There is quite some nudity (but no sex) from Tanya Roberts ofcourse but also from the evil black princess. Director John Guillermin makes sure you get a good look at their (great) bodies.
Guillermin is familiar with the topic because in the early sixties he made some excellent Tarzan movies starring Gordon Scott. In my mind he is also an undeserved neglected director who had his fair share of flops ("Shaft in Afrika","King Kong lives",etc...)but who almost always succeeds in delivering an entertaining movie, not great art, but rousing actioners as "The Blue Max", "Guns at Batasi", "The Bridge at Remagen" or even the 1976 "King Kong". Whatever the topic, you won't get easily bored by a Guillermindirected movie.
Just compare "Sheena" with other so-called jungle movies from the early eighties : "Tarzan the Ape Man" with Bo Derek, one the true worst movies of all time or the two abysmal Allan Quartermain movies starring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone.
Sheena comes off quite nicely.
I gave it 7/10.
Guillermin is familiar with the topic because in the early sixties he made some excellent Tarzan movies starring Gordon Scott. In my mind he is also an undeserved neglected director who had his fair share of flops ("Shaft in Afrika","King Kong lives",etc...)but who almost always succeeds in delivering an entertaining movie, not great art, but rousing actioners as "The Blue Max", "Guns at Batasi", "The Bridge at Remagen" or even the 1976 "King Kong". Whatever the topic, you won't get easily bored by a Guillermindirected movie.
Just compare "Sheena" with other so-called jungle movies from the early eighties : "Tarzan the Ape Man" with Bo Derek, one the true worst movies of all time or the two abysmal Allan Quartermain movies starring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone.
Sheena comes off quite nicely.
I gave it 7/10.
Sheena wasn't made to win any Academy awards. Nevertheless, for a "B" film the photography is actually quite good. Granted, Tanya's acting ability at this time in her life needed a lot of work. I'm sure the producers knew this going in and didn't care. They knew the attraction would be to watch Sheena doing her thing in her jungle outfit. Tanya was the perfect choice considering the reason for the film. Sheena was made to showcase Tanya Roberts stunning physical attributes and was successful in this regard. She is the reason the movie is still moderately popular after 20 years. So if you like this type of eye-candy film, enjoy! It wasn't meant to be anything else.
Sheena has been entertaining us for close to 70 years now, but you sure wouldn't know it to look at her. She still looks as beautiful and sexy as ever. I've had a ball following Sheena's adventures in the pulps, comic books, on TV, and in this Sheena movie from 1984. My favorite actress in the role of Sheena is Irish McCalla, but I've enjoyed Tanya Roberts and Gina Lee Nolan too. Roberts is stunningly beautiful and she conveys a wonderful sense of innocence as Sheena. This 1984 Sheena movie is a blast of cheesy fun that provides plenty of entertaining moments that make for great escapism. Enjoy this one with good friends, beverages, and lots of popcorn. Sheena is fun!
Did you know
- TriviaActress Elizabeth of Toro who played the Shaman was a Ugandan princess in real life. She was also a Cambridge law graduate, a model (the first black woman to appear on Vogue magazine) and was appointed by Idi Amin to be Uganda's Foreign Minister ..
- GoofsDuring most of the movie, Sheena is barefoot. When she gets to the Zambuli after escaping from the crashing helicopter, she wears sandals. She is wearing those sandals when she pursues Otwani while riding on her zebra. After Otwani makes her fall from the zebra, she is barefoot again.
- Alternate versionsIn order to obtain a "PG" rating in the UK, 14 seconds were cut from the original theatrical release to edit the stabbing of a man's throat with a spear and a shot of a man on fire. The video release, rated "15" in 1986 restored the cinema cuts but lost a compulsory BBFC cut to a shot of a zebra being tripped over.
- SoundtracksSheena's Theme - Interlude
Composed and Conducted by Richard Hartley
- How long is Sheena: Queen of the Jungle?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $25,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,778,353
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,950,114
- Aug 19, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $5,778,353
- Runtime
- 1h 57m(117 min)
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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