Planet of the Apes

Starring:Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly, Linda Harrison, Robert Gunner, Lou Wagner, Woodrow Parfrey, Jeff Burton, Buck Kartalian, Norman Burton, Wright King, Paul Lambert, Priscilla Boyd, Dianne Stanley, Irvin 'Zabo' Koszewski, Harry Monty, James Bacon
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Description

Disk 1: *Planet of the Apes ('68)

Disk 2: *Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Disk 3: *Conquest for the Planet of the Apes

Disk 4: *Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Disk 5: *Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Disk 6: *Behind the Planet of the Apes (bonus disc) *Documentary ?Behind the Planet of the Apes? *Planet of the Apes trailer *Beneath the Planet of the Apes trailer *Escape from the Planet of the Apes trailer *Conquest of the Planet of the Apes trailer *Battle for the Planet of the Apes trailer *Planet of the Apes Cross Promotion trailer *TV Spot for Behind the Planet of the Apes *Fox Interactive Presents: Behind the Scenes of the Planet of the Apes game

Customer Reviews:

Hard to rate a mixed bag, but these films are fun nevertheless.......2007-06-07

Like the Airport Terminal Pack (Airport/Airport '75/Airport '77/Airport '79 - The Concord) the "Planet of the Apes" film series widely ranges in quality. ALL of them are fun enough to watch, however, the last two are extremely campy and very poorly made.

Back in the day when producers made sequels, prior to the VCR/DVD era, the films consistently earned less money with each sequel; therefore, less money was spent on each sequel as the expected turnout and revenues would be less. That is not the case today with the VCR/DVD generation wherein if people missed a film in the theaters, they could rent or purchase it later. This meant a larger audience for a film as it would have, in a sense, multiple releases: first would be the actual theater release, then the plain first edition on VCR/DVD within about six months, then followed by a "special edition" the next year, and then a "director's cut", and "special extended version" followed, and so on. This allows for a film to get a larger following; therefore, sequels and prequels have become big business. This means producers put more money into these films now than they did before to pull in not only the established fans of the film series, but also new fans who may have just caught up with the series by renting or purchasing the prior films.

With that having been said it should be no surprise at all that these films range widely in quality and effort as they were before the VCR/DVD era. Below are my ratings for each film and in the correct order of their release (the disk order is NOT correct in the package):

***** Planet of the Apes: An absolute classic sci-fi film with good special effects and set designs (even by today's standards) and solid performances by all, most notably Roddy McDowell who was in all the films and the short-lived TV series, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans who had to portray emotions with their voice, eyes and hand gestures moreso than other actors because of the heavy make-up they wear which is outstanding.

*** Beneath the Planet of the Apes: The effects and make-up are still very good and so is the acting, but the storyline is rather bizarre, convoluted, and just doesn't seem to fit with the Apes series real well.

****Escape From the Planet of the Apes: I loved this sequel which reverses the storyline by having the intelligent talking apes back in our present day rather than in their future world. Naturally, this saved the producers lots of money by only having to put make up on only two actors rather than many. The performances are top-notch by McDowell and Hunter who continue their roles from the first two ape films.

Both the "The Conquest of" and final entry "The Battle for the Planet of the Apes" are cinematic disasters for which I give them both **. The make up had been reduced to laughable rubber masks and the special effects consisted of terrible paintings, obvious minatures, and flimsy cardboard sets. Roddy McDowell's performance had become somewhat pedestrian in the title role by these two final films, but his voice and delivery was always pleasant to the ear. These two films do, however, continue the storyline which ends up explaining how Earth eventually became The Planet of the Apes. To me, that's an important part of any sequel and why I gave these films two stars and not one or zero.

The bonus disk on looking over the "Apes" series is hosted by McDowell, who always looked great for his age, and sadly he died shortly thereafter from cancer. This special was done to re-introduce the "Ape" films to a new generation just prior to the release of the Ape films on tape/DVD and the planned release of the remake by Tim Burton (Planet of the Apes (Special Edition) which was surprisingly original and in many ways superior to the original film with Charlten Heston who has a cameo in the remake.

In any event and in spite of the wide ranging quality of these films the entire series is worth owning and the sequels do build on each other and tell a coherent story (not counting the silly second entry into the series even though the third film still builds upon it). I highly recommend this set and the remake by Burton as well.

The Greatest SC-FI Saga Before Star Wars.......2007-04-19

Planet of the Apes is a legendary SC-FI masterpiece, that made film history & was another smash hit for the legendary Charlton Heston and thats not all, it was followed by 4 sequels spanning across time of ape's place on the planet. Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes & Battle for the Planet of the Apes" all 5 classics boxed in one legacy collection to go ape over. The films star Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Linda Harrison, Ricardo Montalban, James Franciscus & Maurice Evans. If you're a SC-FI fan, this is must have collection.

An amazing collection at an even better price!.......2007-03-01

I can't believe you get all of the movies plus a behind-the-scenes documentary, all for only $25.00! The DVD quality is outstanding, and the movies are timeless. You will not be disappointed if you buy this collection.

All the movies plus a bonus.......2007-02-14

The Planet of the Apes movies were some of my favorites during the Vietnam war years; some I liked better than others, but all of them had a political statement (whether you agreed or not). Racism, the Bomb, mankind destroying itself, it was all there.

I was very happy to be able to find this set, not only for the movies, but for the sixth DVD on the background, from Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel, La planète des singes, through the making of the films, to the final movie; the last DVD is extremely informative and interesting.

I highly recommend this set.

Great Concepts, Great Characters, Classic Moments, Chilling Possibilities.......2007-01-28

I rank the original "Planet Of The Apes" series very high among the plentiful output of science fiction movies of their era. Although the special effects are not brilliant by today's standards (compensated for somewhat by the quality designs of what they were trying to capture, even if the execution seems somewhat hampered in retrospect) and the action sequences are occasionnally rather low-impact, the strengths of the series - a great, thought-provoking and memorable story that weaves through all five movies; solid and impressive characters among both human and ape; a nice job on the photography; and mind-blowing endings to most of the movies; make up for any shortcomings.

The endings have become legendary, especially the finale to the first movie (which I'm certainly not going to give away here, in case anyone reading this is among the 22 or so people on the planet who don't yet know it; they even used to have the final shot on the Cover of one of the editions of the boxed set, for crying out loud). The secrets of the conclusions to "Beneath The Planet Of The Apes" and "Escape From The Planet Of The Apes", however, aren't nearly as well-known by people who haven't seen the movies yet, which is good, because it gives one a chance to have some of the surprises unhampered by foreknowledge. The end moments of "Escape", in particular, are haunting, the kind of thing that can give one chills just remembering it.

It's hard to talk to much about the latter movies in the saga without giving away far too much. The original, "Planet Of The Apes" has Earth astronauts making an emergency crash-landing on an unknown world, where it turns out that apes, not humans, are the dominant species. Captured, the humans - indigineous to the planet but very primitive, in addition to the more scientifically advanced spacefarers - find themselves imprisoned in wooden cages (rudimentary equivelents to the barren metal cages of old, pre-'simulated natural habitat' zoos?). The apes of the world are diverse - there are some who view the human population as mindless beasts without rights, while others are sympathetic to the humans's plight. There is also considerable friction between the three races of apes - gorillas, orangitans, and chimpanzees (notice quite a few real-world parralells yet?).

The series - which continues through "Beneath...", "Escape...", "Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes" and "Battle For The Planet Of The Apes" (disc 6 in the collection is a behind-the-scenes documentary) has some recurring characters, continues to introduce new ones, introduces new concepts and layers and twists to the concept. By the 4th and 5th entries, the series is admittedly losing some steam, but judged on their own each of those is still a good movie. Great price, too. Any fan of adventure movies, science fiction, or movies that offer volumes of fodder for thought and dream, should consider picking this set of classics up.

Average customer rating:

Should have stuck to the original story.
Apetastic!!
One of the best sci-fi movies ever
The original apes classic is the only one to see
solid, dark sci-fi with good characters

Planet of the Apes
Starring: Charlton Heston , Roddy McDowall , Kim Hunter , Maurice Evans , and James Whitmore
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Beneath the Planet of the Apes
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ASIN: B000E6ESEO
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Description

Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall star in this legendary science fiction masterpiece. Astronaut Taylor (Heston) crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist (McDowall).

Customer Reviews:

Should have stuck to the original story........2007-05-29

This movie could have been so much better, as could the remake.
If you have actually read the Pierre Boulle novel, and seen Rod Serlings
original draft and Artur P Jacobs pre-production artwork, you can really appreciate what a disaster the final outcome was.
In the behind the PLanet of the Apes dvd, there is the original screentest showing Edward G Robinson as Zaius, the Orangutan makeup was so much better, than waht eventually turned up.
This film really needs to be made the way it was intended, with the astronauts landing on a parralel world, where the apes are technologically advanced.
Actually the ending of Burtons remake stuck pretty true to Boulles ending of the planet of the apes.

Apetastic!!.......2007-02-25

At first glance Planet of the Apes appears to be a silly sci-fi movie populated with men wearing monkey suits, but it is actually a film with such serious themes as animal testing, science versus religion, nuclear war, and man's self destruction nature and to a lesser extent some good old fashions 1960s don't trust anyone over 30 years old paranoia.

Charles Heston portraying Colonel Taylor is fine overacting form and generally dominates the screen while chewing the scenery. The human characters roles are mostly under acted while the ape roles are meaty and more memorable. Roddy McDonnell, playing the chimpanzee Cornelius, did such a memorable job, and I guess enjoyed wearing a monkey suit, that he is the only actor to appear in all four Ape sequels.

The movie is able to compensate for its low budget by shooting a part of the movie in the American southwest. At times the viewer is reminded of the classic John Ford westerns with many long angle shots and the pursuit scenes. It also serves to give the film an almost other worldly appearance. The scenes shot in the ape city are somewhat cheesy and could have used a bit more effort. But what makes the movie are the ape costumes. The costumes were so brilliant that make up designer, John Chambers won an Honorary Academy Award for outstanding make up achievement in a movie.

One of the marvels of the movies is that even though it is a low budget movie it is still incredibly entertaining and thought provoking. A lesson that today's C.G.I. movie makers need to remember is that a movie is not judged not by the quality of it special effects but the content of its story. The producers of the 2001 Planet of the Apes seemed to have lost that notion. The remake was an overblown, dull headed bore; it is everything that the original was not.

This movie is a special meeting of great source material, Pierre Boulle'sovel, a Rod Sterling screenplay, a great action star, Charles Heston, imaginative special effects and a director who had more creativity than money. It is no wonder that Planet of the Apes -spawned a movie franchise, a television series, an action figure line, and countless spin offs (books, graphic novel, comic books and even a video game)

One of the best sci-fi movies ever.......2007-02-17

This sci-fi movie has something unique- no special effects but it is a classic. A testiment to this are the numerous follow-up movies and the recent remake. If you have not seen it you must even if youare not a sci-fi fun. The story is unique and actually very anti-war and potrays a (remote) posible future of mankind. The casting and directing are excellent. See it.

The original apes classic is the only one to see.......2007-02-06

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD: Of course, 1968's "Planet of the Apes" had one huge plot hole, that being the fact that in 40th century Earth, apes have aquired the intelligence to speak, become doctors, scientists, politicians, etc.. Chimpanzees and orangutans are now standing at six feet tall. Two thousand years is way too short a period of time for that kind of evolution. And the film also gave no actual explanation of how the humans lost their intelligence, and started behaving like primitive animals. But the fact that the rest of the film is so good, these plot holes are forgivable.

The film has a great story. It has an effectively erie post-apocalyptic feel to it, as Heston and the other astronauts are trekking across the 'forbidden zone.' Then, the film remains effective in displaying Heston's sense of isolation, frustration and eventual vindication, all from his ordeal in the ape society, after the loss of his human companions.

This is definately the version to watch, instead of the terrible 2001 remake.

solid, dark sci-fi with good characters.......2007-01-19

I vividly remember having seen this when it came out. Heston was phenomenal as an action hero, and a wonderful actor to boot. While the sequels lost me, this I always thought was a great film.

So I got a copy for my kids. We viewed it together and greatly enjoyed it. They were full of questions and observations - always a good sign - but also enjoyed the action. My son (7) talked about it for the following week.

As I have not seen it in about 35 years, I was surprized at how much I liked it. Usually, on viewing a sci-fi oldie I enjoyed at 6 or 12, I am disappointed at how flimsy it seems in terms of plot and realism. Happily, this is hard sci-fi in that it is at least not impossible, and there are interesting characters: Taylor the cynic, Dr Zeias the guardian of orthodoxy, and the scientist/intellectual chimps as well as Cornelius, the rebellious young one. The story hangs together well and has a startlingly fresh conclusion that is not happy.

Warmly recommended for all ages.

Average customer rating:

this was a very enjoyable movie
Beneath the Planet of the apes
Bizarre, this one.
"It's Doooooooooomsday!!!"
Top Movie

Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Starring: James Franciscus , Kim Hunter , Maurice Evans , Linda Harrison , and Paul Richards
Director: Ted Post
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000E6ESDK
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Amazon.com

The second--and most horrifying--of the five Planet of the Apes movies, this film goes where few end-of-the-world movies ever dare tread. It's the far future. The mass of humanity has descended into speechless savagery, kept as captive animals by the talking apes who have inherited the world. Two astronauts from our time have landed here, retracing the path of their lost comrade, Captain Taylor (Charlton Heston). Unfortunately, they've landed in the middle of a grim situation. Warlike gorillas are preparing to eliminate the last shards of shattered human civilization, a degenerate, subterranean cult worshipping the greatest of all human achievements--the cobalt bomb. As well as rescuing Taylor, the two men have to stop the gorillas from wiping out humanity ... and stop humanity from fulfilling their self-appointed, self-destructive destiny. This is both thrill-a-minute science fiction and a surprisingly deep reflection on the human condition. Plus, it's got lots of guys in really keen ape suits. --Grant Balfour

Description

In the acclaimed sequel to Planet of the Apes, another astronaut (James Franciscus) crashes through the time barrier searching for the missing Taylor (Charlton Heston). The daring rescue leads to a subterranean city where mutant humans, who practice mind control, worship a weapon capable of destroying the entire planet. Both an action-oriented science-fiction adventure and a wry commentary on today's world, it's imaginative entertainment for fantasy buffs of all ages.

Customer Reviews:

this was a very enjoyable movie.......2007-06-18

i liked this movie a lot and have a copy of the dvd at home unlike the original movie it does not have much of charlton heston in it

Beneath the Planet of the apes .......2007-05-14

Good movie. I have all the movie from the planet of the apes and this one is one of the best from the set.

Bizarre, this one........2006-08-25

You've got to hand it to these guys -- Beneath Planet of the Apes is a unrelentingly bleak bloodbath of a movie, one that not only features bizarre races of evolved earthlings in a battle royale -- but creates a haunting atmosphere that many a subsequent film would be proud to pull off. It's a lot of fun and a lot better than I would have thought given its endless re-runs on KPTV 12. As early-70s sociological sci-fi it's tops.

"It's Doooooooooomsday!!!".......2006-05-15

After the spellbinding revelation of the original Planet of the Apes, the sequel (and subsequent sequels in the landmark series) seemed critically doomed to suffer from substandard mediocrity in the wake of its apocalyptic aftermath, yet Beneath the Planet of the Apes endures as one of the most reverent science fiction films among faithful fans of the series. A seriously flawed, yet brilliantly misunderstood masterpiece that remains as an important testament to behold. What could not be topped by Planet of the Apes' unsurpassable climax, could only be subverted by going beneath it... literally.

After Charlton Heston compromised with producers to only briefly reprise his role as Taylor in the sequel, James Franciscus takes the lead as Astronaut Brent. While Franciscus gives a very strong and worthwhile performance, his character still suffers at the expense of being a poor-man's Taylor. The first half of the film reiterates a lot of the exposition of the first film to bring Brent's character up to speed as he travels with the beautiful Linda Harrison as the mute slave Nova into the Forbidden Zone to find Taylor who mysteriously vanished into a mirage at the beginning of the film. As Brent and Nova begin their descent beneath the subterranean caverns of a post-apocalyptic city, the film takes a much darker and cerebral turn that is both disturbingly bizarre and brutally nihilistic. Brent, while under the telepathic mind-control of the under-dwelling society of mutated humans, shockingly tries to kill innocent Nova... twice. The malevolent Mutants reveal themselves to be a cult of hideously deformed worshippers of an atomic bomb who give praise to its awesome destructive power at an eerie mass in their tabernacle as they prepare for the inevitable confrontation against the surface-dwelling Simians who have ruled over the planet ever since it was ravaged by the inferno of nuclear holocaust two millenia prior and the final battle for control of the Planet of the Apes will be determined by its prophetic Earth-shattering outcome.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes detonates with a shockwave of suspense that reached its apotheosis at the end of the first film and radiates unstoppably towards an inexorable conclusion at the end of the second. A brilliantly twisted and hauntingly cerebral sequel which may have proven itself to have been too intense and intellectual for its G-rated audience who were simply engrossed by the film's adventurous fantasy and captivated by the ape-like wonder of its characters. It would be almost impossible today for a major studio to gamble on making what was considered to be a franchise-killing installment because of its powerfully subversive imagery and socio-political narrative which ironically gives Beneath its characteristically unique dynamic not only as a worthy and important follow-up to its classic predescessor, but a relevant and enduring testament of historic science fiction cinema.

Top Movie.......2006-05-06

The first part of the movie starts out with a spaceship wreck(cool how it's sprawled across the landscape like that) and a horrifing trip through ape city which many people think makes it a pail imitation of the original, but that is not the main part of the movie. After getting chased by the apes, Astronaut Bret(James Fransiscus) and Nova(Linda Harrrison) end up in an underground city and this is where the plot thickens and gets interesting. Heston makes a brief appearence and takes the show to a dramatic end. The ending is a part i didnt like where they all died...seemed a bit silly realy.Especially how Taylor had managed to survive through so much.I hope i didnt spoil the ending for anyone but i thought it sucked.
Being that said it still is quite a good movie,and exciting.

Average customer rating:

Apes Rule!
This movie reeks :(
Just Plain Stupid -- Actually Zeo stars
Closer to the Novel we go!!
Video/Audio quality is great; the movie is so-so

Planet of the Apes (Special Edition)
Starring: Mark Wahlberg , Tim Roth , Helena Bonham Carter , Michael Clarke Duncan , and Paul Giamatti
Director: Tim Burton
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000062XGX
Release Date: 2003-02-11

Amazon.com

Billed as a "reimagining" of the original 1968 film, Tim Burton's extraordinary Planet of the Apes constantly borders on greatness, adhering to the spirit of Pierre Boulle's original novel while exploring fresh and inventive ideas and paying honorable tribute to the '68 sci-fi classic. Burton's gifts for eccentric inspiration and visual ingenuity make this a movie that's as entertaining as it is provocative, beginning with Rick Baker's best-ever ape makeup (hand that man an Oscar®!), and continuing through the surprisingly nuanced performances and breathtaking production design. Add to all this an intelligent screenplay that turns Boulle's speculative reversal--the dominance of apes over humans--into a provocative study of civil rights and civil war. The film finally goes too far with a woefully misguided ending that pays weak homage to the original, but everything preceding that misfire is astonishingly right.

While attempting the space-pod retrieval of a chimpanzee test pilot, Major Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) enters a magnetic storm that propels him into the distant future, where he crash-lands on the ape-ruled planet. Among the primitively civilized apes, treatment of enslaved humans is a divisive issue: senator's daughter Ari (Helena Bonham Carter) advocates equality while the ruthless General Thade (Tim Roth) promotes extermination. While Davidson ignites a human rebellion, this conflict is explored with admirable depth and emotion, and sharp dialogue allows Burton's exceptional cast to bring remarkable expressiveness to their embattled ape characters, most notably in the comic relief of orangutan slave trader Limbo (played to perfection by Paul Giamatti). Classic lines from the original film are cleverly reversed (including an unbilled cameo for Charlton Heston, in ape regalia as Thade's dying father), and while this tale of interspecies warfare leads to an ironic conclusion that's not altogether satisfying, it still bears the ripe fruit of a timeless what-if idea. --Jeff Shannon

Description

After a spectacular crash-landing on an uncharted planet, brash astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) finds himself trapped in a savage world where talking apes dominate the human race. Desperate to find a way home, Leo must evade the invincible gorilla army led by ruthless General Thade (Tim Roth) and his most trusted warrior, Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan). Now the pulse-pounding race is on to reach a sacred temple that may hold the shocking secrets of mankind's past - and the last hope for it's salvation!

Customer Reviews:

Apes Rule!.......2007-06-07

I know that remakes are often ill-received (and rightly so all too often), especially by loyalist to the original, but when I read comments on this specific remake that the oscar-winning outstanding make-up is laughable, the acting a joke (through all that make-up by top-notch actors), or that there is nothing original here, I can't help but wonder what film those folks were watching and I have to question the objectivity they may or may not have had going into this film and we all have a bias when entering a remake or a change to an established character. I know that I had no intention of seeing, let alone liking the new James Bond, Daniel Craig (Casino Royale), but when I gave him and the film a chance, I was enormously surprised. I think this film needs a second chance by those who so off-handly dismissed it.

I agree 100% with Amazon's review and synopsis of this film. This remake is rather inventive and original in it's own right and is far closer to the novel than the original. The themes of racism, civil right, justice, love, and sacrifice are handled far more deeply and sincerely than the original film did although that is still an outstanding film in its own right. Of course, the make-up in this remake is nothing less than astounding and believable by the famous Rick Bakker and completely outshines the original film. The special effects are nothing great, but they are good. The acting, the heart of this film in addition to its literate script, is terrific by those in the ape make-up as their voices, eyes, and gestures must mean more to resonate with the audience because of the heavy make-up used. I do, however, agree with critics here regarding the casting of Mark Wahlberg who is rather pedestrian in this film. He simply lacks charisma in this role and I found myself caring very little for him even as the hero in this film.

An interesting twist in this film that admittedly annoyed loyalists to the original is that in this film all humans speak, which makes sense to me as why would we "forget" how to speak in the future when the apes take over. While I always thought that was a silly aspect to the ape film series for none of us to talk in the future, I must admit that it does make the apes seems even crueler when they go after humans that speak. I guess that only enhances the racism theme prevelant in all the ape films. After all, we did, sadly enough, considered African slaves to be soul-less and a less form of humans and they were capable of speech too. In fact, slaves owners only considered them just "property" and not even human. Again, this concept of having all humans speak in this remake makes the film all the more thought-provoking. In addition, the short-lived Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series also had all the humans speak.

In conclusion, this is an extraordinary film and definitely not worthy of the very harsh criticism its recently received although everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. I just think some need to give this film a second and real chance (minus the bias one may have for the original). I highly recommend this film as an adventure, sci-fi tale, and message for its timely social commentaries.

This movie reeks :(.......2007-05-29

I can't really find anything good to say about this blasé movie. Just plain awful. Why remake a classic? It served no purpose. It doesn't replace the original nor did it add anything of value. Completely unnecessary. So many poor decisions were made. Casting Marky Mark was a mistake. The make-up is a joke. The acting was a flop. It won its Razzie awards for a reason; it was well deserving.

Just Plain Stupid -- Actually Zeo stars.......2007-04-28

Why was this ever made? Just to make fans of the original mad? Rod Serling is rolling over in his grave. When I originally saw this in Burbank, CA, we were screaming and groaning at the screen.

Closer to the Novel we go!!.......2007-04-20

This movie was fantastic despite what naysayers would have you believe. While the old Planet of the Apes is a classic this is just as good if not better. Why because it is closer to the novel than the original! people dont get that, the Old one was way off from the novel. ANyway its good and Tim Burton did a credible job, but its Rick Bakers special effcts and make up that make this a masterpiece.

Video/Audio quality is great; the movie is so-so.......2007-04-12

In reviewing a Blu Ray version of a movie, you have to separate the audio/video quality of the version as well as the movie content itself (which is, generally, the same as the standard DVD version). Planet of the Apes has an excellent picture and sound and is a good demonstration of the quality possible with Blu Ray.

The movie itself, however, has some flaws. It is difficult to review Planet of the Apes without referring to the older series of movies. The apes themselves look much more realistic in the newer version of the movie -- in fact the special effects are excellent. On the other hand, director Ridley Scott chose to change plot details, and especially the ending. Without giving "spoilers," I liked the first half of the movie a great deal, but found the ending to be lacking -- especially the final scene, for which no logical explanation is given.

So I rate it 5 stars on audio/video, but only 3 on content for an overall rating of 4 stars.

Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series

Average customer rating:

Fun, but too short-lived
Better Than Expected, But . . .
A major miss-step when brought to weekly T.V.
Sadly, the series only lasted one season.
Timeless story of a world gone ape.

Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series
Starring: Planet of the Apes-TV Series
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Planet of the Apes - The Legacy Collection (Planet of the Apes [1968] / Beneath the / Escape from the / Conquest of the / Battle for the)
Return to the Planet of the Apes
Voyage to the Bottom of Sea: Season 2, Vol. 1
Voyage to the Bottom of Sea - Season 2, Volume 2
Planet of the Apes (Special Edition)

ASIN: B000GUJZ0K
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Description

After their spacecraft travels through a time warp, two astronauts (Ron Harper, James Naughton) from 1981 crash-land back on Earth in the year 3085 - a time when intelligent apes rule and humans have been reduced to servants or pets. Captured by the apes and sentenced to death, they are saved by a curious chimpanzee name Galen (Roddy McDowall). But now all three are on the run, trying to keep one step ahead of the gorilla army led by General Urko (Mark Lenard), who is determined to kill the renegades.

Customer Reviews:

Fun, but too short-lived.......2007-06-29

I bought this DVD collection, along with The Planet of the Apes movie collection, for my husband on his b-day. We had so much fun watching it, the only sad thing is that it's 14 episodes and way to short-lived. The audio and pictures a nicely restored, we can finally toss those TV-taped episodes.

Better Than Expected, But . . ........2007-06-08

This TV entry into the highly successful "Planet of the Apes" film series is much better than one might expect. It lasted only 15 episodes, but it was good and surprisingly thought-provoking. As in the recent 2001 remake (Planet of the Apes), all the humans talk, which makes sense to me as why would we "forget" how to speak in the future when the apes take over. While I always thought that was a silly aspect to the ape film series, I must admit that it does make the apes seems even crueler when they go after humans that speak. I guess that only enhances the racism theme prevelant in all the ape films. After all, we did, sadly enough, considered African slaves to be soul-less and a less form of humans and they were capable of speech too. In fact, slaves owners only considered them "property" and not even human. Again, this concept of having all humans speak in the series and 2001 remake makes this series and that film all the more thought-provoking.

A major miss-step when brought to weekly T.V........2007-04-10

I was a big fan of the movies but even at 8 years old I could see that the series was not very good. The first mistake they made was letting all humans talk in the show(a mistake that they also made in the 2001 remake),as this makes the apes seem more cruel for hunting and killing talking animals. Even without this error the show was light on strong stories and long on poor action scenes. I know some like the show but as big a fan as i am i just can't recommend this one, even as a blast from the past.

Sadly, the series only lasted one season........2007-03-26

POTA is an excellent science fiction television series. Though I missed it when it was on network television I'm glad that I purchased the DVD set as I enjoyed every episode. Sadly, the series only lasted one season.

If you are a POTA fan, then this is a must have DVD set.

Timeless story of a world gone ape........2007-03-25

Excellent mastering of the classic 1970's TV show, Planet of the Apes. This show has aged rather well, as my preteen and teen children enjoy sitting down with me and watching an episode or two.

I am highly satisfied with this purchase.

Average customer rating:

Cornelius and Xera barely save this from a 1-star review.
Paradox of the Apes
Poor Beginning but a good story nonetheless
The budget got smaller and it shows
Can You Tell Which Are More "Human"?

Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Starring: Roddy McDowall , Kim Hunter , Bradford Dillman , Natalie Trundy , and Eric Braeden
Director: Don Taylor
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (Widescreen Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

ASIN: B000E6ESE4
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Description

Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter reprise their roles from the original Planet of the Apes in this third chapter of the Apes saga. Two intelligent simians from the future, Cornelius (McDowall) and Zire (Hunter) travel to present-day Earth. They become instant sensations, wined and dined and treated like celebrities - until a high-level plot forces them to run for their lives!

Customer Reviews:

Cornelius and Xera barely save this from a 1-star review........2006-11-11

To begin with, the budget on this film is SO LOW it looks like an episode of Barnaby Jones. But that's not the real problem. Much more is the totally unimaginative direction, the nonsensical sci-fi psychobabble, and a neverending procession of cardboard characters. Given its preposterously unbelievable premise, Escape squaeks by with some of the obvious Ape/Human caomparisons, but tht's about it. More or less you watch a bunch of guys in suits for two hours talking over bubblegum metaphysical garbage.

Beneath Planet of the Apes was not exceptionally good either, but at least you were still on the "Planet" and delved further into its mythos. I give that film credit for being so wacky -- but this one is just awful.

Paradox of the Apes.......2006-05-17

Following the cataclysmic finale of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, there was only one logical direction for the series to go---> back to the future. The result is an illogically conceived and satirical prequel that will amuse and delight and ultimately devastate with its bleak Shakesperean tragedy.

When Taylor's spacecraft unexpectedly splashes down in 1973 and is retrieved by a military envoy, the three astronauts that emerge from the capsule are not revealed to be Taylor, Landon and Dodge, but rather the astonishing simian ape-o-nauts Cornelius, Zira and Milo... the third of which is a completely disposeable character who is appropriately killed off very early by a caged zoo gorilla who was probably jealous that the talking simian chimpanzees were getting all of the attention. With Milo out of the picture, the story focuses on the relationship between Cornelius and Zira in ways that were not afforded the opportunity in the two previous films and is filled with tongue-in-cheek episodes inspired by Pierre Boulle's original novel as Cornelius and Zira go around "aping" 20th century human culture (a subtle and clever mockery of our own) in an attempt to make themselves fit in to our society.

While Cornelius and Zira make themselves at home as cultural "celebrities" they are being carefully monitored under the watchful auspices of the nefarious Dr. Otto Hasslein played by recognizable character actor Eric Braeden (of Young and the Restless fame) who listens with great interest to what the talking chimps have to say about where they came from during a Presidential Inquiry and how they managed to arrive in Taylor's spacecraft as Cornelius explains that it landed on their seaboard and was repaired by Milo -- an implausibility which is the film's glaring continuity error since Taylor's spacecraft immediately sunk into the depths of the Forbidden Zone it is a far fetched conclusion that they somehow managed to not only find, retrieve and repair it (even if they had repaired Astronaut Brent's crashed spacecraft from Beneath) with engineering far in advance of their own intellectual ape intelligence (which Milo only "half-understood" as Cornelius describes it) but managed to do so and escape within a very small window of time before the planet was obliterated by the shockwave of destruction catapulting them backwards in time and arriving at roughly the same destination and era as Taylor's original point of departure (it could be argued that these narrative discrepancies support the theory of "Hasslein's Observed Time Curve" which suggests that a predestination paradox created alternate intersecting timelines as illustrated by the incongruent timeline of events that occur between Conquest and Battle). Nevertheless, once you get past the narrative gaps and just go with it, Escape is a fun and dramatically intense film but is my least favorite second only to the weakest link in the evolutionary Apes chain; Battle For The Planet of the Apes.

When Zira announces that she is pregnant, the film takes a dark and conspiratorial turn when the government realizes the consequence a race of intelligent talking apes will have on the future of our human civilization. In an effort to protect their newborn (the ape who would become Caesar), Cornelius and Zira find refuge with Armando, a sideshow circus entertainer played by the extravagant Ricardo Montalban who gladly welcomes the simian family with open arms, but it isn't long before Dr. Hasslein picks up the fugitives' trail and hunts them down in a tragic and inevitable climax that sets up the paradox of the entire Planet of the Apes chronology.

Poor Beginning but a good story nonetheless.......2003-11-10

Once you get past the preposturous and serious flawed opening of the movie, you have a great story (in the first film we saw the damaged ship sink in the water. This film supposes that Cornelious and Zira somehow retrieved the ship and repaired it and were able to fly it back through time. All this was done in the short time from when Brent left their camp in the second film till he reached the mutant camp, which at most was a day). This was probably the best acting for Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter in the series. The movie makes us question the scientific use of animals in research.

The budget got smaller and it shows.......2003-10-27

The third film, "Escape..." was a complete joke. They must have made this on a shoe-string budget because there were no special effects and they probably used the masks from the first two films. The plot was idiotic and I weep at thought of this nonsense.

Can You Tell Which Are More "Human"?.......2003-10-21

This film in 1971, the third episode of Planet Of The Apes series, is very comic at first but it belies the ultimate catastrophe human beings will or will not be avoided in distant future. Previous two films are about 40th century Earth where apes with extraordinary intelligece rule the planet while men there are degraded into slave status despised by apes. It just reminds me of that of humans called "yahoo" similarly despised by horses in "The Gullver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift. Third of the series suddenly bring us back to present world to 1973. It might be the sort of Hollywood ploy we have seen in Jurassic Park II Lost World that made the bio-bred dinosaur to land in American soil.

Three ape scientists escaped from warring 40th century Earth landed somewhere off the American coast captured by the U.S. forces. They were first sent to the zoo but after Zira spoke "Because I loath bananas" they are suddenly welcomed as guests becoming sort of celebrity. The ape couple Zira and Cornelius are really comical and I can't help laughing at their witty remarks such as the ironical usage of "human" and "beastly". But after government committee finds out about gloomy future awaiting us mankind, they orders to have their new-born baby killed. The couple escapes with the aid of their kind animal behaviorist and circus owner who might have devised a remarkable trick we will find out at the end of the film.

Description

Colorful, futuristic sets, a relentless pace and an action-packed climax highlight the fourth episode of the legendary Apes saga, starring Roddy McDowall and Ricardo Montalban. The time is the near future. Apes have supplanted dogs and cats as household pets, and replaced servants as personal assistants - until their continual mistreatment provokes one advanced ape from the future, Caesar (McDowall), to lead a spectacular revolt. It's thrilling science fiction that offers both a serious message and stirring entertainment.

Customer Reviews:

Ape Epic.......2006-05-26

This is one outstanding film in the PLANET OF THE APES saga. It begins to bring the plight of the Apes and Taylor's discovery in the original real substance. How did the world of mankind get turned upside-down? This film explains a lot and there are some very good performances in it.

The Wrath of Caesar!.......2006-05-20

In Escape From the Planet of the Apes, Cornelius and Zira arrived from the future and had a child, one who was destined to destroy the future of human civilization. To protect her child from human treachery, the baby chimpanzee was switched with a normal zoo chimp by his mother, and grew up under the protection of his benevolent human master Armando, the extravagant sideshow circus entertainer ironically played by Ricardo Montalban from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Having been given a taste of freedom by the compassionate Armando, the talking simian chimpanzee Caesar (played by Roddy McDowall who had the unique opportunity to play the son of his character Cornelius) becomes disillusioned when Armando brings him into the city only to learn that his ape brothers and sisters have become "domesticated" after a plague brought back from space in the year 1983 wiped out every dog and cat on the planet. Because of their adept intelligence and human-like faculties, the apes quickly became trained to serve their "superior" human masters. In 1991, human civilization is controlled by an oppressive authoritarian government fearful that a race of talking apes will inevitably rise up and destroy human civilization as foretold by the arrival of Cornelius and Zira.

Now the apes have supplanted humans as working class slaves distinguished by the two dominant ape species... the smarter chimpanzees wearing green worker overalls and the stronger and more aggressive gorillas in red, not unlike the delineation between white and blue collar human laborers. When Armando and the son of Cornelius witness a cruel public display of torture against a helpless ape worker, the emotionally enraged talking simian lets loose his tongue and makes the fatal mistake of publicly shouting out an obscenity against the human oppressors. Armando, accepting responsibilty for the outcry, is taken into custody for questioning after he helps Caesar flee capture. The fugitive ape conceals himself by infiltrating a cage of "immigrant" ape orangutans imported from Indonesia and is taken to a worker conditioning center where apes are harshly trained to become subservient to human domination. He is soon sold at a slave auction to the Governor's assistant MacDonald, who ironically is an Afro-American. MacDonald brings him before Governor Breck, played by the melodramatically camp Don Murray, who suspects that he is indeed the talking ape that they are searching for and is given the opportunity to name himself by choosing a name randomly from a book. The intelligent ape points to a name which not only surprises but reaffirms the Governor's suspicion and thus, Caesar is born.

Caesar is put to work in an operations center where he can be closely monitored. When Caesar overhears that his master Armando was killed trying to flee interrogation, he becomes outraged and communicates non-verbally with his ape brethren to be defiant against their masters and the seeds of discontent are sown. Caesar organizes the apes into an uprising against their human captors that erupts into a full-blown ape revolt akin to Che Gorilla --- a sly reference to the Cuban revolutionary guerilla leader Che Guevara for which Caesar emblematically bares an uncanny symbolic resemblance to and has even been parodied as such in pop-culture. Roddy McDowall gives a rousing and unforgettable dramatic performance that surpasses his characterization of Cornelius in the three previous Ape films. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes explodes into a riotous and violent action packed climax that inevitably sets the stage for the entire Apes Saga and the birth of The Planet of the Apes.

Conquest is the fourth film in the series and it is my second favorite. It is brutally violent and was the first Apes film to earn a PG rating after explicit scenes of graphic violence were cut. I would love to see an uncut version released on DVD. It is filled with so many socio-political themes that are just as relevant (if not more so) today as they were back in 1972. While the ape revolt was patterned directly after the 1965 Los Angeles Watts Riots, it could easily parallel the racial Alabama and Chicago civil protest riots of the 50's and 60's or the L.A. riots of the 90's. It's themes of working class oppression not disimilar to the current issue of Immigration Reform which saw demonstrations of protest in major cities across the country by tens of thousands of immigrant workers who perform low-paying laborious and menial jobs, as exemplified by the scene where Caesar witnesses the temperament of a snobbish blonde woman having her hair done in a salon by a chimp named Zelda. The Government is portrayed as oppressive and paranoid and is an interesting examination of how the need for social constructs like Ape Management (i.e. Homeland Security) can easily deteriorate into an oppressive state of authoritarian control. Conquest is a political-charged cautionary allegory of how society breeds contempt. Viva la Revolution!

To Bill C........2006-04-15

Hey Bill, Ceasar is actually the son of Zira and Cornelius from the third film (Escape From The Planet of the Apes). Richardo Montablan's circus character switched chimp babies, so the man in "Escape" shoots a circus chimp instead of the baby Ceasar, hence the "mama, mama, mama" scene that closes "Escape." Milo's character was killed early on in "Escape" by the gorilla in an adjacent cage, so there really aren't any incosistencies in "Conquest" when compared to its predecessor.

Peace.

Best of the POTA sequels.......2005-06-01

This is certainly the most exciting, well-crafted of the sequels. I feel this story's slight inconsistency with film 3(when did Milo get renamed Cesar? among other problems) only serves to give it all a great almost Biblical-type significance. Also, I love the vague designation of "North America 1991" at the beginning.

One of the series best.......2002-12-17

What could be cooler than an ape running down the street with an M16? This "futuristic" setting was extremely well done. The story was great and aside from the original (the best), the climiax will leave you in awe. The whole series rocks, even the new version (2001) You can't go wrong by owning all of these movies, and the Tv series on DVD. Go Ape!

Average customer rating:

good but...
Apocalypse Apes Redux
Finally, the Uncut Version of Battle is on DVD!

Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Starring: Roddy McDowall , Claude Akins , Natalie Trundy , Severn Darden , and Lew Ayres
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes
Return to the Planet of the Apes

ASIN: B000E6ESDA
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Description

Roddy McDowall and Claude Akins star in the fifth and last chapter of the legendary Apes saga. Set in 2670 A.D., an idyllic society of man and ape is threatened by both a militant gorilla (Akins) and a tribe of still-intelligent mutant humans. Finally, simmering tensions dividing the primates erupt in an apocalyptic climax. When the smoke clears, the carnage is everywhere, but there is hope for a new beginning for man and ape. Co-starring John Huston, Paul Williams, and Lew Ayres.

Customer Reviews:

good but..........2006-09-27

okay just one problem (i know it's a movie) how did the apes all learn to talk from the 4th movie too this one???? anyone???

Apocalypse Apes Redux.......2006-05-24

Rarely does the restoration of deleted scenes added back into a film work to its benefit. The Extended Edition of Battle for the Planet of the Apes (available previously only as a Japanese laserdisc) is one of those rare exceptions. The fifth and final chapter in the Apes theatrical series is generally regarded as its weakest link. It had the lowest budget of all of the films in the series and it painfully shows and looks more like it's a made-for-TV movie. In fact, it feels almost like a pilot for the Planet of the Apes Television Series.

The film begins in the year 2670 and is bookended with John Houston as the revered ape Lawgiver reading from the sacred scrolls like a bedtime storyteller, "In the beginning, God created beast and man so that they could live in harmony and share dominion over this world..." From here the story is told in flashback and the viewer is left scratching their heads by the befuddling logic. Events not clearly explained are left to the viewer to make assumptions or draw conclusions about the contradictory order of events. It must be assumed that a nuclear war had devasted the Earth immediately after the ape uprising in Conquest and somehow only a decade afterward the ape society had unbelievably evolved their verbal powers of speech and intelligence. These facts are inconsistent with Cornelius' explanation of the apes' evolution in Escape in which he explains that the plague that destroyed all cats and dogs occurred some 200 years later than it did in Conquest and that Aldo was the first ape to utter human speech when he said the word "No" which was spoken by Lisa in Conquest, and that Aldo led the revolt against the humans which was led by Caesar. We can only conclude that the incongruent events in Conquest and Battle are the events of an alternate timeline forged by the creation of the temporal paradox from Cornelius and Zira's arrival in Escape. The apes also adorn costumes similar to the fashions of the ape society from the first film which had evolved over several thousand years but again this is only a decade after their revolt against the humans (one explanation could be that since this story is told as a flashback to ape and human children we are seeing it as depicted by their imaginations as a point of reference). Caesar has a son named Cornelius which might initially confuse the uninitiated viewer into mistaking this to be the young Cornelius from the first film which lived several thousand years into the future until it is made obviously clear late in the film that it is not the same Cornelius (I actually spent a better part of the film pondering how Caesar could paradoxically be both the son and the father of Cornelius). Also, MacDonald in this film is not the same MacDonald who was the Governor's Adjutant in Conquest but rather his brother which is confusing since Caesar appeared to have found a human sympathizer and ally in the MacDonald from Conquest and the only reasonable explanation for the deliberate change of character is that MacDonald is played by a different actor this time, but if you aren't paying close attention, you are likely to miss that inference. Ape City is located in a very lush and hospitable forest area within miles of the inhospitable desert wasteland of the annihilated Forbidden City. Automobiles such as jeeps and school buses still work somehow and were not rendered inopperable by the EMP of the atomic detonation. Radioactive half-life apparently only affects the surviving humans living within the irradiated remains of the Forbidden City (again, this takes place a mere decade after the war) and the apes can somehow sustain bombardments of high levels of radioactive fallout for a few hours while they search its archives for a videotape of Cornelius and Zira which also amazingly happened to not be vaporized or magnetically degaussed by the atomic blast. The mutated humans all wear skull caps for the purpose of (take your pick): A.) protecting their craniums from high radiation levels B.) to hide the fact that their hair has completely fallen out due to radioactive fallout C.) to enhance telepathic reception of their now-suddenly mutated telekinetic minds or D.) All of the above.

The newly restored scenes with the human mutants and the Alpha-Omega bomb at least help to make some sense of the rather weak narrative and gaps of logic and provide some continuity to the rest of the series. In the first scene, Governor Kolp unveils the Alpha-Omega bomb and instructs his assistant Alma to use it to annihilate Ape City should he not return from battle which is exactly what happens in the final scene where we see Mendez and Alma playing a game of checkers when Sargeant York returns and declares the defeat of their army and waves his arms in the air signalling an explosion just before he collapses. Alma says "Then I know what I must do." Mendez says "But wait for Kolp's signal," Alma's response is "I have just received it." Mendez, implores her not to carry out Kolp's original instructions making the arguement that its destructive power should be protected and even venerated and that they should become its guardians because it was one of their ancestors that made them what they are. This scene is significant because it shows the mutants beginning to hone their developing telepathic powers and it establishes the fundamental doctrine of their quasi-religious sect that will worship the Alpha-Omega bomb in future generations. It almost feels more like a direct prequel to Beneath now. Why this subplot was excised is almost as baffling as the film's logic but one reason perhaps is the fact that the film ended with a more optimistic outlook suggesting that the timeline of events were changed when Caesar united the apes and the humans and that the crisis of Beneath may have been averted but it is left open for the audience to decide from the ambiguous tear of the weeping statue of Caesar suggesting that perhaps the fateful events of the future cannot be avoided after all.

Battle is definitely the worst of the five apes films but compared to most low-budget sci-fi shlock I've seen, it's really not as bad as it's made out to be, but judged against the superior standard set precedent by the first film it is a quite a disappointment. In addition to the restored scenes, there are few highlights that make the film worth at least a viewing if you have enjoyed watching the other films in this series at all. Of particular interest are the sets of the melted down post-apocalyptic Forbidden City that are just visually interesting to look at, even if the obvious matte paintings were composited into the background. It gives the film a future-coda feel in a way that evokes images of James Cameron's The Terminator but pre-dates it over a decade. If nothing else, Battle (and the rest of the Apes saga) was at least influential in inspiring other science fiction films in the genre and was the template for subsequent franchises and was more than influential to George Lucas and his Star Wars mega-merchandising empire that would follow only a few years later and the Planet of the Apes series would forever be buried under its apocalypse and reside in the realm of Saturday afternoon and late-night television broadcasts.

Finally, the Uncut Version of Battle is on DVD!.......2006-04-05

This version of Battle for the Planet of the Apes is the uncut version that contains the scenes of the Alpha Omega bomb. These scenes make a clear connection between the mutants in Beneath and the ones in this film. Of course, Mendez is still there in the chopped version, but many might not connect him with the Mendez dynasty alluded to in the second film. These scenes make a huge difference in this film. I'd say they elevate the film from 3 to 4 stars.

The most obvious way to differentiate the two versions is the cover. The cut version has Virgil, an orangutan on it. This version has a picture of a very angry chimp or gorilla. In the cut version, you see Virgil from the chest up, the latter only has a face above the logo and a few film clips below it. While I'd really only recommend this to apes fans, I'd say anyone who's truly devoted to this series must own it.

Average customer rating:

The animation is the pits, but most of the stories hold up well and this is a real blast from the past
Return to the Planet of the Apes
The final chapter
Return to the Planet of the Apes
back in time...

Return to the Planet of the Apes
Starring: Edwin Mills , Austin Stoker , Richard Blackburn , Tom Williams , and Philippa Harris
Director: Doug Wildey
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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