Planet of the Apes Box Set

Box Set Grade: B

THE PLANET OF THE APES

Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans and Linda Harrison

Directed by Franklin J Schaffner

Movie A

The original Planet of the Apes is one of my favorite science fiction movies of all time. I was amazed when I watched the DVD how drawn into the story I was. The performances, particularly from Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter, are excellent. Taylor (Heston) is not especially likeable guy, but as the protagonist the audience is forced to identify with him. I think the characterization of Taylor was really well done. It doesn't matter that Taylor isn't likeable, his situation is so extreme that you want him succeed just because he is human. Taylor also represents a cynicism most of us feel whether we would admit to it or not. Had Taylor been the typical noble hero, we would have rooted for him without thought, but having Taylor be a person we don't care for forces us to examine the value of humanity. In the end we still want Taylor to prevail despite his unsavory nature.

The apes themselves in some ways parallel our own human society. The apes are so ignorant in their perception of humans that they are blind to reality. Humans in this story have been reduced to their most primitive level, which makes us wonder how valuble humans really are. These days the point may be a bit heavy handed, but it is still as revelant as it was in 1968. The film does allow for growth of the ape characters. Taylor is befriended by two scientist apes, Cornelius (McDowall) and Zira (Hunter). They are willing to accept things beyond what they already know. Going with the parallel to human society, they represent the hope that things will eventually get better. Of course while Cornelius and Zira represent hope we are still left with Taylor and the extremely poigant as well as jolting ending.

BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES

Starring: James Franciscus, Linda Harrison, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Natalie Trundy and Charlton Heston

Directed by Ted Post

Movie C

Beneath the Planet of the Apes is a somewhat disappointing sequel. While I think the ending is great, I don't think they did much with the story itself. The first half of the movie is spent rehashing the original, this time with a new astronaut, Brent, played by Heston look alike James Franciscus. Brent has traveled through the same space/time rift as Taylor and finds himself on the planet of the apes. Very quickly he meets up with Nova, Taylor's human "girlfriend", from the first movie. Though unable to communicate Nova leads Brent back to Ape City. Nothing of particular interest happens. They meet up with Zira and Cornelius (this time not played by Roddy McDowall). They try to sneak out of the city (not sure why they went there in the first place, it was just a chance to see Zira and Cornelius again, and to establish that the gorillas want to exterminate all humans) are captured and escape again.

Finally we are introduced to a new element to the story. Fleeing from the gorillas, Brent and Nova wander into the underground of the remnants of an abandoned city, but it's actually not abandoned. Here we find human mutants, descendents of long ago nuclear halocaust survivors. These humans, in contrast to their above ground counterparts, have superior intelligence and are even able to communicate telepathically. These humans worship an atomic superbomb that is capable of destroying all life on the planet. Despite their intelligence the mutants don't seem to have any more value than the primitive humans. This examination of the value of life is interesting, but it takes too long to get there. Heston's appearance as Taylor is purely to draw in an audience as he serves no real purpose. He disappears in the first scene of the fim and meets up with Brent and Nova towards the end, although his place in another great ending is good. This film could have definately benefitted from a better script.

ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES

Starring: Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Sal Mineo, Natalie Trundy and Ricardo Montalban

Directed by Don Taylor

Movie B-

This third installment of the Apes series takes the franchise in a new direction. It seemed impossible that there could be another Apes movie after the second one, but the popularity of the series demanded they must try. This time the tables are turned and three apes from the future find themselves on 1973 Earth. Forgetting the improbability of their time travel, this movie is really quite clever. Another boost to the film is that Roddy McDowell, who was absent from part two, returns as Cornelius. Kim Hunter returns as Zira and the third ape, Milo, is played by Sal Mineo.

The film plays almost as a comedy for the first two-thirds before taking a rather serious turn. I think this works rather well as it really takes the viewer by surprise. Along with a familiar "fish out water" storyline, this film explores aspects of mass paranoia and prejudice. It is interesting to see how easily, and quickly, attitudes can changes based on the viewpoint of one persuasive individual. Escape From the Planet of the Apes will have you rethinking your whole attitude about the apes from the first two movies.

CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Starring: Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Natalie Trundy and Ricardo Montalban

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

Movie B

The fourth film in the Apes series takes us eighteen years after the end of Escape From the Planet of the Apes. On 1991 Earth, apes are in servitude to their human keepers. Caesar, the baby ape from the previous movie (his benefactor apparently changed his name), has had to grow up hiding his true identity, however he can't keep silent for long. Caesar slowly starts a revolution among his less developed companions. As the apes achieve self realization the conflict between them and the humans escalates.

This film is my favorite of the Apes sequels. McDowall as Caesar does an excellent job creating a new character. Caesar has some of the same qualities of Cornelius, but is completely his own character. Caesar has lived an entirely different life than his parents, and has an inner rage his parents had no need for. While the themes of the move may be a bit heavy handed (ie: racism, slavery), the exploration of human nature works well. The human in the previous movie were som worried about the apes taking over, but they still headed down the same path. This movie fits well with the Taylor's attitudes towards his own species at the beginning of the first Apes movie.

BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

Starring: Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy, Severn Darden, Paul Williams and John Huston

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

Movie C+

The fifth movie in the Apes series takes us approximately 10 years past the events of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Parts 3, 4 and 5 of this series really work as their own trilogy. In part five, the apes now rule the planet. Civilization as we know it no longer exists. Cities have been destroyed and the apes and humans that are left are living off the land. The humans in this movie are below the apes but they are well above the level of the humans of the first film. This film attempts to explore what direction this uneasy relationship will take.

At odds with both the apes and humans are a group of mutant humans that live in the bombed out city. These mutants want to take back the planet for themselves. Unfortunately the complex relationships between these groups are not fully explored in this movie. The gorillas are pretty much reduced to war-mongering half-wits, while the rest of the apes ponder how society should be. As the title suggests all the hostility leads to a big battle between the mutants and the apes and between the gorillas and everyone else. The movie ends somewhat ambiguously, but suggests humans and apes are on a different path than what we see in the first movie.

Roddy McDowall again does an excellent job as Caesar, and makes this movie worth watching. It is also interesting to see the beginnings of ape society and the ape's early relationship with the newly overthrown humans. It would have been nice if these relationships could have been explored even further, but the movie is fun to watch, and is a fitting end to the series.

BEHIND THE PLANET OF THE APES

DVD - A

Behind The Planet of the Apes is a single disc of features that accompanies the Planet of the Apes box set. This disc should not be confused with the separate two disc Behind the Planet of the Apes released by another company. Both actually have the most of same material, but the two disc set features a great two hour interview with Roddy McDowall. With the single disc you get a two hour documentary on the Planet of the Apes series. I really liked this documentary, which includes interviews and never before seen footage. The origins, as well as the sequels and TV series, of The Planet of the Apes are explored. In addition to the documentary, there are several featurettes (with various degrees of quality), still photos, and trailers. Overall I think this is a very good bonus disc and makes of for the lack of features on the individual movies (which only include trailers for all five movies).

Reviews by Sherry

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