A few summers ago I picked up a pretty cool Blu-Ray boxed set of all the original Planet of the Apes movies (along with loads of special features) for a couple bucks. Seems kind of sought after, as it goes for $50 to $80 on the 'bay (but I ain't sellin'!). I've always been interested in these movies, but had never seen them. I vaguely remember seeing the original on tv when I was kid, and another time I saw parts of one of the sequels when I was home sick from school. I remember the apes were in the modern-day, which I thought was....weird, since I thought these films took place in the far off future. I didn't get it, and turned it off.
I saw the Burton remake when it came out. Since I hadn't seen much of the originals, I never understood why everyone hated on it so much. I thought it was fine. I remember thinking it was kind of brutal for a PG-13 movie.
The newer films ("Rise," and "Dawn") are pretty enjoyable. I have yet to see "War."
Since there is a new installment coming out this weekend, I thought it would be a great time to finally watch the originals. And since I've got nothing better to do, why not post my thoughts to the forums for no one to read? Brilliant! So off we gooooooo!
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Ok, what can I say about this one that hasn't already been said? C'mon, it's a classic. Even though I didn't remember much of it from when I saw it when I was a kid, I already knew how the story would go since it's so ingrained in pop-culture, so no surprise there. Charlton Heston's overacting is on-point. The ape makeup and prosthetics actually look quite amazing. The way they can emote and change facial expressions through the make-up is more believable to me than going the CGI route today. I can say I was surprised at how much nudity was in this film. Yeah, it's all butt shots from the male astronauts, but there was a couple wide shots of them walking away from the camera with some dangly something somethings visible. Just wasn't expected for a G rated film. Then again, it was a different time, where people recognized there is a difference between sex and nudity in film, and that there ain't nothing wrong with a naked body here or there. The ending of the film is, of course, iconic, and still works today. I immediately had to go to YouTube to watch the Simpsons clip of the Planet of the Apes Musical bit when the movie was over.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
This movie is completely bizarre. They threw so much at the wall in the hopes that something would stick. Didn't really work for me. The lead actor was obviously chosen because he's a dead ringer for Charlie Heston. The underground cult of humans was so baffling, I don't even know where to start. Their evolved "super powers" all seemed very convenient. Why do they hid their true faces behind masks? If their DNA was mutated by the nuclear blast centuries ago and caused them to have a scarred appearance (I'm guessing that's what happened, because the movie doesn't tell me), why do they have put masks on when around each other. Aren't they used to their normal appearance by now? Where did the nuke come from that they worship? How can it possibly be intact so many centuries later? Also, the social commentary in this film was way too on-point. While the first film was nuanced in it's approach to addressing social issues, this film beats you over the head them. The ape protesters was very obvious. Additionally, since we're talking about the war aspect, why is there an ape army? What's it for? Who do they go to war with? We're told the army is assembling to go out into the Forbidden Zone, yet it's supposed to be uninhabited, so there shouldn't be an army ready to do just that. This army looks like it's been around a while, with generals and a hierarchy. Who have they been fighting? Are there other ape countries to wage war with? Don't know. The make up effects with the apes isn't as good as the first film. The special features on this disc confirms this, as the budget wasn't really there to do it on this one. Ultimately, the movie ends with a real downer, with the whole planet blowing up. Pretty unsatisfying. I'd be mad if I was a kid seeing this in theaters.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
There are survivors! Plot-wise, I have less problems with this one than the previous installment, although the made-up time travel aspect is questionable. But I'll go with it. Compared to the last two films, there is no action in this movie whatsoever, except for a little shoot out at the end (this might be the movie I saw parts of when I was a kid). It's more of a love story between Cornelius and Zira, and their efforts to keep their family together. I appreciate that. It's also funnier than the previous films, but not in an obnoxious way you see in movies today. It's humorous moments that's character driven, like how Zira runs circles around her human captors. I like that we get insights to how the apes came to power, sort of an origin story. The first talking ape saying "NO!" gels nicely with the new films, but the ape who said it was not named Caesar in this. Unless Caesar had a different name originally in "Rise," and was renamed in that film? Don't remember. I liked the supporting cast here. We get a young M. Emmett Walsh at the beginning, and a super young Victor Newman as the antagonist. Again, I have to call out the downer ending, with both Cornelius and Zira getting killed. Sure, the baby chimp survives with Khan and his circus, but it still ends on an unexpected sour note.
So that's all for now. Three down, two to go. Obviously the original is the best so far, and I would say Escape is the better than Beneath. I do have to commend both sequels, though, because they really tried to each do something different than their predecessor, rather than rehash the same plot. Gotta give credit for that.
What say you all? Any thoughts on these films?