Planet Of The Apes Collection (DVD)

...story.....

The Planet Of The Apes (1968)

A space ship launched from Earth heads out to a distant star. the experts on Earth believe that as they travel earth time speeds up, where as their time remains constant.. Heston (Astronaut Taylor) is the last to go in to hibernation, and notes that the theory appears to be correct, looking at the date and time dial. The four astronauts on board are carried to the distant planet ...
...They find themselves on a planet which appears to be dead. They must find plant life and water or die. Taylor tells the rest that the clock on board said A.D. 3978, which proves the theory.
As time goes on they find that the inhabitants of the planet appear to be mute humans, but quickly find a more aggressive species who appear to rule them - Apes.
They suddenly find themselves being hunted in a cornfield together with the other ... more

As a child growing up I remember watching a film with Charlton Heston battling through a corn field being chased by Gorillas. Since then the film 'Planet of the Apes' has always had a special place in my film collection, as it was one of my late fathers favourite films.

This special edition has lots of extras (which I will cover later). The boxset has been well designed and has each of the five films (1 film per disc) and a sixth disc containing the special features. Together with a program guide inside. The presentation box is very nice, folding outwards from the centre with a different picture on each disc, which is a scene from that film. Unlike the 5 films that I had on VHS the space that it takes up has also been reduced, which has pleased me and my wife.......

The 1968 film was based on the novel by Pierre Boulle and was directed by Franklin Schaffner (Papillon , Patton) who was working closely with Arthur P. Jacobs who produced it (Dr Dolittle, Goodbye, Mr Chips). Jacobs brought on board Heston, and he in turn brought in Schaffner. Then the Pentology began.

The films started off with a generous budget ($2 million) which became cheaper with each film made, but in my opinion still worth every penny.

The story.....

The Planet Of The Apes (1968)

A space ship launched from Earth heads out to a distant star. the experts on Earth believe that as they travel earth time speeds up, where as their time remains constant.. Heston (Astronaut Taylor) is the last to go in to hibernation, and notes that the theory appears to be correct, looking at the date and time dial. The four astronauts on board are carried to the distant planet until it crash lands and they are awoken. Taylor, Dodge and Landon awake to find the fourth Stewart dead in her chamber.. They find that their ship is sinking in a vast lake and they quickly abandon their ship.
They find themselves on a planet which appears to be dead. They must find plant life and water or die. Taylor tells the rest that the clock on board said A.D. 3978, which proves the theory.
As time goes on they find that the inhabitants of the planet appear to be mute humans, but quickly find a more aggressive species who appear to rule them - Apes.
They suddenly find themselves being hunted in a cornfield together with the other humans. Dodge is shot dead and Taylor is shot in the throat causing him to lose his voice. Taylor and Landon are then taken to Ape city where two chimpanzees Zira and Galen perform surgery on Taylor who survives but has lost his voice. He is thrown in to a cage with another female who Taylor names as Nova.

Taylor quickly makes friends with two chimps Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowell), who try to help him out. They help him to eventually get away to the forbidden zone later in the film.

I won't spoil the film by telling you what happens but the whole effort is superb. Nominated for an academy award for best costume design and best score (Jerry Goldsmith) and won an honorary award for makeup.
One of my favourite bits in the film is when Taylor is tried by a panel of three Apes, the three judges are confronted by Cornelius and Zira with words they found difficult to hear. The response of the three judges was to engage in "Three wise monkeys" poses. Cornelius and Zira would find themselves in a reversed situation in Escape from the Planet of the Apes, when they were a species not expected to talk and made to stand before a panel of humans.

Cast
Charlton Heston ; Roddy McDowall ; Kim Hunter ; Maurice Evans ; James Whitmore ; James Daly ; Linda Harrison ; Robert Gunner ; Lou Wagner ; Woodrow Parfrey

Running Time 1hr 48mins
Coloir
Cert PG

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1970)

The Story.....

Another space craft crashes in the desert (known as the forbidden zone) and two astronauts emerge. Brent (James Franciscus) and his badly wounded Commander. He tells his commander that the time clock read 3955 AD when they landed. Realising that this means that everyone he knew, family / friends are all gone. He then dies leaving Brent alone.
Brent is then approached by Nova (female human mute who befriended Taylor) he sees Taylors dog tags and tells her to take him to Taylor. She in turn takes him to Ape city to find that there is a large meeting going on, calling for the invasion of the forbidden zone. The Gorillas wanting more power by taking over this area. Brent soon discovers the horrible truth that the Apes rule the Planet and humans are treated no better than animals. He escapes the city and is shot by a passing Gorilla trooper.
Nova takes Brent to the two friendly Chimps Zira (kim Hunter) and Cornelius (David Watson) who helps patch up Brent. Brent asks them about Taylor and they explain everything to him.
He and Nova leave the city and are quickly captured by a passing Gorilla patrol and taken back to Ape city. Zira sees them and tries to get them out but doesn't manage it but leaves the door unlocked to help them escape, which they do.
They take shelter in a strange cave which Brent suddenly recognises as being a tube station, and then realises that he is on Earth many years later. He and Nova go further and find a what's left of a Cathedral and a speaking human praying at the base of a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile.

I won't go any further than this but there are some startling discoveries and Taylor is found in the end.

In my opinion the film has a good plot, but as I said at the beginning as each film is produced the budget reduces and this is seen in the quality of the sets and makeup.
It is a good film though and I don't think you would be disappointed. It does have some twists and turns on the way and special effects aren't bad.

Cast

James Franciscus ; Kim Hunter ; Maurice Evans ; Linda Harrison ; Paul Richards ; Victor Buono ; James Gregory ; Jeff Corey ; Natalie Trundy ; Thomas Gomez ; David Watson ; Don Pedro Colley ; Tod Andrews ; Gregory Sierra ; Eldon Burke ; Charlton Heston

(Director Ted Post)
Running time 1hr 35mins
Cert 15
Colour

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (1971)

The Story....

Zira (Kim Hunter), Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Dr Milo (San Mineo) had recovered Taylors Space Ship from the lake in the Forbidden Zone and repairs it and manages to leave the Earth before it's destruction. The shockwave of the destruction pushes the ship in to a time warp and back to the 20th century and the ship splashes down on the pacific coast. The ship is recovered by the military and the authorities quickly realise that they are Apes and not Taylor or the rest that are still missing.

They are placed in a zoo whilst a series of tests are performed and discover that they have high intelligence levels for Apes. In a freak accident Dr Milo is killed by a Gorilla in the Zoo. The two main human Doctors known as Stephanie and Lewis discover that they can talk and advise them not to talk just yet as it would be a shock, and could be dangerous.
A presidential enquiry is then ordered to discover why a ship containing four human astronauts goes out in to space and returns with Apes on board. They then reveal in the enquiry their ability to talk and the commission welcomes them as guests to Earth.
A scientist, futuristic consultant Dr.Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden) starts looking in to the affair and interrogates the Apes using various methods as he doesn't believe them. He soon discovers the fact that they are in our terminology Vets and that they performed surgery on humans and of the fate of the Earth in the future. More surprisingly, the fact that Zira is pregnant. he convinces the authority that this cannot happen and asks for them to be executed. The commission orders that they have the baby terminated and them both be sterilized.
They both escape with the help of Stephanie and Lewis.
Again, I won't spoil it by telling you anymore, but the twists and turns are still there and a thread left at the end of this film leads to the next film.
In my opinion this film is ingenious in design. Based now on Earth there was no need for special effects or sets and is filmed in a typical American city so the costs are kept down. Still a good film, with a well thought out ending, which had my wife in tears at the end.....

Cast
Roddy McDowall ; Kim Hunter ; Bradford Dillman ; Natalie Trundy ; Eric Braeden ; William Windom ; Sal Mineo ; Albert Salmi ; Jason Evers ; John Randolph

(Director Don Taylor)
Running time 1hr 38mins
Cert 12
Colour

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (1972)

The Story.....

The year is 1991 and the world is a very different place. A world wide disease has killed all cats and dogs. As humans like to have a domestic pet the world starts to see that simians have the adaptability to become a household pet capable of doing household chores.
Armando (Ricardo Montalbán) who is the circus owner who assisted Zira and Cornelius in the last film, is now looking after their offspring, Caesar (Now being played by Roddy McDowell).
They both go to central city and see the atrocities forced upon apes in the city. Watching chimps cleaning the city and fetching and carrying parcels and seeing the consequences if they fail to do as their asked. As an ape is being punished Caesar cannot contain himself and shouts “Lousy human bastard!”. Armando quickly tries to take the blame, but the crowd starts getting annoyed and so Caesar runs away and Armando runs after him.
Armando explains to Caesar that they are in a lot of trouble and the only way out of it is to go to the authorities and explain, meanwhile Caesars best chance of survival is to hide amongst his own kind. He goes through the painful process of training before being sold to Governor Breck. Governor Breck out of tradition gives Caesar a family dictionary and tells him to pick a word which will be his name. Caesar picks - Caesar, and now christened carries on serving / waiting on his every need.
Armando is interrogated and decides to break free and commits suicide, to protect Caesar. Caesar on learning this, loses all faith in mankind and decides to plot an ape rebellion.

I won't go any further than that but like I said before , the budget is getting lower as each film is made and this is evident in this film. Again, to cut costs the sets are not that futuristic (some of the buildings were from the University of California) and the uniforms are very similar to nazi uniforms (so plenty available). The makeup on some of the 'background' apes are nothing more than a mask to keep costs down.
In my opinion this and the last film are not as good, and could have been a lot better if the funds were there. Improved scenes, effects and convincing uniforms would have made this film.

Cast
Roddy McDowall ; Don Murray ; Natalie Trundy ; Hari Rhodes ; Severn Darden ; Lou Wagner ; John Randolph ; Asa Maynor ; H.M. Wynant ; David Chow

(Director J. Lee Thompson)
Running Time 1hr 30mins
Cert 12
Colour

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes (1973)

The rebellion is over and Caesar is now making peace with the remaining humans, and getting things in order. A Gorilla - Aldo (Claude Akins).does not like this and wants nothing to do with humans and decides to plot against Caesar to overthrow him and kill him.
Caesar has a human companion who assisted him in the last film - McDonald (Han Rhodes) who suggests to Caesar that he should go to the film archives under central city, and there he will be able to hear and see the images of his mother and father, when they were being questioned at the presidential commission hearing years before.
Caesar who always regretted never knowing who they were is convinced and sets about visiting the city.
Whilst in the city the remaining human mutants decide to start a war with the Apes and Caesar is torn between watching his mother and father on a screen or being captured and killed, so he flees the city.

The whole film has 'flashback' clips to help the audience pin everything together. At the end of the film an elderly ape is teaching the whole story to a group of human beings who can talk and are healthy. This issue then raises questions, which I believe was down to the low budget, as to why they weren’t answered, and leaves the audience puzzled.

The fact that the elderly ape teaching humans over 600 years later mean that peace has been achieved in which case what causes the nuclear war which has clearly happened by the remains of the city???

Finally, one of the last scenes shows a tear rolling from the eye of the statue of Caesar is a final comment to the audience that Caesar's vision of a joint ape/human society ultimately failed. Does this mean that the alliance failed?? in which case how did humans lose the ability to speak??. As the lawgiver is still telling the story before the first films events had happened.......

Believe me it has caused me quite a few hours of careful thought as to how this could have happened. Do you know???

Cast

Roddy McDowall ; Claude Akins ; Natalie Trundy ; Severn Darden ; Lew Ayres ; Paul Williams ; Austin Stoker ; Noah Keen ; Richard Eastham ; France Nuyen ; Paul Stevens ; Heather Lowe ; Bobby Porter

(Director J. Lee Thompson)
Running Time 1hr 33mins
Cert 12
Colour

Bonus Disc

Theatrical Trailers For All Five Movies
Cross-Promotion Trailer
Cast Pages
Photo Gallery
Making Of Documentary 'Behind The Planet Of The Apes' (120 mins)(Bonus Disc)
12-Page Booklet

Finally,
I have enjoyed watching these films immensely, however as I have said throughout each of the films, they have reduced in budget as they have gone on and this has spoilt a good series of films. The final film should have been the best not the worst, mostly made up of clips from previous films to fill in the blanks so the audience isn't lost. A clearer ending would have helped the audience understand the whole series, instead you are left guessing. What an opportunity the director could have had to stick the last and final twist of such proportions that the audience is left dumb struck. A shame......

However, overall a well conceived idea and certainly in the first two films excellent casting and props. As a box set well worth it and is nicely presented. I would recommend it to anyone.

Cost RRP £49.99
Selling price (on sale) £14.99 

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