Planet of the Apes
by Franklin J. Schaffner
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DVD details
Actor: Charlton Heston, James Whitmore, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Roddy McDowallDirector: Franklin J. Schaffner
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-03-28
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Planet of the Apes
DVD Review: Great
Summary: 4 Stars
It was directed by Franklin Schaffner, who went on to success with the Oscar-winning biopic Patton. It is the tale of a misanthropic astronaut, and his three comrades, sent on the first interstellar flight, somewhere towards Alpha Centauri. The tale follows Heston's character, Colonel George Taylor, and his two surviving male underlings, Dodge and Landon, after they crash land on a seemingly deserted Earth-like world. The female member of the crew, Stewart, has died due to an air leak in her hibernation capsule.
While they think they are in a different solar system, and have traveled over two thousand years into the future, it not too slowly becomes apparent that they are back on Earth. The willful suspension of disbelief is needed, of course, because the chances that astronauts could not tell that they were under our sun, moon, and constellations- even a few millennia hence, is unlikely. Then there is the terrestrial flora, then the encounter with mute humans (how unlikely is that?), and then being captured by English speaking gorillas on a hunt. I mean- they speak English, and American astronauts cannot piece things together? Yet, if one can give in to that initial act, all the rest of the film- and subsequent series, unfolds with quite a bit of logic, although at times seeming at odds.
Dodge ends up killed and stuffed in an ape museum while Landon is lobotomized so he cannot speak. Taylor cannot speak, initially, because he has been shot in the throat by a gorilla. He is mended by two chimpanzee scientists, Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowell), an archaeologist, who believe he is `bright.' She calls him Bright Eyes. They are under the tutelage of Dr. Zaius, an orangutan bureaucrat who knows the secret that his world is earth, and that taking humans once ruled it.
Eventually, Taylor regains his voice, after being put on by trial with Zira and Cornelius, who are charged with heresy, and one of the film's many signature moments comes when Taylor is netted and captured after escaping, and rails to the apes who catch him, `Get your stinkin' paws off me you damn dirty ape!' Yet, by the time that line is uttered the viewer has so bought into the film's suspension of disbelief, that when we see the shock on the faces of the apes, upon hearing a human speak, it mirrors the viewers' shock. Later, at the trial comes the great sequence where the three orangutan inquisitors will hear no more, and cover their eyes, mouths, and ears, in the classic see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil pose.
What some forget, in all the manifest political analogies the film and series put forth- such as the three ape races corresponding with the three main Classical stocks of Man: Negroid/Gorilla, Caucasoid/Chimpanzee, and Mongoloid/Orangutan, is that Planet Of The Apes was also a devastating critique of organized religion and its deliberate deceits. Zira and Cornelius, with Zira's nephew, free Taylor, and he and Nova (Linda Harrison)- the female human given to him as a mate, escape with them to The Forbidden Zone- the desert where Taylor first landed. Zaius and the gorillas follow, on horseback, and Cornelius shows proof that humans preceded apes on the planet, including a human doll that could speak. Taylor asks if an ape would make a doll that speaks. They also find dentures and an artificial heart valve. The gorillas attack and Taylor takes Zaius hostage, gets food, water, a rifle and ammo, and he and Nova are allowed to escape along the shoreline, after scorning the man with a citation from Ape scripture: `Beware the beast man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death.' Zaius then blows up the cave and the secret of human history predating ape culture.
One might think that Taylor should have pieced things together by now, but the film ends with him finally linking things up, when he comes across the deteriorated upper half of the Statue Of Liberty, and curses his ancestors. Whether the statue has been blown up or simply buried in sand is unclear. What is clear is that it is not only a great twist ending to the film, thought up by the film's original screenwriter, Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone fame, but an iconic political image- and the most devastating of the 1960s to come from film. Here is Heston, the embodiment of intelligent macho American goodness- far more so than the more one dimensional icon of John Wayne, on his knees and wailing, pounding the sand impotently, as all that was America is in ruins. Given that this was released not long after the Tet Offensive showed that America was losing in Vietnam, its impact was enormous.
The film was one of the two great science fiction films released that year, which made sci fi a more respectable subject for serious drama. The other, of course, was Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, whose iconic imagery was on a par with this film's. Serling's original script, which more closely followed the novel's futuristic themes, was redone by Michael Wilson, who for budgetary reasons had to primitivize the ape society. The film won three Oscars- for best score, by Jerry Goldsmith, Best Costume Design, and Outstanding Achievement in Makeup- an honorary award specifically for the film's historic impact. It is the truly otherworldly and spooky score by Goldsmith that- along with Serling's original screenplay, make the film such a classic.
DVD Review: Great movie for 1968!
Summary: 5 Stars
Astronauts crash land onto a planet that is ruled by apes. A planet where the apes are at rule, and humans are the underdog. A planet where apes capture humans and use them for game.
I really loved this version of the Planet of the Apes. I actually liked this one better than the 2001 version. (even though it looks more realistic) If you are a planet of the apes fan and liked the 2001 version, you may think well I don't want to see the old version! But this version really isn't that bad!
DVD Review: The Great Charlton Heston Monkeys Around
Summary: 4 Stars
In the wake of Charlton Heston's death, I decided to have a marathon viewing of his films. I rewatched many of my favorites and sought out some of those I had never seen.
"Planet of the Apes" is an iconic film and one of my longtime favorites. Heston stars as Taylor, an astronaut who crashes on a planet ruled by talking apes. Here humans are mute and primitive, treated like animals. Taylor is an anomaly that perplexes and frightens the apes (imagine us discovering an intelligent ape who could speak). The scientists want to study him, the superstitious leaders want to destroy him.
Although it may seem like a mindless sci-fi movie on the surface, "Apes" deals with heavy themes like prejudice, social class, and the nuclear threat. With one exception (see next paragraph), it is well written, beautifully shot, and artfully directed. The film is full of great scenes: the astronauts' journey across the hauntingly bleak landscape, the chilling "hunting party" attack, and of course the famous twist ending. The score by Jerry Goldsmith is discordant and clangy, but it creates the perfect mood of otherworldly menace. Heston turns in one of his best performances ("Get your stinking hands off me . . .").
However, for such an intelligent film, there is one ludicrous plot hole: though he believes he is on a planet far from earth, Taylor never once questions why the apes speak perfect English! It is inconceivable that he wouldn't wonder how this "alien" society speaks his language or uses remarkably familiar weapons like rifles.
If you can overlook this error, "Apes" is really an enjoyable film, certainly much better than the misguided 2003 remake. It is a classic of science fiction and a must-see for any Heston fan.
DVD Review: Planet Of The Apes
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this Movie for my Husband, I am not particularly a Planet of the ape fan. It was just what I wanted and I know he enjoyed the movie. For its time in history it was well made, has a good story line and takes you back to another time.DVD Review: Product of its times
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great film, although in some ways a little dated. The chimp protestors and "Don't trust anyone over 30" comment comes to mind. Charlton Heston was terrific in this, playing his role just right in my opinion: "What the Hell would I have to say to an ape?"
Even if you don't like scifi this is a fun movie to watch.
Description of Planet of the Apes
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).System Requirements:Running Time 112 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating:?Unknown UPC:?024543229742 Manufacturer No:?2232975Many early science fiction films are now, quite inadvertently (and in most cases undeservedly), objects of camp attention: we laugh at the silly makeup, tin-can special effects, and the naive "high-tech" dialogue. Planet of the Apes is no such film. Its intelligent script, frightening costuming, and savagely effective conclusion (which needs no big-budget special effects to augment its impact) remain both potent and relevant. When Colonel George Taylor (the fabulous Charlton Heston) crash lands his spacecraft on what seems to be an unfamiliar planet, he is captured and held prisoner by a dominant race of hyperrational, articulate apes. However, the ape community is riven with internal dissention, centered in no small part on its policy toward humans, who, on this planet, are treated as mindless animals. Befriended and ultimately assisted by the more liberal simians, Taylor escapes--only to find a more terrifying obstacle confronting his return home. Heavy-handed object lessons abound--the ubiquity of generational warfare, the inflexibility of dogma, the cruelty of prejudice--and the didactic fingerprints of Rod Serling are very much in evidence here. But director Franklin Schaffner has a dark, pop-apocalyptic sci-fi vision all his own, and time has not dulled the monumental emotional impact of the film's climactic payoff shot. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, you owe it to yourself to check out this stone classic, and even if you do, see it with fresh eyes; and don't be surprised if you get the chills all over again... and again... and again. --Miles Bethany
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