Planet of the Apes - The Evolution

Planet of the Apes - The Evolution
by Don Taylor, Franklin J. Schaffner, J. Lee Thompson, Ted Post

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DVD Reviews of Planet of the Apes - The Evolution

DVD Review: Let's go Ape! But, not too much...
Summary: 4 Stars

Compared to the latest and "tragic" attempt at rehashing an old classic, "The Evolution" series of DVDs is a collector's masterpiece.

While one may praise make-up artists' efforts in the latest installment of "Planet of the Apes", which is logically far superior than the "appliances" they had to work with, back in the sixties and the seventies, one may not find Pierre Boulle's original novel anywhere.

I rate it at four stars, just because one can feel that the producers, not the cast and not even the crews, played the economic card. This is especially evident, starting with "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" and on to "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" which closely resembles a TV movie.

Pity, because the entire franchise would have been worth a much bigger effort. Even though I may understand, for various strategical reasons, the choice of having "The Planet of the Apes" as a post nuclear holocaust backward society, in the the original 1968 movie, I still am wondering why the same choice was made by Tim Burton in his remake.

Pierre Boulle's (the author) Apes' Planet, was far more advanced than human society on the Earth, the astronauts had left behind. This was meant to show that, no matter what man could destroy, other, probably more developed and advanced species (not necessarily Apes, but I guess this was a more poignant metaphor), could rebuild and by far, better than humans ever could.

This is why, although in the 1968 version, as I already mentioned before, I could still conceive the post-nuclear theme, which was far more in the minds of people involved in the Cold War, than just a more generalized critique against human kind, in the new version I simply cannot accept it.

Lack of imagination? Probably.
Lack of means? Not at all.

As the Star Wars franchise has shown, Cities and environments can be recreated through CG technology at much lower costs than ever before.
So why then not opt for the Pierre Boulle's original novel?
Your guess is as good as mine.

Anyway, the classic "Planet of the Apes" is far better and original in contents and storyline and has the advantage of an excellent cast, one could only dream for nowadays.

Even the music, of all five movies, reflected a much higher level at inventiveness and freshness.
These restored versions, bring back the original flair they possessed when they appeared in movie theaters everywhere.
Images are sharp and clear, colors are vivid.

The sound is another matter. While every effort was made to restore "Planet of the Apes" in its most minute detail, including its sound, with an excellent Digital Dolby 5.1 remix, not so happened with the other four movies.

Again, "Escape from the Planet of the Apes", is the most dubious example, being the only one that doesn't even sport a Dolby Surround Mono mix, but just a polished Mono one.
I can only assume that the only original copy remaining is available like that. In which case, I think it was wise not to digitally attempt at "fussing" with the sound, as it was the case with other movies and in which it totally failed.
But, should a "stereo" copy emerge, I would suggest to use that one to re-release this movie.

And yet, I suspect that this particular movie was plagued by the same financial restrictions of the others, probably more and might therefore have had a "mono" treatment.
The other ones, like "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" and "Battle..." could have deserved the attention that their forerunner had.

All in all, the five movies are more entertaining and well-made than the latest concoction by Tim Burton.

If you truly want to be astonished and thrilled by a science fiction movie series, than I would suggest to stick to the originals.
They had creativity, imagination, solid stories and excellent acting, all combined into a firework of surprises beyond which today's "remakes" pale miserably away.

A note about the complete "Planet of the Apes" TV series. If you are really enjoying retro-spectacles, especially '70s style, then you may be well served.
But, be warned, the series, having suffered the same financial restrictions as their movie counterparts, lack luster and are even dull in comparison. There is no more development of the characters (besides, the original ones, have long disappeared and been replaced by others) and the plots, except for two episodes out of fourteen, are always the same. The main conducting theme is "Escaping the the Planet of the Apes" and while it may be fun to watch for a couple of episodes, it starts to become weary and tiresome at the third one.

The transfer was made, by just transferring the filmed material to DVD. No sound remix, no video cleansing. Evident scratches may be noticed almost in every episode. The sound is pure monaural seventies' TV style. No luster here.

If you are a true "Planet of the Apes" fan, stick to "Planet of the Apes - The Evolution" DVD collection. It's the only valid choice and the only one worth the money.

Included in the Evolution collection, is also the 2-hour
documentary "Behind the Planet of the Apes" hosted by Roddy McDowall (who played the chimps Cornelius and Caesar in the movies and Galen in the TV series), which I truly recommend for its deep insight in the work behind such an immense effort and for its social studies' aspect, reflecting the mind-frame of society in those years.

This collection is the only true gift one can make to a die-hard fan of "Planet of the Apes". All the rest would be wasted money and time.