Planet of the Apes Blu-Ray Review
Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 12.20.2008
Does the sci-fi monkey adventure hold up 40 years later? Click here to read all about it's high def debut.
Directed By: Franklin J. Schaffner Written By: Michael Wilson and Rod Serling Cinematography By: Leon Shamroy Music Composed By: Jerry Goldsmith
Cast
Charlton Heston ... George Taylor
Roddy McDowall ... Cornelius
Kim Hunter ... Zira
Maurice Evans ... Dr. Zaius
James Whitmore ... President of the Assembly
James Daly ... Honorious
Linda Harrison ... Nova
The Film
1968 produced two memorable science fiction films. One of these movies is considered by many to be the greatest science fiction film of all time. The other is Planet of the Apes. However, if you look closely at both films, you will see that Planet of the Apes shares much in common with 2001: A Space Odyssey and is as important an addition to the genre as the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece.
Charlton Heston is George Taylor, an astronaut aboard a spacecraft very similar to the one in 2001. When the film starts he explains, in exposition, that he is on a mission exploring a theory that as the crew of the ship travels through space they age at a decreased rate than the people remaining on Earth. We also get a look at his personality as he expresses his disdain with the human preconception of greed and war. He finally enters into a sleep chamber, joining his three fellow crew members for a long nap.
Following the ship crashing on an unknown planet, the next thirty minutes of the film focuses on the three astronauts (the fourth died upon arrival) as they attempt to figure out what kind of planet they have landed on. The first clue they find is that plant life is unable to grow in the section of the planet they landed. They walk for a great distance and soon find an area with plant life once again before finally discovering what appear to be fellow humans.
These humans are all dressed as cavemen and none seem to be able to speak. They act as savages and Taylor jokes that if everyone on this planet is like this, they will rule it in short time. Unfortunately, he would quickly discover he will never be able to control this planet when they are attacked by a group of apes, on horseback, with guns. The apes are hunters and kill many of the humans, torture others and capture the rest. Following the attack, Taylor is amazed when he realizes the apes can speak.
The movie rises above its reputation thanks to the political and racial undertones in the story. When you listen to the way the apes speak of humans, it is clear the influence the filmmakers took from such current events as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the race riots occurring at the time. There are many examples of the dissatisfaction with the war in Vietnam and the entire climax focuses the fear of the general public onto the development of the nuclear arms program. During the inquisition of Taylor, there is a strong similarity to the actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
The final incident is obvious as one of the screenwriters was blacklisted Michael Wilson. Wilson and Rod Serling, who added much of the racial undertones, sprinkled the film with so many ideological theories that the movie becomes much more than a simple action movie concerning a man overwhelmed by a world ran by apes. These apes make comments that are similar to how racists speak about any minority and it is clear the idea of role reversal is meant to bring this attitude into the light.
None of this would matter if the acting were not up to par. When I first viewed Planet of the Apes, I believed Charlton Heston was annoyingly over-the-top. During the opening narration I still grow annoyed at Heston’s acting and feel he is just chewing scenery. However, once Taylor reaches the planet, his overacting is much more in tone with the rest of the story. When he finally lets it be known to the apes he can speak and yells “get your hands off me you damn dirty apes” it couldn’t be any more perfect. Both Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter are also fantastic in their roles as the apes sympathetic to the plight of Taylor. Maurice Evans lends just the right amount of arrogance and danger to the role of antagonist Dr. Zaius. It is a quality cast from top to bottom.
The special effects were quite good for 1968 but there are points in this high definition transfer that flaws appear. The mouths of the apes are a problem as they never really move with the dialogue and when Zira and Cornelius kiss at one point it looks ridiculous. This can all be overlooked because even these flaws add charm to the film. The movie was one of a kind and was a precursor to Star Wars, a later franchise that would take the ideas of Planet of the Apes marketing and run with it. While it may not be as good as the superior 2001: A Space Odyssey, it remains just as important a landmark in cinema history.
The Video
The picture looks magnificent for a movie forty years old. Everything is crisp and clear and, while there are still some scratches and dust particles, it still looks great. This is a perfect example of why all movies should use the 50 GB Dual Layer discs.
The Audio
The sound is presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. There is also an English mono track, a Spanish mono track and French 5.1 Dolby Digital. The sound is great and the music score, so important for this movie, sounds really solid as presented here. My only problem is the sound effects during action scenes are loud and pronounced but the dialogue is softer and it is hard to keep the volume at an even level in either instance.
The Packaging
The Blu-Ray comes in the familiar slim blue case. When you put it in the player, it opens with an animated introduction to the movie by The Lawgiver. When the options screen comes up, various arty looking images are shown including one that spoils the end reveal of the movie for anyone who has been living in a cave the last 40 years.
The Extras
Lawgiver Introduction - This is not the same introduction that opens the Blu-Ray upon its start. It is the same animation but explains the movie and tells the story of when the talking man fell from the skies to bring the end of days.
Commentary by Actors Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter and Natalie Trundy, and Makeup Artist John Chambers - This would be a nice commentary track if there were not long periods of silence. There is some interesting information but it was disappointing to have so much blank space.
Commentary by Composer Jerry Goldsmith - This track is just as bad as the actor’s commentary with extremely long periods of silence as well. Both tracks could have been combined as one rather easily.
Text Commentary by Eric Greene, Author of Planet of the Apes as American Myth - There is a lot of good information given in this text commentary. It is also nice because you can watch the text commentary while listening to the audio commentary tracks.
Science of the Apes BONUS VIEW - This is a Blu Ray exclusive, the fourth feature to watch during movie playback. This is a picture-in-picture feature where we hear from scientists, educators and experts in the space program. Unlike the other tracks which deal with the film itself, this one deals with the scientific theories and ideas behind what we see in the movie. It is pretty technical stuff, but explained in a manner anyone can understand. If you like learning, this is a good track. I like it.
Beyond the Forbidden Zone Adventure Game - This is a desk top game that is full of very hard questions. Basically, the only way you can succeed at this game is to be a genius or to have watched the BONUS VIEW where all the answers lie. If you didn’t pay attention to the BONUS VIEW, you will suck at this game.
Public Service Announcement from ANSA (06:06) - A fake informational feature presented by the fictional ANSA organization from the movie. I guess its purpose is to explain why the astronauts were sent on this mission to begin with. It also talks about the “scientific theory” of the astronauts not aging as fast in space.
Evolution of the Apes Featurette (23:37) - This is a feature narrated by James Brolin tracing the path from Pierre Boulle’s novel to the actual movie franchise. There is a great difference between the novel and the book, as the apes in the novel replaced the humans who slipped into apathy. The world in the novel is much the same as the real world, except with apes in control. Much is spoken about screenwriter Rod Serling’s (The Twilight Zone) influence in adding the ideas of racism and discrimination to the story. Serling also came up with the twist ending, which was also not in the novel. Michael Wilson came aboard and made the changes eliminating the real world look to make the movie more affordable to the weakened studios. This is a great feature covering how a novel is adapted into a feature film.
Impact of the Apes Featurette (11:39) - Various people (actors, writers, normal Joes) talk about how Planet of the Apes impacted them. It goes into a big discussion of the merchandising of the franchise and how it is responsible for the wide merchandising of movies today.
Behind the Planet of the Apes Documentary with Interactive Mode (2:06:44) - At over two hours, this documentary is hosted by Roddy McDowall. If you watch it with the Interactive Mode on, the documentary will be seen in a small box on the left side of the screen while interactive choices are presented on the right side to read along with the documentary. The documentary is the same one that was on the 35th Anniversary Edition. It is a comprehensive and fantastic feature that focuses on every aspect of the film and talks to just about everyone involved. It is up there with the best documentaries I have seen about the making of any film.
Behind the Planet of the Apes Promo (02:19) - This is the trailer for the documentary.
The Archives of the Apes - The first feature in this section is the Original Makeup Test with Edward G. Robinson [1966] (09:34). This is a narration of the original novel’s story with drawings used to show the story. Around three minutes in, we get the actual acting scenes with Charlton Heston (as Taylor) and Edward G. Robinson (as Dr. Zaius) playing out the scene. This was a scene used to sell the movie. James Brolin also appears as a young ape in the scene.
The second item here is Roddy McDowall’s On-Set Footage (20:14). During the first eight minutes, we witness, step-by-step, the makeup process as McDowall is transformed into the ape Cornelius. We then see behind the scenes footage throughout the shoot. This is all overlaid with music and no dialogue. Next up is Dailies and Outtakes (19:50), all with no audio. This shows a lot of footage but there is no music overlaid or anything, it is completely silent. N.A.T.O. Presentation [1967] (10:30) is a cliff notes version of the film, kind of a series of clips in order throughout the movie.
Next up is a Vintage Planet of the Apes Featurette [1968] (04:42). It is a full screen featurette with a voice over narration explaining what you are seeing. You get to see here how the face casts are made. That’s about the only interesting thing about this feature. Finally, we get the Teaser Trailer (02:18), which calls the movie the year’s most important film, and the Theatrical Trailer (03:05).
The Galleries of the Apes - Broken into sections, this presents a gallery. Using the remote, you can view close-ups of images or read articles you choose. The first section is The Ape, a newspaper from the ape city with articles such as Big Round-Up Of Human Beasts and Female Human Selected For Genetic Experiments. These are amusing and interesting if you are bored and have the time on your hands. Next up is an Interactive Pressbook. Here you get a number of items including posters and items from the original press kit. I like this kind of stuff, so it’s a bonus for me. Advertising is a 30 second montage cycling through the various posters for the movie. Lobby Cards is a 27 second montage similar to Advertising with still photos from the movie. Makeup is 48 seconds of pictures of various items used as makeup in the film. Costume Design Sketches presents 30 seconds of drawn pictures of characters from the film. Props is 30 seconds of stills of props used in the movie. Behind-the-Scenes is just what it claims, clocking in at 1:18 of still photos.
The Film: 9.0/10.0 The Video: 10.0/10.0 The Audio: 8.0/10.0 The Packaging: 10.0/10.0 The Extras: 10.0/10.0
The 411: Planet of the Apes might be remembered as a simple science fiction action movie pitting man against apes. However, there is much more to the movie than that simple premise. It is a movie that paints a striking portrait of racism, prejudice, pacifism, war mongering and political unrest. With all these ideals at its disposal, it still manages to present a rip roaring adventure story with loads of tension and action. It holds up just as well today as it did when it was released almost forty years ago. This Blu-Ray release presents a pristine picture that is almost flawless in its presentation. It also includes all the great features from previous releases plus some great new HD quality features. With over three hours of extras plus the various commentary and text tracks, this is a fantastic release for a great movie.
