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Posted: |
Aug 30, 2012 - 12:03 PM
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By: |
Richard-W
(Member)
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I saw Planet of the Apes for the first time at the Smithtown Theater in Smithtown, Long Island during its initial release in May 1968. I was a little boy, and the move thoroughly hypnotized me. The ending was like having a bucket of cold water splashed in your face. I got the message. My parents were impressed, too. After it was over, they went outside and bought tickets to see it again.
Thereafter, I was a repeat-ticket-buyer at the sequels and saw the original whenever it was re-released. When the Apes marathon came in 1974, I spent Saturdays and Sundays in the theater. I went in for Planet of the Apes at 11 am, watched all the sequels, and then stayed for Planet of the Apes a second time. I did this two weekends in a row, according to my log.
Not only is Planet of the Apes one of my top movie-going experiences, I consider it one of the best films ever made. Period.
Screenwriter Rod Serling is responsible for turning the bland novel into the Planet of the Apes we know and love today. It reflects his style and intellectual concerns from The Twilight Zone, only for the big screen. Thematically they're the same. The brilliant ending was Serling's idea, and it has an antecedent in an episode of The Twilight Zone. Forget the title of the episode. Serling was a genius.
I agree Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) is under-rated. We caught up with that one while on vacation. We were driving down the highway in Texas on our way back to New York when we saw the drive-in. Naturally the parents pulled-over, turned around and took us to the latest Ape movie. The uncut version on Blu-ray is the better film.
I wish Fox had filmed the version of Battle of the Planet of the Apes (1973) that Mike-J describes above. I'd love to study that script. Sounds like a better film. But I have come to appreciate Battle more and more over the years. It tells a wiser, smarter story than most fans realize, although there is too much preaching and I always found Paul Williams obnoxious.
Burton's remake is beautifully designed and photographed but the story and direction are crap. it deserved to bomb at the box-office and on home video. Burton has no story sense and no judgment. He'd be more effective as a producer. I have a deep-rooted aversion to his fetish mentality.
I also agree that Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an intelligent and satisfying reboot. I went in with sub-zero expectations, but the film surprised me, I guess because I've been so disappointed in current films lately. Let's hope the same creative team comes up a worthy sequel and that Fox leaves them alone to make it.
The advance teaser one-sheets:
Do you want to see more?
Richard
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Mike
Have you read this yet? Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes: http://amzn.to/Ozh4Vy
"Set during the classic 1968 film, Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes tells the story of what happened between the scenes and centers on the astronaut Landon, Gorilla police chief Marcus, and Chimpanzee scientist Dr. Milo"
I've been intrigued by this since I first saw it announced, but have yet to pull the trigger on actually buying it.
Anyone out there read Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes? Opinions?
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Posted: |
Aug 31, 2012 - 3:01 PM
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By: |
Mike_J
(Member)
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Of the many, many things I love about the Apes movies, high up is the production design, especially of the first two movies. And most of all I love Bill Creber's design for the ANSA spaceship.
And I'm not alone in this. There are entire websites dedicated to this great screen spaceship, which is where the name Icarus has come from for the ship. It isnt canon but the ship is now well known as Icarus - it is even name checked in Rise.
Of course in Planet you only see it sticking out of Lake Powell. But Leon Shamroy's wonderful camera work (constantly roving, often from a helicopter) just make the ship look very majestic.
Ok so the internal geometry of the ship bear no relation to the exterior but the full size prop just looks fantastic. Watch out for a blooper when Dodge blow the hatch incidentally - both windscreens fall out!
Next time you see the ship (now Brent's) is in Beneath and it is the same full size prop as in the original film, albeit now surrounded by some unconvincing engine wreckage. But it still looks great.
In the last cienematic outing for the ship, in Escape, its very beaten up. During shooting in Southern California, the ship broke free of it's moorings and the nose cone snapped off and sunk, so in the scenes of the ship on the low loader a very cheap looking nose was added and it shows.
The prop appeared one last time in the pilot of the TV show, Escape To Tomorrow.
After that the full scale prop sat rotting and rusting on the Fox back lot for years. The exact fate of the ship remains unknown but there is a rumour it was sold off to a restaurant and was lost in a fire. Such a shame.
My late father - who put up with my passion for the Apes movies when I was in my early teens - was an aircraft designer by profession and was always telling me how wrong the design was for Taylor's / Brent's / Milo's / Virdon's ship. And he was probably right (he did after all do some work on the space shuttle). But with all due respect to my dear old dad, who cares? The design LOOKS fantastic and to me at least really does look like it could transport man to a distant planet.
Best movie speaceship ever!!!!
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