Amazon.com essential video: Many early science fiction films are now, quite inadvertently (and in most cases undeservedly), objects of camp attention: we laugh at the silly makeup, tin-can special effects, and the naive "high-tech" dialogue. Planet of the Apes is no such film. Its intelligent script, frightening costuming, and savagely effective conclusion (which needs no big-budget special effects to augment its impact) remain both potent and relevant. When Colonel George Taylor (the fabulous Charlton Heston) crash lands his spacecraft on what seems to be an unfamiliar planet, he is captured and held prisoner by a dominant race of hyperrational, articulate apes. However, the ape community is riven with internal dissention, centered in no small part on its policy toward humans, who, on this planet, are treated as mindless animals. Befriended and ultimately assisted by the more liberal simians, Taylor escapes--only to find a more terrifying obstacle confronting his return home. Heavy-handed object lessons abound--the ubiquity of generational warfare, the inflexibility of dogma, the cruelty of prejudice--and the didactic fingerprints of Rod Serling are very much in evidence here. But director Franklin Schaffner has a dark, pop-apocalyptic sci-fi vision all his own, and time has not dulled the monumental emotional impact of the film's climactic payoff shot. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, you owe it to yourself to check out this stone classic, and even if you do, see it with fresh eyes; and don't be surprised if you get the chills all over again... and again... and again. --Miles Bethany
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Cases Please?
I love the films and the transfers, but the DVD mounts in the case are hard to use. I fear the discs will fall out at some point. I'd love it if the company would offer us a deal on additional slim cases ... Read More
Rating: - Blu-Ray Box Set Design
I'd advise buying the box set and never opening it. Keep it for its novelty and future worth as a collector's item. Then buy each each title on Blu-ray DVD separately and watch those.
Rating: - Blu-Ray quality review
This is a review of the quality of the Planet of the Apes [Blu-ray. The video looks good for a film as aged as this, but is not even close to stunning. The high def transfer in some cases actually serves to ... Read More
Rating: - Blu-Ray Apes Still Pack Punch
All of these transfers look great in HD. I only bought the first and best film, but, I saw all the others via Netflix rental. The large box is not appealing to me. If I want a book, I'll buy it. I would've bought ... Read More
Rating: - I feel like I'm 9 years old again!
Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection [Blu-ray]This box set is awesome! If you love and appreciate these movies as I do-get this set!For my Ninth birthday I was given the choice of a new bike or go see the ... Read More
![: Planet of the Apes [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/2189QPB3E7L._SL160_.jpg)
- Cases Please?
- Blu-Ray Box Set Design
- Blu-Ray quality review