I just happened to catch the ending of Conquest and saw most of Battle on SyFy yesterday. Battle was better than I remembered. I love the self reflection on the human (and ape) condition as (inevitably) violent species.
On a side note I can't believe these were "G" rated movies! Ape's tortured by humans, apes, bashing in the skulls of humans, mass slaughter with machine guns, ape killing child ape in the last film. Holy moly!
I picked up all 5 original films in the new "Legacy Collection" Blu Ray for $20 at Wal Mart. They're the same previously released discs with the isolated scores and the Behind The Planet Of The Apes documentary on the first disc.
I just happened to catch the ending of Conquest and saw most of Battle on SyFy yesterday. Battle was better than I remembered. I love the self reflection on the human (and ape) condition as (inevitably) violent species.
On a side note I can't believe these were "G" rated movies! Ape's tortured by humans, apes, bashing in the skulls of humans, mass slaughter with machine guns, ape killing child ape in the last film. Holy moly!
In the UK Conquest was "AA" which under the current ratings system is 15 and, I guess, R in the US. Battle was an A certificate which is PG.
As I recall Beneath was also a AA (and may well have been the first film I had to sneak into as I was under age) while Escape was a U certificate which is pretty unbelievable considering the bit whee Cornelius spits blood at the end. That said Star Wars and a Empire were both U certificates despite the numerous arm-lopping scenes (guy in Mos Eisley, Wampa, Luke).
I'd like to pick these up on Blu-Ray, but it is kinda dependent on which sets have the original cut of Conquest... on them, as opposed to the version shown with the toned-down violence and tacked-on ending...and I've lost tracks of which BR and DVD sets have this version....
I picked up all 5 original films in the new "Legacy Collection" Blu Ray for $20 at Wal Mart. They're the same previously released discs with the isolated scores and the Behind The Planet Of The Apes documentary on the first disc. A tremendous bargain for 19.99 plus tax.
Ideally I would pick them up at Walmart and save on shipping. Though apparently my Walmart isn't selling BluRays anymore!
I'd like to pick these up on Blu-Ray, but it is kinda dependent on which sets have the original cut of Conquest... on them, as opposed to the version shown with the toned-down violence and tacked-on ending...and I've lost tracks of which BR and DVD sets have this version....
Indeed....seems a great deal! I think I answered my own question by the way - the set that is linked to in the first post IS the edition with the "Unrated" version of Conquest.... As far as I can gather, this version is not available on DVD - all available versions are the theatrical release only.
Indeed....seems a great deal! I think I answered my own question by the way - the set that is linked to in the first post IS the edition with the "Unrated" version of Conquest.... As far as I can gather, this version is not available on DVD - all available versions are the theatrical release only.
Disappointed with this release only that the classic '68 original deserves a new 4K restoration release. The transfer for it here, which is the same BD from 2008, is the same element used for the 2004 DVD 2-disc release, albeit with greater detail, better color balance and some digital clean-up, but Fox has done a complete digital restoration since then that's still awaiting an HD release on Blu-ray. Maybe we'll get it when 4K monitors are the standard.
Aw man. I hope Amazon didn't sell out for good on this. I got a deal on the Warner Film Noir Collection and it was backordered since November. I finally had to get it from the Warner shop on eBay.
