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Fox is inviting fans to "go ape" yet again with the
40th Anniversary Blu-ray Collection of "Planet of the Apes".
Handsomely if some what awkward packaged, fans get all five
"Apes" films in their original configuration as well as
the extended edit of "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes"
that played overseas AND all the extras from the previous
set. The only thing missing are the live action TV series
and the animated TV series ***
The future seemed so full of possibilities in the 1960's.
It also seemed like the end of the world was just around
the corner. "Planet of the Apes" captured this feeling quite
well. Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle author of the
novel The Bridge on the River Kwai, "Planet of the Apes"
became stuck in development hell when Arthur P. Jacobs couldn't
get any major studio to commit to the project. The difficulties
seemed insurmountable; it would require make up effects
no one had been able to pull off successfully and a large
budget when studios considered science fiction to be a gamble.
Jacobs finally had a workable script written by "The Twilight
Zone" scribe Rod Serling and a commitment from 20th Century
Fox to shoot the film after he shot a scene involving Edward
G. Robinson as Dr. Zaius, James Brolin as Cornelius and
Linda Harrison as Dr. Zira. Cast even at this early point
was Charlton Heston. The make up by Ben Nye proved that
the make up effects could be done effectively. Fox still
passed but eventually came round again. The problem was
the budget and a third act that Serling could never quite
resolve to his or Jacobs liking. Jacobs brought in black
listed writer Michael Wilson (who also co-wrote the film
version of "The Bridge on the River Kwai" although Boulle
took credit and the Oscar at the time because both Wilson
and his co-writer Carl Foreman were both blacklisted). Wilson
changed the simian society to one that had a more primitive
civilization comparable to the Old West from one in both
the original novel and Serling's screenplay that resembled
our 20th century society. With the screenplay finally finished,
a design concept that was within the budget and a director
who in Franklin J. Schaffner ("The War Lord", "Patton")
who showed the vision to bring the film to life shooting
began on one of the earliest and most profitable science
fiction franchise of the time. ***
"Planet of the Apes" stars Heston as Taylor a member
of a four astronaut crew traveling to a distant star. When
their spaceship crash lands on an unidentified planet, the
astronauts explore the area and discover a world where apes
are the dominant species and man is a mute animal. Unable
to speak because of an injury Taylor is put in with the
other mute humans including Nova (Linda Harrison) a woman
that Taylor takes a liking to. Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter) recognizes
the intelligence of Taylor saving him from undergoing the
knife of Dr. Ziaus (Maurice Evans) "Keeper of the faith"
and the head of the Ministry of Science. ***
In "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" a second crew is
sent to check on Taylor (evidently this was never planned
as a one way trip at the time but the possibility was considered)
with only Brent (James Francisous) surviving. Brent meets
Nova and she takes him to Zira & Cornelius (This time played
by David Watson). Brent follows Taylor into the "Forbidden
Zone" where he discovers mutants preparing for a war with
the apes. ***
"Escape from the Planet of the Apes" turns the first
film inside out. Cornelius (McDowell returning to the role),
Zira (Hunter) and Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo) recover Taylor's
ship, manage to get it operating to escape the war and oppression
and end up traveling back to the 20th century. They are
befriended by the veterinarians (Bradford Dillman and Natalie
Trundy) who care for them. first they are treated like celebrities
but when Dr. Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden) who came up with
the theories that made Taylor's original trip possible discover
the future they come from he decides they must die to protect
the future for humanity. Dehn's clever script allows the
satire that was a strong element of the original "Planet"
to be used to skewer 20th century humanity. Dehn wisely
goes after character development and action in the latter
half rather than big special effects sequences (although
there was an expensive special effects sequence showing
Earth's destruction that was cut by Director Don Taylor
when it was deemed unnecessary AND took away the surprise
element of the opening. Of course, no one thought that Fox
marketing would do that by showing the opening as part of
the trailer essentially creating a spoiler for the surprise
of the opening). The actors all give terrific performances
and its nice to see Dillman cast as a good guy for a change
in a sympathetic performance. Likewise Braeden hot off the
success of "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (critically if
not financially) cast as conflicted villain almost like
a modern version of Judas. One of my favorite character
actors William Windom also gives a terrific and nuanced
performance as the President of the United States (originally
producer Jacobs had Henry Fonda in mind for the role but
Windom brings a sense of reality to the proceedings). ***
"Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" was the most controversial
of the original films when it was released. Director J.
Lee Thompson and writer Paul Dehn decided to use the rise
of the simians as an analogy for the black power movement
of the 1970's. Caesar (McDowell) the child of Zira and Cornelius
rallies apes that have been made domestic servants and pets
after a plague wipes out cats and dogs to rebel against
their masters. Governor Breck (Don Murray who gives a dark,
sinister performance) sends his minions (Severn Darden among
others) to find Caesar and kill him. Featuring a terrific
supporting turn by Ricardo Montalban returning as circus
owner Armando, this film was edited to lighten up the dark
ending of the film. The original ending is included on a
domestic release for the first time since it was previewed
36 years ago. Again, the budget was reduced by Director
Thompson cleverly uses the then new Century City (ironically
built on land that used to be part of Fox's backlot) as
the futuristic city where most of the action takes place.
By carefully shooting at night he's also able to make the
limitations of the film less obvious. Dehn's strong script
and the strong performances help salvage a film that could
have been a disaster. ***
The weakest of the original series was "Battle for
the Planet of the Apes" because each film had a smaller
budget and although all the films performed well at the
box office, Fox never gave the series the large marketing
push to expand beyond the core audience of fans. So Fox
felt justified by reducing the budget plus the studio was
continuing to have major financial troubles. With a budget
a little bit over $1 million, Director J. Lee Thompson has
to create a credible battle between the descendants of the
humans (Severn Darden returning to his role as Kolp when
Murray declined to return as Breck). Caesar (McDowell) must
create a coalition between the humans living with the apes
as and treated as second class citizens to survive the onslaught
by the humans. The budget of the film and the b-movie script
by Joyce and John William Corrington ("The Omega Man") based
on a story by Paul Dehn (who had a much more expensive battle
in mind) makes this "Battle" into little more than a minor
skirmish. Still, the performances particularly from supporting
actors Paul Williams, John Huston and Claude Akins make
the film more than it is. "Battle" looks like a stylishly
shot TV movie. ---
Image & Sound: All five films look exceptionally good
for their age. Keep in mind that these films were always
meant to look somewhat grainy. My only complaint is that
the colors aren't quite as strong as I remember them and
I feel that Fox should have increased the color saturation
for the third, fourth and fifth films. The first two look
extremely good but the contrast is a bit too high and Fox
should have lowered the contrast darkening the images a
b bit. ***
Audio for all five films is strong. Keep in mind that
these films were made 40 years ago and the sound will not
pop like a more recent film. The music has considerable
punch and dialog is crystal clear throughout the films.
We also get isolated music tracks that sound wonderful for
a couple of films. ---
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