Planet of the Apes - The Legacy Collection (Planet of the Apes [1968] / Beneath the / Escape from the / Conquest of the / Battle for the)

Description

Disk 1: *Planet of the Apes ('68)

Disk 2: *Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Disk 3: *Conquest for the Planet of the Apes

Disk 4: *Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Disk 5: *Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Disk 6: *Behind the Planet of the Apes (bonus disc) *Documentary ?Behind the Planet of the Apes? *Planet of the Apes trailer *Beneath the Planet of the Apes trailer *Escape from the Planet of the Apes trailer *Conquest of the Planet of the Apes trailer *Battle for the Planet of the Apes trailer *Planet of the Apes Cross Promotion trailer *TV Spot for Behind the Planet of the Apes *Fox Interactive Presents: Behind the Scenes of the Planet of the Apes game

Customer Reviews:

Say Again ??.......2007-08-13

First and foremost, the movies here are presented the way they should be, hence the five star rating. But let me get this straight: The "Evolution" box set released in 2000 is the same, exact thing as this "Legacy" box set---except the "Evolution" box set was done to rip people off? Is that what I'm gathering here ? The "Evolution" set was not anamorphic or had remastered sound; the "Legacy" IS anamorphic AND has remastered sound, and they were released only six years apart ? Yep. Rip-off. And I cannot believe that no one here has even mentioned that fact.

Planet of the Apes.......2007-07-26

The move is a very good movie for the days that it was produced.
The plot was very well handled throught out the move until the very last,
when you learn that it was not evolution that cuased this to happen.

By watching the remake of Planet of the Apes, you see the difference in
special effects that have been acquired throught out the years.

The Original Sci-Fi Series.......2007-07-26

Before the Terminator, before Star Wars, before Alien, there was....THE PLANET OF THE APES. Each movie plays well individually as well as a series. And if you look at the deeper messages, whether they were totally intended or not, they are just as relevant now as they were 40 years ago. We still deal with the same issues brought up in the movies, racism, bigotry, class differences, religious differences; it's all there. Not to say they don't work as just "movies"; they do. But if you are willing to scratch a tad below the surface, you will see they are talking about things that need talking about, whether it is the late 60's/early 70's or 2007.
The Behind the Scenes was also a wonderful treat. I remember watching it on AMC and kicking myself for not taping it as well as the movies when they were on that day. That was the first time in years that I had seen the movies and I re-fell in love with them. I rank them as some of the best movies of all time. But that is just one Chimpanzee's humble opinion and ask not that all you Gorilla and Orangatan types agree with me.

Hard to rate a mixed bag, but these films are fun nevertheless.......2007-06-07

Like the Airport Terminal Pack (Airport/Airport '75/Airport '77/Airport '79 - The Concord) the "Planet of the Apes" film series widely ranges in quality. ALL of them are fun enough to watch, however, the last two are extremely campy and very poorly made.

Back in the day when producers made sequels, prior to the VCR/DVD era, the films consistently earned less money with each sequel; therefore, less money was spent on each sequel as the expected turnout and revenues would be less. That is not the case today with the VCR/DVD generation wherein if people missed a film in the theaters, they could rent or purchase it later. This meant a larger audience for a film as it would have, in a sense, multiple releases: first would be the actual theater release, then the plain first edition on VCR/DVD within about six months, then followed by a "special edition" the next year, and then a "director's cut", and "special extended version" followed, and so on. This allows for a film to get a larger following; therefore, sequels and prequels have become big business. This means producers put more money into these films now than they did before to pull in not only the established fans of the film series, but also new fans who may have just caught up with the series by renting or purchasing the prior films.

With that having been said it should be no surprise at all that these films range widely in quality and effort as they were before the VCR/DVD era. Below are my ratings for each film and in the correct order of their release (the disk order is NOT correct in the package):

***** Planet of the Apes: An absolute classic sci-fi film with good special effects and set designs (even by today's standards) and solid performances by all, most notably Roddy McDowell who was in all the films and the short-lived TV series, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans who had to portray emotions with their voice, eyes and hand gestures moreso than other actors because of the heavy make-up they wear which is outstanding.

*** Beneath the Planet of the Apes: The effects and make-up are still very good and so is the acting, but the storyline is rather bizarre, convoluted, and just doesn't seem to fit with the Apes series real well.

****Escape From the Planet of the Apes: I loved this sequel which reverses the storyline by having the intelligent talking apes back in our present day rather than in their future world. Naturally, this saved the producers lots of money by only having to put make up on only two actors rather than many. The performances are top-notch by McDowell and Hunter who continue their roles from the first two ape films.

Both the "The Conquest of" and final entry "The Battle for the Planet of the Apes" are cinematic disasters for which I give them both **. The make up had been reduced to laughable rubber masks and the special effects consisted of terrible paintings, obvious minatures, and flimsy cardboard sets. Roddy McDowell's performance had become somewhat pedestrian in the title role by these two final films, but his voice and delivery was always pleasant to the ear. These two films do, however, continue the storyline which ends up explaining how Earth eventually became The Planet of the Apes. To me, that's an important part of any sequel and why I gave these films two stars and not one or zero.

The bonus disk on looking over the "Apes" series is hosted by McDowell, who always looked great for his age, and sadly he died shortly thereafter from cancer. This special was done to re-introduce the "Ape" films to a new generation just prior to the release of the Ape films on tape/DVD and the planned release of the remake by Tim Burton (Planet of the Apes (Special Edition) which was surprisingly original and in many ways superior to the original film with Charlten Heston who has a cameo in the remake.

In any event and in spite of the wide ranging quality of these films the entire series is worth owning and the sequels do build on each other and tell a coherent story (not counting the silly second entry into the series even though the third film still builds upon it). I highly recommend this set and the remake by Burton as well.

The Greatest SC-FI Saga Before Star Wars.......2007-04-19

Planet of the Apes is a legendary SC-FI masterpiece, that made film history & was another smash hit for the legendary Charlton Heston and thats not all, it was followed by 4 sequels spanning across time of ape's place on the planet. Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes & Battle for the Planet of the Apes" all 5 classics boxed in one legacy collection to go ape over. The films star Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Linda Harrison, Ricardo Montalban, James Franciscus & Maurice Evans. If you're a SC-FI fan, this is must have collection.

Average customer rating:

ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN APE!
Ape Epic
The Wrath of Caesar!
To Bill C.
Best of the POTA sequels

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Starring: Roddy McDowall , Don Murray , Natalie Trundy , Hari Rhodes , and Severn Darden
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000E6ESDU
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Description

Colorful, futuristic sets, a relentless pace and an action-packed climax highlight the fourth episode of the legendary Apes saga, starring Roddy McDowall and Ricardo Montalban. The time is the near future. Apes have supplanted dogs and cats as household pets, and replaced servants as personal assistants - until their continual mistreatment provokes one advanced ape from the future, Caesar (McDowall), to lead a spectacular revolt. It's thrilling science fiction that offers both a serious message and stirring entertainment.

Customer Reviews:

ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN APE!.......2007-08-02

This is the forth installment in the POTA's series. I had heard rumors that this film was severely cut before releasing it in theaters. It would have been nice if they would have restored the edited scenes in it in an extended version like what was done with "Battle for". Oh well....... The film is pretty good, but a bigger budget could have helped. It also would of helped if they were not pushing for a G rating like all the sequels. I guess they thought these films were for kids?..... The problem with all the sequels is that they are too middle ground. Too violent for the kiddies too tame for the adults! I don't mean to be harsh on these films as I am a big fan! I saw them all at the theaters growing up and have seen them many times now. This is a good film that could have been better. The DVD transfer is very good.

Ape Epic.......2006-05-26

This is one outstanding film in the PLANET OF THE APES saga. It begins to bring the plight of the Apes and Taylor's discovery in the original real substance. How did the world of mankind get turned upside-down? This film explains a lot and there are some very good performances in it.

The Wrath of Caesar!.......2006-05-20

In Escape From the Planet of the Apes, Cornelius and Zira arrived from the future and had a child, one who was destined to destroy the future of human civilization. To protect her child from human treachery, the baby chimpanzee was switched with a normal zoo chimp by his mother, and grew up under the protection of his benevolent human master Armando, the extravagant sideshow circus entertainer ironically played by Ricardo Montalban from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Having been given a taste of freedom by the compassionate Armando, the talking simian chimpanzee Caesar (played by Roddy McDowall who had the unique opportunity to play the son of his character Cornelius) becomes disillusioned when Armando brings him into the city only to learn that his ape brothers and sisters have become "domesticated" after a plague brought back from space in the year 1983 wiped out every dog and cat on the planet. Because of their adept intelligence and human-like faculties, the apes quickly became trained to serve their "superior" human masters. In 1991, human civilization is controlled by an oppressive authoritarian government fearful that a race of talking apes will inevitably rise up and destroy human civilization as foretold by the arrival of Cornelius and Zira.

Now the apes have supplanted humans as working class slaves distinguished by the two dominant ape species... the smarter chimpanzees wearing green worker overalls and the stronger and more aggressive gorillas in red, not unlike the delineation between white and blue collar human laborers. When Armando and the son of Cornelius witness a cruel public display of torture against a helpless ape worker, the emotionally enraged talking simian lets loose his tongue and makes the fatal mistake of publicly shouting out an obscenity against the human oppressors. Armando, accepting responsibilty for the outcry, is taken into custody for questioning after he helps Caesar flee capture. The fugitive ape conceals himself by infiltrating a cage of "immigrant" ape orangutans imported from Indonesia and is taken to a worker conditioning center where apes are harshly trained to become subservient to human domination. He is soon sold at a slave auction to the Governor's assistant MacDonald, who ironically is an Afro-American. MacDonald brings him before Governor Breck, played by the melodramatically camp Don Murray, who suspects that he is indeed the talking ape that they are searching for and is given the opportunity to name himself by choosing a name randomly from a book. The intelligent ape points to a name which not only surprises but reaffirms the Governor's suspicion and thus, Caesar is born.

Caesar is put to work in an operations center where he can be closely monitored. When Caesar overhears that his master Armando was killed trying to flee interrogation, he becomes outraged and communicates non-verbally with his ape brethren to be defiant against their masters and the seeds of discontent are sown. Caesar organizes the apes into an uprising against their human captors that erupts into a full-blown ape revolt akin to Che Gorilla --- a sly reference to the Cuban revolutionary guerilla leader Che Guevara for which Caesar emblematically bares an uncanny symbolic resemblance to and has even been parodied as such in pop-culture. Roddy McDowall gives a rousing and unforgettable dramatic performance that surpasses his characterization of Cornelius in the three previous Ape films. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes explodes into a riotous and violent action packed climax that inevitably sets the stage for the entire Apes Saga and the birth of The Planet of the Apes.

Conquest is the fourth film in the series and it is my second favorite. It is brutally violent and was the first Apes film to earn a PG rating after explicit scenes of graphic violence were cut. I would love to see an uncut version released on DVD. It is filled with so many socio-political themes that are just as relevant (if not more so) today as they were back in 1972. While the ape revolt was patterned directly after the 1965 Los Angeles Watts Riots, it could easily parallel the racial Alabama and Chicago civil protest riots of the 50's and 60's or the L.A. riots of the 90's. It's themes of working class oppression not disimilar to the current issue of Immigration Reform which saw demonstrations of protest in major cities across the country by tens of thousands of immigrant workers who perform low-paying laborious and menial jobs, as exemplified by the scene where Caesar witnesses the temperament of a snobbish blonde woman having her hair done in a salon by a chimp named Zelda. The Government is portrayed as oppressive and paranoid and is an interesting examination of how the need for social constructs like Ape Management (i.e. Homeland Security) can easily deteriorate into an oppressive state of authoritarian control. Conquest is a political-charged cautionary allegory of how society breeds contempt. Viva la Revolution!

To Bill C........2006-04-15

Hey Bill, Ceasar is actually the son of Zira and Cornelius from the third film (Escape From The Planet of the Apes). Richardo Montablan's circus character switched chimp babies, so the man in "Escape" shoots a circus chimp instead of the baby Ceasar, hence the "mama, mama, mama" scene that closes "Escape." Milo's character was killed early on in "Escape" by the gorilla in an adjacent cage, so there really aren't any incosistencies in "Conquest" when compared to its predecessor.

Peace.

Best of the POTA sequels.......2005-06-01

This is certainly the most exciting, well-crafted of the sequels. I feel this story's slight inconsistency with film 3(when did Milo get renamed Cesar? among other problems) only serves to give it all a great almost Biblical-type significance. Also, I love the vague designation of "North America 1991" at the beginning.

Average customer rating:

Underreated Entry In This Classic Series

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes

Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Sci-Fi Action | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

ASIN: B0001QNNRA

Product Description

This fourth film in the "Planet of the Apes" series picks up the action a few years after "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" left off. At the end of the third movie, the ape Cornelius and his wife Zira were murdered by humans when they traveled back in time. However, their son, Caesar, remained behind with kind-hearted circus owner Armando, who kept the ape's existence a secret. "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" opens in 1991, after an epidemic has wiped out the dog population, and talking apes have become humans' favorite pets. But the primates endure a horrible existence, chained-up and forced to perform slave labor. Governor Breck, who rules the land with an iron fist, despises the apes and attempts to find the now fully-grown Caesar. The villainous leader's plan is to kill Caesar before the simian can cause any trouble and help his fellow apes take over the world. Caesar turns out to be a lot more intelligent than Breck expected, however, and won't put up with the governor's abuse. Before long, Caesar convinces those of his kind to stage a massive revolt against the human race...

Customer Reviews:

Underreated Entry In This Classic Series.......2005-01-15

This fourth entry in the Planet of The Apes is by far the most straightforward and violent in the series. The scenes of revolt by the apes are tame by todays standards but are still effective. especially considering the small budget director J.Lee Thompson had to work with. He makes the film look much bigger in scope than it really was.
The story begins with Caesar,the son of Zira and Cornelius from The 3 earlier films and it was a great touch allowing Roddy McDowall to portray both father and son. He goes into a city with mentor Armando. The circus owner from the third film Escape From The Planet of The Apes and again portrayed by Ricardo Montalban and sees what has become of his fellow apes. They were at first being treated as pets to replace the dogs and cats that were wiped out by a plague only to become slave labor for humans. He cries out when a fellow ape is beaten and runs away. Armando goes to the police to explain and is interrogated. In the process he kills himself rather than betray Caesar to the authorities. Who were never sure that the baby of the talking apes was really killed as shown in the previous film and believe Armando was lying to protect Caesar.
Caesar hides among his fellow apes and ends up being sold to Governor Breck. Breck is the regional governor and not at all sympathetic to apes and is Ceasars nemesis in the film. Caesar after learning of Armandos death and also sickened by his fellow apes treatment gradually leads his fellow apes to a full blown revolt. The social commentary in this film deals with the treatment of others and gets the point across nicely without being too heavy handed. As I stated earlier it is the acting that really carries this installment and director Thompson delivers in that department. Roddy McDowall gives what I feel is his finest performance in the series his speech in the end is amazing and shows what an underrated actor he was and Don Murray more than holds his own as Breck. He is cold harsh man and The scene where he reveals why he is afraid of apes is a great reversal of Dr. Zaius' fear of humans in the original film and his entire performance is a nice compliment to McDowalls. The supporting cast including the above mentioned Ricardo Montalban,Hari Rhodes as McDonald the human who helps Caesar and series vet Natalie Trundy all deliver in their roles and help make this arguably the best of apes sequels.

Average customer rating:

ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN APE!
Ape Epic
The Wrath of Caesar!
To Bill C.
Best of the POTA sequels

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Starring: Roddy McDowall , Don Murray , Natalie Trundy , Hari Rhodes , and Severn Darden
Director: J. Lee Thompson
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000EBIOOY

Description

Customer Reviews:

ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN APE!.......2007-08-02

Ape Epic.......2006-05-26

The Wrath of Caesar!.......2006-05-20

To Bill C........2006-04-15

Best of the POTA sequels.......2005-06-01

Planet of the Apes (2001) / Planet of the Apes - The Evolution (Complete Film Series) / Planet of the Apes - The Complete TV Series

Average customer rating:

Planet of the Apes (2001) / Planet of the Apes - The Evolution (Complete Film Series) / Planet of the Apes - The Complete TV Series
Starring: Mark Wahlberg , Tim Roth , Helena Bonham Carter , Michael Clarke Duncan , and Paul Giamatti
Director: Tim Burton , Franklin J. Schaffner , and Ted Post
Manufacturer: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Action & Adventure | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Sci-Fi & Fantasy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000067NNH
Release Date: 2002-05-28

DVD:

DVD

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