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9
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6 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Lucas
Micromatis |
With
Tim Burton's revision hitting theaters and a reissue
of the DVD set on the horizon, it seems appropriate
to take a look back at the original Planet
Of The Apes. Adapted from the novel Monkey
Planet by Pierre Boulle, the first film started
a phenomenon which sparked four sequels, a TV series,
a Saturday-morning cartoon series, tons of memorabilia,
and even a brief musical adaptation on The Simpsons.
Planet
Of The Apes is an undisputed science fiction
classic for many reasons. On one level, it is a
pure fantasy — escapist
entertainment. Astronaut George Taylor (The
Omega Man's Charlton Heston) crash-lands on
a mysterious planet where evolution has apparently
reversed: apes dominate man. Subjugated and feared
by his captors because he is the first human with
the power of speech, Taylor struggles to escape
this "madhouse" with the aid of two sympathetic
chimpanzee scientists, Cornelius (Roddy McDowall)
and Zira (Kim Hunter). Of course, his struggle leads
to a zowie of an ending —
a Twilight Zone-ish twist which surely must
have pleased co-scriptwriter Rod Serling, and which
still packs a punch.
On another level, though, Planet
Of The Apes clearly reflects the turmoil
and strife uprising during the 1960s. The film attacks
and satirizes various issues —
war, civil rights, etc. —
dominant in the public consciousness. While the
satire seems cheap today and elicits more groans
than knowing laughs (yes, the "see no evil, hear
no evil, speak no evil" bit is a tad silly, though
I enjoy it), it still does not detract from the
overall power of the film. A great part of its success
must be attributed
to the astounding make-up work of John Chambers,
highly deserving his special academy award. While
primitive by today's standards, the ape make-up
was an incredible achievement of its day and still
impresses. Kudos must also go to some remarkable
performances from the ape actors. McDowall and Hunter
shine through their facial appliances, as does Maurice
Evans as one of the best sci-fi villains ever, Dr.
Zaius. Heston, who chews the scenery with such aplomb
and is given reams of instantly quotable lines,
owns the role of Taylor and gives it his all.
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| The
DVD, though skimpy on extras, is well-presented. The
film looks and sounds fantastic;
the remastered Dolby Digital Surround audio track
breathes new life into this oft-seen classic. (The
2:35:1 Widescreen transfer is not anamorphic, unfortunately.)
The animated menu screens feature various samples
from composer Jerry Goldsmith's excellent, groundbreaking
score. An extremely limited photo gallery is included,
a paltry effort considering the wealth of material
on this film. Fortunately the disc does come with
the theatrical trailers to all five of the Apes flicks,
a nice touch. I just wish Fox hadn't given away the
surprise ending on the packaging. There's got to be
at least some folks out there who haven't seen
the movie yet. 7/30/01 |
| UPDATE
A 2-disc special 35th Anniversary edition of Planet
Of The Apes was released by Fox in February
2004. In addition to a remastered anamorphic transfer
and a Dolby 5.1 Surround audio mix, this new, definitive
edition is loaded with extras: the 2-hour documentary
Behind the Planet of the Apes, two audio commentaries,
a text commentary, outtakes, featurettes, galleries,
trailers and more. EC rates it a solid '10'. -
Ed. |
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