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Planet Of The Apes
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andy James & Noor Razzak (28th December 2008). |
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The Film
 "Planet of the Apes" is one of the, if not the, most influential films in science fiction. More-so than "Metropolis" (1927), "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) or "Star Wars" (1977)? Quite possibly. Not only has Apes spawned numerous sequels (of varying quality) but there has also been a TV show, merchandise, a ‘re-imagining’ and now talk of yet another film in the Apes saga. "Star Wars" is a merchandising juggernaut with Lucas whoring his original trilogy to within an inch of its life. "2001: A Space Odyssey" helped to revolutionize putting the ‘science’ back into ‘science-fiction’, but can be seen by some as being ‘too cold’ and there’s only been "2010" (1984) following. So, what’s the deal with this planet of talking apes? Well, unless you’ve been living under a rock from the last 30 years and haven’t seen the various parodies, clips or even the DVD cover, it’s Earth. The ending, that ending, is one of the most famous reveals in cinema history. If you have managed to watch "Planet of the Apes" without previously knowing the ending – well done. I can only imagine what that must have been like… As it is, Charlton Heston and his fellow astronauts are hurled off course through time and space and awake to find themselves crash landed on this future Earth where man has de-evolved and ape has risen to take his place. The ape society is fantastically realised – with a hierarchical structure where a cadre of priest-scientists rule according to the Sacred Scrolls. There are markets, domesticated horses and ape religion. "Planet of the Apes" has no problem with – ahem – aping our society, and using this reflection as a mirror for ourselves. There are close-minded individuals, unaccepting of the proposition that ape evolved from something less; there are those wanting to get ahead in their careers… they just happen to be apes. This is where the great satire of the film comes to the fore. Where "Planet of the Apes" really excels, of course, is in its make-up and set design. The ape masks are truly magnificent, expressing true performances without seeming overly fake or hokey. If they had failed at these, then the whole of the film would have fallen apart. The low slung stone buildings help to evoke a fully realised, yet still developing ape society. There are ape buildings that, after a moment, we can recognise – a museum here, a church there. "Planet of the Apes" is really one of the finest examples of what science-fiction can be, one in which we question the very nature of humanity itself and where we are all forced to take the measure of ourselves. On top of that, the story is a ripping adventure yarn where everything from the sets to the score comes together in harmony. Just don’t call them monkeys.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this image is in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and has been mastered using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The image for this release was created using the same master as the previous DVD release. Compared to the DVD the image is noticeably sharper with detail and textures coming to the forefront more so than before. There are still some flaws present, like dirt, specks and occasional blemishes that lend towards the age of the film. Grain is present but never too heavy, I can't see any evidence of digital noise reduction which is good as Fox has done this on several titles and thus makes the overall image appear waxy and unnatural. Colors are solid, especially skin tones, blacks are deep and bold and shadow detail holds up well. For a film of its age the image is rather good, but it could use a additional clean up to remove the dirt and specks.
Audio
Four audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 presented at 48kHz/24-bit as well as tracks in French Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its DTS-HD track (although purists might like to stick with the film's original mono audio). This track is a newly created track culled from original elements to create a 5.1 sound mix. For the most part the track is fairly solid, with dialogue sounding clear and distortion free. Ambient noise is well rendered, as are sound effects and music. However, this HD track doesn't sound like next level material, it sounds fairly similar to all previous standard 5.1 mixes we've heard on DVD. The depth can be limited at times and some sounds come across as tinny without enough force behind them but that's the limitations of expanding a mono track into a 5.1 sound space. optional subtitles are included in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean.
Extras
Fox has released this film with a vast collection of extras that include two audio commentaries, a text commentary, a bonus view feature, interactive game, several featurettes, a documentary, promo clips, theatrical trailers, galleries and D-Box enabled code. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is the feature-length audio commentary with actors Roddy McDowell, Natalie Trundy and Kim Hunter, and makeup artist John Chambers. This track has been seen on previous DVD editions and also makes its appearance here. I have heard many tracks in my time but I have never been bored more so than from this one. These participants where recorded individually and the track was cut together with so many silent gaps that I may as well have just watched the film again. They talk about various topics, mainly sharing memories from the production. The only real interesting commentator was make-up artists Chambers who probably spoke about three or four lines throughout the entire track (that may be an exaggeration, but it felt like it). I'm not sure why the disc producers just didn't cut this feature up into a selected scenes commentary rather than to have people sit through excruciatingly slow talk and many silent moments. Skip this extra if you already haven't sat through this as there are better extras on this disc worth your time. Following that is another feature-length audio commentary by the film's composer Jerry Goldsmith, recorded sometime before his death in 2004, this track is mostly an isolated score with occasional comments from the composer. Goldsmith talks about the themes of the score, the musical cues, the impact of the score and recording it among other things but mostly lets the music so the talking for him in this track. There are probably about the same amount of gaps in this track but they are filled with the score in full 5.1 48kHz/16-bit presentation. There's also a text commentary by Eric Greene, author of "Planet of the Apes as American Myth", much like a trivia track, text pops up as you watch the film as Greene comments on his theories about the film and it's message. Not exactly what I was expecting but interesting none-the-less as the author takes us through the social sciences. "Science of Apes" follows next and is a "Bonus View" extra that requires Profile 2.0 players to access. This feature is essentially a picture-in-picture video commentary that plays video clips from various scientists and science writers as they talk about the science behind the film and provide a realistic basis for it. At this time this feature goes unreviewed as this reviewer currently does not have a profile 2.0 capable player. "Beyond the Forbidden Zone Adventure Game" is an interactive game, this BD-Java game overlays itself as you watch the film, answer some multiple-choice questions to move your character across an interactive map. I was bored within minutes, mainly as the response times were a bit slow. Next up is a "PSA from ANSA" this clip runs for 6 minutes 6 seconds, and plays out like a promotional video about the space organization ANSA. It plays out like those old educational films you used to watch at school. The first major featurette on the disc is "Evolution of the Apes" which runs for 23 minutes 37 seconds. This new clip takes a look at the history of the series and its impact on popular culture. The clip features some great interviews and footage about the making of the films and provides a decent amount of background information for those that are new to the series, as fans will not likely learn anything new here. "Impact of the Apes" featurette runs for 11 minutes 39 seconds and takes a closer look a the pop and cultural impact these films had on viewers. It basically fluffs around telling viewers how important, memorable and impacting these films are. Kind of a love letter to the films but more like a self-congratulatory pat on the back for making something that stood the test of time. The real meat of this disc is the expansive documentary "Behind the Planet of the Apes" which runs for an incredible feature-length run time of 126 minutes 44 seconds. This feature can also be viewed with an interactive mode. This features was originally produced ten years ago and has been released on DVD several times. This feature is exactly what making-of's should be like, it's in-depth and informative covering every aspect of the production you can think of. Much like the documentaries on the "Star Wars" DVD's this feature goes deep into the background of the film, the scripts, the casting, the shooting, the various stories that came from production, the special effects, the make-up, costumes, sets, music, release, impact and reaction and long-lasting value among many other topics. The documentary features a plethora or interviews and behind-the-scenes footage that will whet any fans most ravenous appetite. There's also a "Behind the Planet of the Apes" promo which runs for 2 minutes 19 seconds and is an advertisement for what to expect in this feature. "The Archives of the Apes" is a sub-section that houses some additional features including: - Original make-up test with Edward G. Robinson from 1966, this footage runs for 9 minutes 34 seconds. It's cool to think that Robinson may have been in this film, and features some vintage footage of the actor undergoing the make-up routine in this early test. - Roddy McDowell's on-set footage runs for 20 minutes 14 seconds, this is original 8mm footage taken by McDowell during the film's production, takes a look at the make-up application and behind-the-scenes of the filming as well. - Dailies and outtakes footage is next and these raw clips feature no audio and run for 19 minutes 50 seconds, it would have been nice to have included some sort of commentary over this footage. But it gives fans a look at the raw footage that was getting shot at the time. - "N.A.T.O. presentation" is a 1967 promo clip that runs for 10 minutes 30 seconds, is a promotional clip that was made for the cinema exhibitors to sell the film to. - Vintage 1968 "Planet of the Apes" featurette runs for 4 minutes 41 seconds, basically a standard EPK clip from that era that covers the basics of the production. - The film's original teaser trailer is included and runs for 2 minutes 17 seconds. - As well as the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 3 minutes 5 seconds. "The Galleries of the Apes" features a series of 8 galleries, these aren't as extensive as I'd have liked as some only feature a few images. But what is here, is interesting, they include: - "The Ape" features 3 interactive pages of the newspaper. You can read the various articles by selecting sections from the pages. - Interactive pressbook is 13 interactive pages that covers the entire promotional booklet made for the press when the film originally premiered, You can read the various portions of the book by selecting sections from the pages. - Advertising features 9 images of the ads that ran in newspapers. - Lobby Cards features 8 images or cards that hung in theater lobbies to market the film. - Make-up features 15 images of the masks used on the film. - Costumes Design Sketches features 9 images of original artwork. - Props features 9 images of surviving props from the production. - Behind-the-Scenes are 25 images takes for promotional use during the production of the film. Finally those that have it can access the D-Box Motion Code.
Overall
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