Beneath The Planet of The Apes

#253376

The first (and best) sequel to the 1968 classic will be released on dvd Tuesday.

Between this and King Kong I'll be going ape next week! (It'll take a week to get through the extended version of Kong!)

#253408

Hi Pete,

I've had all of the Planet Of The Apes films on DVD for quite awhile. What's the difference with the new release? I bought a box set with all 5 movies with an extras disc.
Also, is Peter Jackson going to release a two disc set of King Kong now and then a four disc set later in the year like he did with the Lord Of The Rings series? If so, I will wait.

jeff R

#253436

I disagree Pete. I think the reverse the tables "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" was the best sequel. The special effects, so go to town in the first movie, are crushingly disappointing in the second. There's no Roddy McDowall. The music score is jarring and the mutant plot contradicts most of the premise of the first movie. Still, it's an engaging enough movie when you're watching it and Charlton Heston's aboard for one last ride.

I think the character driven "Escape" is a much more narratively ambitious (not in physical but in depth of story) and involving. The only thing the history they reveal of the ape takeover does become way too contradictory. If what they say were the case Charlton Heston would have not have been so shocked to see apes take over in the first one.

Overall, I think it was pretty good series. The fourth movie- "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" is also quite good. It brings the series back to racial comment and its view of a totalarian culture is one of the most compelling in that era when these films were all the rage.

#253575

jeffreyjames wrote:Also, is Peter Jackson going to release a two disc set of King Kong now and then a four disc set later in the year like he did with the Lord Of The Rings series? If so, I will wait.

That's the rumor. A four (and in some reports, five) disc set is scheduled for release in late fall. I've also heard that the set is being held for a Christmas release, but I don't think he'll wait quite that long. I'm going to get the 2-disc set Tuesday and see what I think. If I am just totally blown away, then I'll pick up the big set later this year. Something tells me that I ain't gonna be that impressed, though.

Tom

#253624

Jeff: I don't know if there is any difference between the single dvd of 'Beneath' and the one from the box set. I never got the box, only the 35th anniversary edition of the first film.

Tom: With the new 'Kong' dvd being extended, and there being a dvd set of the film's production released in conjunction with the theatrical version, one has to wonder what more could we want or need to warrant a 4 dvd set? I'm afraid in this case Peter Jackson just may not know when to say when.

LTB: I like all the 'Apes' films, although 'Battle' was a noticeable drop in overall quality. I enjoy 'Escape' but it's a quasi-comedy that takes an abrupt shift towards a tragic conclusion. I prefer 'Beneath' because it's still set in the ape-ruled future. James Franciscus was quite good in his role, and James Gregory as the militaristic gorilla general was also good. When this film came out I had a huge crush on Nova.

, so I have a soft spot for it. I also enjoyed Heston's cameo, and how Taylor's story reached it's grim, ironic conclusion. 'Conquest' is my next favorite sequel after 'Beneath.'

#253668

Pete Dube wrote:Tom: With the new 'Kong' dvd being extended, and there being a dvd set of the film's production released in conjunction with the theatrical version, one has to wonder what more could we want or need to warrant a 4 dvd set? I'm afraid in this case Peter Jackson just may not know when to say when.

I could not agree more. Rumor has it that the "big" set will consist of the film, all the extras included in Tuesday's release AND all the previously released production diaries. Would anybody actually watch those diaries more than once???

Tom

#253801

So what do you guys think of the more recent re-make of Planet of the Apes ?

Any good ?

Better ?

Worse ?

#253857

Colin -
It's ok, but doesn't come close to matching the original. When the remake was in production Tim Burton made a comment that the film was not a remake, but a 're-imagining.' When I read that I thought 'not a good sign.'

It plays more like an episode of the short-lived tv series. And you don't follow Heston as the hero with Marky-Mark! The ending is a head-scratcher. On the plus side the ape make-ups are excellent (with the exception of Helena Bonham-Carter's ridiculous chimp make-up). Tim Roth is good as the ape villian. And Heston has a cameo as Roth's chimp father where he gets to say a variation of his line from the end of the first film (Damn them all to hell!).

Tim Burton's films are usually interesting, and I don't know if he is capable of making a bad film, but this is so-so at best and very disappointing.

#253859

Pete Dube wrote:Colin -
It's ok, but doesn't come close to matching the original.

Looks like a no no, then !

Not sure I want to see Helena Bonham-Carter as an ape !

Quite fancy her but not really into bestiality !

The best spoof of the film was in the MAD mag.

When Chuck Heston finds the ruined head of the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the sand at the end,
there are still tourists walking round in it !

#253914

The ending of the remake was very odd...I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a set up for a sequel? In any event, was Mark's character stranded in an alternate Earth as the result of...what? I did not get the ending at all.

Jesse Garon · #253919

It was a statue of Ape-raham (missing) Link-oln

The Make-up Effects Genius on the film said he wished Tim Roth had not been cast - he has a big nose, too big to fit the ape face template. He really wanted small nose actors. Seriously.

#254106

I was in Target today and I noticed they had a new single disc version of the original POTA. I looked it over and this version has a commentary by Roddy Macdowell, Kim Hunter, make-up artist John Chambers, and Natalie Trundy (actress and wife of Apes producer Arthur P. Jacobs).

I was also browsing on Amazon and looked over the 2 disc version of Kong. It appears that this will not be an extended version of the film, just the theatrical version plus some extras.

#254109

Pete Dube wrote:I was also browsing on Amazon and looked over the 2 disc version of Kong. It appears that this will not be an extended version of the film, just the theatrical version plus some extras.

Oh yeah, I completely left out that part. There are no less than 5 different versions of the film being talked about. I've heard that the extended cut (the one scheduled for release in the future) may be a few minutes or a few hours (??!!) longer than the theatrical release. With a current runtime of 187 minutes, how in the world can this film be extended by a few hours?? Oh well, If anyone could do it, Jackson can.

Tom

#254145

The problem with the Burton movie was his general problem- poor screenplay. This had a more coherent narrative but the script was very lazy. Mark Wahlberg's character doesn't even express any shock at apes running the planet. There was a really perfunctory air around the entire project. It probably shouldn't have been made.