Battle For The Planet Of The Apes

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:

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

Sci-Fi Action | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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:

point to ponder

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes

Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Sci-Fi Action | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Futuristic | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Beneath The Planet Of The Apes
Planet of the Apes (Widescreen Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Behind the Planet of the Apes

ASIN: B0001QNNQ6

Product Description

The fifth and final episode in the Planet of the Apes series. After the collapse of human civilization, a community of intelligent apes lives in harmony with a group of humans, but a community of mutants who reside beneath a destroyed city try to conquer those whom they perceive as enemies. Footage from the previous installments is effective in providing background information as flashbacks in an attempt to bring the series to a logical finish. A later television series attempted to rekindle original plotlines with newer ones.

Customer Reviews:

point to ponder.......2005-11-10

How'd all the apes learn to talk. They couldn't talk in the last one...

Average customer rating:

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

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000EBIOO4

Description

Planet of the Apes (2001) / Planet of the Apes - The Evolution (Complete Film Series) / Planet of the Apes - The Complete TV Series

Average customer rating:

Planet of the Apes (2001) / Planet of the Apes - The Evolution (Complete Film Series) / Planet of the Apes - The Complete TV Series
Starring: Mark Wahlberg , Tim Roth , Helena Bonham Carter , Michael Clarke Duncan , and Paul Giamatti
Director: Tim Burton , Franklin J. Schaffner , and Ted Post
Manufacturer: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Sci-Fi & Fantasy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000067NNH
Release Date: 2002-05-28

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