Planet of the Apes dvd movie.|
Planet of the Apes buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices |
 |
Features • NTSC In Theaters : 27 July, 2001 |
| [ + Zoom ] [ Buy Now ] | DVD : This item is currently not available. |
|
Planet of the Apes description Billed as a "reimagining" of the original 1968 film, Tim Burton's extraordinary Planet of the Apes constantly borders on greatness, adhering to the spirit of Pierre Boulle's original novel while exploring fresh and inventive ideas and paying honorable tribute to the '68 sci-fi classic. Burton's gifts for eccentric inspiration and visual ingenuity make this a movie that's as entertaining as it is provocative, beginning with Rick Baker's best-ever ape makeup (hand that man an Oscar®!), and continuing through the surprisingly nuanced performances and breathtaking production design. Add to all this an intelligent screenplay that turns Boulle's speculative reversal--the dominance of apes over humans--into a provocative study of civil rights and civil war. The film finally goes too far with a woefully misguided ending that pays weak homage to the original, but everything preceding that misfire is astonishingly right. While attempting the space-pod retrieval of a chimpanzee test pilot, Major Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) enters a magnetic storm that propels him into the distant future, where he crash-lands on the ape-ruled planet. Among the primitively civilized apes, treatment of enslaved humans is a divisive issue: senator's daughter Ari (Helena Bonham Carter) advocates equality while the ruthless General Thade (Tim Roth) promotes extermination. While Davidson ignites a human rebellion, this conflict is explored with admirable depth and emotion, and sharp dialogue allows Burton's exceptional cast to bring remarkable expressiveness to their embattled ape characters, most notably in the comic relief of orangutan slave trader Limbo (played to perfection by Paul Giamatti). Classic lines from the original film are cleverly reversed (including an unbilled cameo for Charlton Heston, in ape regalia as Thade's dying father), and while this tale of interspecies warfare leads to an ironic conclusion that's not altogether satisfying, it still bears the ripe fruit of a timeless what-if idea. --Jeff Shannon |
|
|
| ♥♥♥♥♥ | A spectacular adventure...that some people will hate for their own reasons. |
| This impressive "reimagining" of Planet of the Apes probably comes under a lot of scrutiny for various reasons: 1) it's a remake of a beloved sci-fi film that falls in somewhere between Star Trek and 2001 as one of the biggest SF landmarks of the 60s. 2) It was a big budget S.F. movie in Summer...and ever since Star Wars that has been a big money-making genre. 3) it is a Tim Burton film and Burton usually loads his films with sights and strange images that are kind of fascinating in their detail and peculiarity. 4) and finally, I think it makes some people "squirm" in their seats because of its implications.
The story begins with astronaut Mark Wahlberg on a deep space expedition that uses genetically altered monkeys (that are more intelligent than typical monkeys...but cannot talk at this point) to fly dangerous missions. The Wahlberg character has affection for the chimpanzees and primates he works with, but resents not being out there doing the actual flying. He IS a pilot after all. So he defies orders and takes a ship out into a dangerous cosmic storm/anomoly (or whatever) and ends up crashing on a planet where an ape society with talking apes rules the planet and humans are hunted, experimented on, kept for pets, and used as servants. Tim Burton runs with that premise using ape society to hold up a mirror and show us an uncomfortable reflection of what our society might look like to an outsider. It is interesting because the apes themselves are played by excellent actors like Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Paul Giamatti, and covered in remarkable Rick Baker make up, which in some cases I wonder if it could fool a real chimpanzee it is so convincing. So the story follows Wahlberg from his crash landing, to his captivity in an ape city, to his escape and meeting up with other humans, to a final confrontation with an ape army that wants to crush the human rebellion he has (reluctantly) started. It's a decent story, something that I think Tim Burton's films occassionally lack. Burton restrains his gothic sensibilities in this movie too. There are no characters that look like members of the Addamms family. In fact Mark Wahlberg's athletic astronaut may be the most "normal" hero of a Tim Burton film. The sense of pecularity is here though. That is the whole point of Apes. Wahlberg IS an outsider because of his circumstances, NOT because he is a goth freak (like say, Edward Scissorhands). The humans who have lived under Ape rule can't help but marvel at his audacity at standing up to the apes and the apes themselves are a little awstruck at the ingenuity...and cruelty...that humans are apparently capable of. The apes have a religion based on events that occurred in their distant past...events that hold the key to what happened to the rest of Wahlberg's deep space expedition. It is no coincidence that the homing beacon he carries points him to the heart of a sacred area for the apes where their messiah, Semos is supposed to return. I imagine Apes will always be controversial material as long as evolution is a hot button topic for some. Or perhaps for its implications about animal rights and whether one believes animals have souls. It is provocative that way for our times. I confess there are limits to what I myself want to consider on the topic. I eat beef. I do not object to (necessary) animal testing that results in cures for disease, but I do not have the stomach to hunt animals (I have gone fishing but only as part of a group and not out of my own interest for the activity). I think some of the criticisms of this movie come from people who squirmed in their seat due to some of these issues. So I would consider some of the very negative reviews of this film with that in mind. For me, Science Fiction is interesting when it is provacative like this. Other films like Independence Day or Armageddon, films that are (frankly) dumb as dirt and full of contrived crowd pleasing Rambo moments are less interesting to me. However I have to admit that I like a few Rambo moments, like anyone else. Fighting and action are pretty much a staple of some sci-fi movies except for those that are really esoteric like 2001 or A.I.. In that respect Planet of the Apes strikes a very good balance for audience members like me. Could it have been a bit better? Could the additional cliffhanger ending have been redone, left off, or explained somewhat? I guess so. But I like this movie as it stands. There is a lot to admire here once you forget all the baggage and comparisons some people like to make. I would give it 3 and a half stars, but the amazon rating system doesn't do halves...and I think rounding it up to 4 stars is not a big stretch for such an great looking, ambitious film. |
|
|