Planet of the Apes Evolution

Is "Planet Of The Apes" worthy of being a Horror film?

This is a question I had to deal with when I got this box set a thought about doing up a review for this site. Many other Horror sites would choose not to cover this film. After all, for 30+ (!!!) years we have been told that this is a Science Fiction film. While it might have Sci-Fi elements, it also has elements of an Action film, a Romance, a political piece and a Comedy. Though at the same time there is an overwhelming amount of Horror to this film.

Think about this: you are an astronaught, you go off on a mission to find what is out beyond the stars. Your mission goes wrong and you end up marooned on a planet that is foriegn to you and your crew, one of whom has died. Upon escaping your spaceship, which sinks to the bottom of the lake you crashed in, you find yourself in the middle of a giant desert. You have very few rations and you are exposed to the harshest of elements.

Now imagine on this foriegn planet you find these strange looking "scarecrows". Quite a few people were creeped out by the stick people in "Blair Witch". I think I found out where the inspiration came from for those things. The Scarecrows in "Planet..." out those things to shame.

Next you find water. Glorious water to take a much needed swim in! But then some primitive people steal your clothes! Now you are on a foriegn planet and naked! I know, to some people this is a dream come true! But not for all of us.

Then the primitive people start running scared. The reason is slow to come to you. When it finally does it is in the form of Gorillas, on horseback, with guns. Plus these things are hunting all of the people! Next thing you know, you become a captive and you are up for vivisection.

I'm sorry kids, this is Horror! This is one of the most horrific ideas for film...EVER! This film carries no positive note. This thing doesn't even end on a happy note! Even "The Exorcist" gave us an upbeat note to go home on!

The film starts with Charlton Heston, as Taylor, giving a bit of a monologue to us the audience and to whomever might find them and the ship he is traveling in, should anything go wrong with the mission. We find out through this speech that this is a mission of deep space travel. To find a new world. What good this will do we people of earth and why NASA would spend the money on something that would serve no purpose, is never discussed. And we really don't care too much.

The ship crash lands in a body of water and our astronaughts have to flee the ship before it sinks. Losing one crew member (the only female on the ship, kind of wonder what her primary function on this mission was meant to be, eh?), the three survivors are left to go off and discover what exists on the planet.

Now, we all know what they find on this planet. The title of the movie lets us know that much. But what we don't know is how we find this out. The scene that is known as "The Hunt" is far and away one of the most terrifying scenes ever filmed. From the music, to the editing, right on down to the first view of the gorilla soldier on horseback who turns and looks at the camera, this is one of the true great scenes in film history. I defy anybody to not get worked up watching this scene.

The rest of the movie unfolds like a nightmare. From Taylor finding out his fate, to his finding out that one of his fellow crew mates is dead and the other one is the victim of a lobotomy. Then right on up to the ending that the DVD box gives away. If you have yet to see this films and know nothing about it, have a friend buy it for you and keep the box from you until you have seen it! We forget that this ending was one of the true great shocks in movie history. I saw it when I was young and never knew the ending, and it was a great shock. Most people you will speak to who did not know the ending before seeing it will also be able to tell you the same thing.

This first DVD in the "Planet Of The Apes" box set called "The Evolution" is one of the most stunning looking DVD's to yet come along. The mere fact that this movie is 32 years old and looks this good is amazing. Plus the fact that there are lots of great scenery shots to make this film really shine only helps the final product.

As for the recently much maligned make-up FX, all I can say is that to me they still hold up. I find it funny that people now say that the FX are archaic and clunky looking. The make-up is nothing less than stunning. It shows emotion and character. You really can't see the effect in this first film. In later films that would change. But on this one, it is almost flawless. I can not think of any other film from this period with better FX (O.K., maybe "2001", but geez, that film didn't try to make the apes speak and socially interact with each other) of this sort.

It's on the T.V. as I write this and I just need to say one thing: damn this thing looks great! The beginning walk through the Forbidden Zone is just amazing to look at!

The one complaint that will accompany each one of these DVD's is the extreme lack of bonus material. Once again, bonus material is no reason to buy a movie. But it is almost a lack of respect to a series of film that were this important to a studios history to not even give a commentary track. What we are given though is a stills gallery that is nice, but not as outstanding as one would hope for. You also get commercials for the other films. Oh yeah, and you also get a web link! Yes, for hours of fun, you get a web address that leads you to a mediocre site you can only find otherwise by means of a search engine!

Yes, the sound is also a stunning thing to behold. I really don't know a good way to describe the sound. It is nicely seperated and clear. It sounds good. How's that?

The next film in the series was "Beneath The Planet Of The Apes". The film starts off about 5 minutes before the end of the first film. So if you missed the surprise ending of the first, don't watch this one first for crying out-loud! Cripes people, follow the order they were released! But with this one we find out that Taylor has disappeared. Then, those smart guys at NASA realize that the ship met with misfortune. How they know this about a ship that was never supposed to return is anybodies guess. But they do know this and they send out a rescue team. This time only two astronaughts are sent, and one dies in the crash landing that happens to this ship.

We are introduced to Brett (James Franciscus as a very good Charlton Heston replacement of sorts), the lone survivor. This time around he finds Ape City quite fast and since we already know what is on this planet, the shock is not that great. The film makers also know that we know what to expect, so they don't try to surprise us too much.

In the city he gets his first glimpse of General Ursus, the war happy/human hating militant gorilla. This is a character that will show up again in the final episode under a different name, and then once again under a different name on the T.V. show. The makers would soon learn that the gorilla was one of the best characters in these movies.

The film spirals into the Forbidden Zone where we find a race of people/mutants who worship a live nuclear bomb. Once again things turn real ugly and we get a massive showdown. This time the ending is a surprise due to the huge downer of an ending it is. We are talking about an ending that could not be a bigger downer if it tried to be one.

The picture quality of this DVD is a bit less than that of the first film. None of the films live up to the first ones picture quality. This I believe is partly due to the fact that only the first one is available outside of the boxset. Yet still, find a better looking version of this film anywhere, I dare ya. The picture is still a gem and anybody who loves these films needs this DVD. Of all the films, I really enjoy the ones that take place on the "planet of the apes". So that makes the first two and the last one. I just like the gorillas one hell of alot.

Here we get the exact same extras as the first film. So, you know what I have to say about them. So, that is that.

The sound is once again the same as before. Great stuff.

The third film in the series, "Escape From The Planet Of The Apes" is something of a favorite of the worlds. In it Zira, Cornelius, and Dr. Milo escape the tragedy that befalls the ape planet and go through the same space portals that Taylor and Brett went through and they end up on our planet in our time period.

Upon arrival they are treated like superstars. Then, in a drunken ramble, Zira goofs up and lets it all out as to where they are really from and what she and her kind did to humans where she comes from. With that they become hunted creatures.

This film was an interesting idea since it took the things we had dis-liked in the previous films (the apes) and made them the things we cared about. Then it gave us the ability to turn our hate towards our own race. Yet, for all of these films obvious anti-racism themes, it seems funny that in the films where the human needed to be accepted, it was the scientist who accept him. In the films where the apes need to be accepted it is the zoo keeper who accepts them. An odd thing, but even in the anti-racisim films, a sign of racism still creeps through. Though probably not intentional.

The film was a success when it was released and it provided the abilty for the studio to continue on with the series. But in this box set it is the first one to lose all of it's extra's. This time we get the commercials and the web link. That is it. Heck, the surround sound even disappears with this one. This isn't even in stereo! But it still sounds great.

The look is just as great as "Beneath...". Not up to par with "Planet...", but still a stunning release. If you haven't fugured it out by now, buy this if you are a fan!

Now we round the corner and come up on probably the meanest film in the series, "Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes". Yes kids, they don't come any uglier than this film. Yet as a kid, it was my favorite one!

This one whips us forward in time to the point where the child of Cornelius and Zira has become a full grown adult chimp. Now named Caesar (though he was named Milo in "Escape..."), the son makes his way into the city with his master, Armando (played perfectly by Ricardo Montalban) to promote the circus he belongs to.

While in the city he witnesses atrocities to his fellow apes that infuriates him to shout out at the humans who are doing harm. In this time, the apes have not perfected speech and rumors of the child of Cornelius and Zira abound, even though he was supposed to be dead.

Taken into custody and questioned, Armando does his best to protect his friend Caesar. Caesar goes into hiding right under the nose of the people trying to capture him. He becomes a servant to the Governor.

While in this employ he decides to start an uprising. This we realize about halfway into it all that we are actually at the begining of the whole dang thing.

This film carries many ideas with it that would have been dangerous at this time n our world had it not been done with apes. The racial uprising is barely concealed. The film is a vicious attack on racism. One that has yet to be witnessed since. I am sorry, Spike Lee holds nothing to this film. The hatred just spews from its mouth like a waterfall. The film is brilliant.

Once again, all of the extras are gone. Though this time we get our surround sound back. Yea!

Once again, the picture gets the same vote. Thumbs up.

The final film in the series is "Battle For The Planet Of The Apes". This film shows the decline of popularity more than any others. Only fitting since it is the final film. It also shows a much friendlier side to it than the last one did. This is almost more of a kids film in some ways.

This time it is a few years after the last film and the earth has been hit by a nuclear war that wiped out most of civilization. Caesar is the apes ruler and he feels a great lose without ever having known his parents. So off into the Forbidden City he and a few others go to pilage the data banks to find some record of his family.

Upon getting there they find a ragtag group of mutants. They try to kill Caesar and his group. Yet Caesar and the boys escape. Needless to say, war ensues. The name of this film is "Battle For The Planet Of The Apes" afterall.

With this film we get another great gorilla. This one played by Claude Akins and named "Aldo". The main problem with him is that he is about as intelligent as a monkey turd. Atleast Ursus was intelligent. But still, Aldo is so mean he is great!

This is quite possibly the only film that ends on a happy note, though even this ones ending is a bit of a confusing one. You are not so sure if it is really all that happy, since we know what is due to happen in the end after all. Remember, the second film is actually the ending.

This DVD comes with the same extras as the other. Commercials, web links, surround sound and subtitles. Oh yeah, they all have subtitles. I have not checked them out yet. Sorry. I would put my trust in them being good though.

The picture quality is once again great. I have heard some people complain a bit about them. But one must remember that this film was not shot with the same budget as the other films. So to compare it to the first for looks is just wrong. But for this film resentation, it looks great. The sound is also great.

The sixth disc you get with the set is a bit more of a slap in the face to the legacy of "Planet...". It is true that this is one of the best "behind the scenes" ever produced, but there is a problem with it. Entitled "Behind The Planet Of The Apes", this is the exact same 2 hour documentary that was shown on AMC. Yes, that is right, Fox didn't even spring for a new documentary. I will say that yes, I am glad to have this. It is a brilliant documentary, but come on Fox, give us a bit more! Spring for it dammit!

The documentary is hosted by the late Roddy McDowall, one of the real hearts beating behind the Apes world. Roddy was in all but one of the films, that one being "Beneath...", plus he played Galen on the T.V. show. That I believe is a testament to his great skill as an actor. He played through all of the make-up, with a look almost identical in all three, plus his voice was always the same. But they all seemed like completely different characters.

This extra DVD is a magnificent piece and it is a treasure to watch for even non-ape fans. My wife even found it interesting. This is a great disc.

If you look around you should be able to find this box set for a pretty cheap price. I picked mine up for $72.00! That is for 6 DVD's. That is quite the deal since that includes the shipping. If you are a fan of these films, or just kind-of enjoy them, you need to own this set. If you find the films just O.K., or can't remember how you feel about them, or have never seen them, do yourself a favor and pick up the first one. You will be happy you did, just due to the quality alone.

On a final note: though these films all have a few plot holes here or there, there is no doubt that these are some of the smartest films ever made. The scripts cause you to think and they have dialogue unlike any others. Each character is so well written that they truly become the creature the make-up might not be able to complete on it's own. Everything balances each part out. It all works together. The acting, make-up, script, music etc. This is what you call harmony. This is what you call one of the most important cinematic creations ever.