Planet of the Apes
by Tim Burton
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Actor: Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, Tim RothDirector: Tim Burton
Brand: WAHLBERG,MARK
Producer: Iain Smith
Producer: Katterli Frauenfelder
Producer: Ralph Winter
Writer: Lawrence Konner
Writer: Mark Rosenthal
Writer: Pierre Boulle
Writer: William Broyles Jr.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-02-11
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Closed-captioned; Color; Widescreen; DTS Surround Sound; DVD; NTSC
DVD Reviews of Planet of the Apes
DVD Review: An entertaining misfire (potential SPOILER alert)
Summary: 3 Stars
I was horrified when I first learned that Hollywood was attempting to cash in by remaking yet another film classic that had been done perfectly the first time. Was it only to make more money, and to sneak their own imprint on to the original filmmakers' success?
Ironically, this is typical of the kind of human behavior that the original Planet Of The Apes railed against. Yet, if you watch the documentary Behind The Planet Of The Apes, you'll marvel at just how oblivious some Hollywood executives were to the philosophical messages in the original film. One of them claimed that the filmmakers might have quietly slipped a few messages into the film, but overall it was intended as nothing more than a simple action/adventure. This goes a long way to explain why Hollywood fails so often, despite so much money and so much talent at its disposal.
And as if to drive home the point that thinkers are the powerless minority in Hollywood, director Tim Burton's commentary for this "re-imaging" of the original seems to show that Burton was only marginally more aware that "hidden" messages existed in the original film--messages that cried out like a banshee to anyone who actually bothered to THINK about that film. Even worse, I like Tim Burton's work, but the commentary reveals that Burton, though possessing a degree of thoughtfulness, may not be as articulate as one would hope. And this may best explain why this remake of Planet Of The Apes can best be described as an entertaining misfire.
I borrowed this film from the library, so I wouldn't lend any financial support to Hollywood's remake-for-profit schemes. I also watched it with my thumb resting on the remote-control's stop button. My goal was to see what this remake was all about, without allowing it to ruin the original's real impact on me.
So no one was more surprised than me, when I had no trouble seeing Burton's Planet Of The Apes through to the end. As a matter of fact, I quite enjoyed this film. The reason is because the story is entirely different than the original, so there's little risk of Burton stepping on the original's toes. Even better, this film did not succumb to Hollywood's obscene tendency to tack a happy ending onto every story about rape, murder, holocaust, or homo sapiens being overthrown by "lesser" species. In that regard, it seems more like a continuation of the original series, rather than a remake of the original.
Even so, apart from the ending, this your typical Hollywood action film--the kind of film that Richard Zanuck apparently originally envisioned back the late 1960's. There's a studly leading man with mediocre acting skills (no offense--I like Mark Wahlberg), a deliciously beautiful woman (actually two of them, if you find apes attractive), an easily recognizable evil villain who is blindly followed by hoards of unrecognizable and expendable henchmen, and a story line that relies heavily on deus ex machina to tie the screenplay's many loose ends together. This is the kind of film that Arnold Schwartzenneger would feel perfectly at home in. And there's nothing wrong with that, since it doesn't water down the power and force of the original film's message. Indeed, to Burton's credit, this remake does make a few humble attempts to insert social and political commentary.
However, in terms of filmmaking, I do not believe that this was Tim Burton's finest hour. For example, in the original film, the important "hunt" scene takes place in an expansive locale, with lots of motion and wide shots. You feel that a lot of effort was put into that scene, and this makes thoughtful people wonder why the filmmakers placed so much emphasis on the hunt.
However, the "hunt" scene in Burton's remake takes place in a clausterphobic jungle, and the only thoughtful question that results is, "why did a film with this kind of budget do an entire hunt scene on a sound stage the size of my living room?".
Films with real messages usually employ devices like foreshadowing, which often make the second viewing even more satisfying than the first. But here, again, Burton and Zanuck show no interest in making the audience THINK. For example, there were abundant opportunities to foreshadow Simos' future significance in the opening scenes that are surrounded by chimps in cages, yet no attempt was even made. Not even a nameplate for Simos on one of the cages--even though the screenplay called out for "METALLIC SQUARES stamped with SERIAL NUMBER and NICKNAME". The only real foreshadowing was Alexander's insistence that Pericles had been taught to return to the mother ship, which later helps to explain the silliness of his "miraculous" return at just the right moment.
Likewise, the brief montage of Earth transmissions contained only typical, iconic scenes from history--the kind of montage that a hungover high-school film student might throw together a few minutes before their 15-second film project is due: Hitler speaking, Iwo-jima flag raising, Castro speaking, a frame from The Day The Earth Stood Still, and Bill Clinton confessing that he stained Monica Lewinsky's dress. (The screenplay called for different, but equally irrelevant clips). There were no clips of Koko the gorilla using sign language. No clips of Jane Goodall living among the chimpanzees of Western Africa. No clips of pack animals serving humans. No clips of the Ku Klux Klan or George W. Bush behaving like animals that settle disagreements with violence. There were also no clips of any events that would have occurred between today and the future time in which the film is set. So many opportunities lost here!
I was also dumbfounded by the lack of sheer horror on Mark Wahlberg's face in the final scene--as well as director Tim Burton's apparent lack of direction that Wahlberg should exhibit horror in a horrifying situation. I think Burton has been working with puppets too long to adequately direct live actors anymore.
Where the film really shines is--as expected--with special effects. The opening shot of the cross-shaped Oberon nestled below Saturn's rings was awe-inspiring. And of course the ape makeup itself was inspired--Helena Bohnam Carter never looked so good. Burton also did a great job of capturing the way that apes move and behave, in obvious contrast to the original film's insistence that apes move and behave much like humans. The human actors playing apes hung, swung, and used their toes, much like real simeans would. Unfortunately, they also jumped and threw aggressors into the air with an unrealistic amount of power. I also wasn't entirely satisfied with the ape voices, which too often sounded like a cross between James Earl Jones and Barry White. It was also annoying to see a 100% survival rate every time one of those egg-shaped space pods crashed into a planet. I've suffered more damage with fender-benders in parking lots.
Overall, this is an entertaining film, spoiled mainly by the unavoidable comparison to the original, and Tim Burton's lack of attention to detail. As an action/adventure that is meant to make obtuse Hollywood executives even richer, this film succeeds. As a thoughtful statement on the human condition, it mostly fails. Somewhere in between lies a film that is more or less worth watching--as long as you don't expect too much from it.
Description of Planet of the Apes
An astronaut crash lands on a distant planet where intelligent apes rule, is befriended by a sympathetic chimpanzee, and leads a band of apes and humans towards a sacred temple within the Forbidden Zone that holds the key to the past.Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 6-FEB-2007
Media Type: DVD
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
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