Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the time or money
Review: The original Apes was a classic of science fiction. It should NOT have been remade unless there was just some amazingly new way that Hollywood thought they could tell the story. As usual, this was just the suits trying to cash in on a potentially lucrative title with a big name director (whose films really aren't all that great except for the Batmans and Ed Wood). I gave it two stars for the sets and monkey effects, which were indeed all very well done. But, if special effects were all that made a movie, well, there would be a lot of good movies out there. This isn't one of them. I found myself bored at so many parts. ... everytime the opportunity presented itself to really let go, the movie just let down instead. If anything, the producers should have left the old stuff alone and tried to build a NEW story in the same universe, but that would have been just too risky for them. With a better script and a better director (and different actors) this could have been impressive. As is, it's just a bunch of monkey doo. But just for the record, i have not seen the DVD, but i doubt anyone who didn't like the movie in the first place would care to see the making of a movie they didn't like.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Overall - the movie had potential. It has decent acting, a good story/material to work with and a good director. The results however are lacking. First of all, the plot lacks coherence and logic, especially the ending. Secondly, the music fails to live up to its potential. The makeup/costumes are the best in the film and probably some of the best I have seen.
As for the DVD, while it has good features overall, the director's commentary is awful. He rambles and stumbles over his own sentences and it is hard to tell what he is saying. More fustrating, he does not want to share his vision of the film and its ending: all for the sake of not ruining a "possible sequel." I must say, for a film that needed explanation, this one failed miserable. I would not recommend it to those who seek to find more answers because none will be given.
Rating: 
Summary: Good features, Stinky movie
Review: Let me say this: based on supplemental features alone, this is probably a 4 star DVD. There are many documentaries and such, though I must say Tim Burton is very annoying on the commentary track. He seems to go on and on without really saying anything insightful. The movie is a mess. If you're familiar with the original film (it's hard not to compare the two), you know what an impact the ending has on the whole movie. By trying to match that shocker ending, this new version COMPLETELY NEGATES the ENTIRE film that built up to it. I defy anyone to actually make sense of it. Not even Tim Burton could! Sure, he said it made perfect sense to him-- but he didn't want to explain it for fear it would foul up Fox's plans for a sequel. This is a completely disposable blockbuster. Watch or re-watch the original, or even it's sequels, before wasting time and/or money with this.
Rating: 
Summary: The View From Here.
Review: Well I was 9 years old when the first Planet of the Apes came out
and I thought it was so cool, I had to have the lunch box.I liked
this newer version because the ending was closer to the Book than
the original Planet of the Apes, the battle action was good at the stand off at Oberon, and it had that, "There are good apes
and bad apes" attitude such as Ari being the good Ape and Thade
being the bad Ape. What I didn't like about this version was the
cute and loveable female apes. Ok, evolution made them so pretty.
No, really. What I want to know is, why didn't those soldiers in
the first wave run on two legs instead of four? I quess evolution
left them behind. Well, then, why did the ape women have to look
pretty? I can't answer that but I must ponder a deeper question
as to why I found them pretty.Anyhow, this movie is a hoot and fun to watch. The original raises deep questions about the human
race (it was the 60's folks.) This new version only skims that
question that was asked in the original. If a person wants to have a good hoot, then they should look into this one. I'll be
looking for the lunch box myself.
Rating:
Summary: Now you can get why this movie (...) in 5 easy steps!
Review: this movie was a great movie. errr, that would be it could have been a great movie. the graphics, was great. you could barely tell the actors from their apeish counterparts. but i think because of all the time at the place to learn how to ape walk (which was only used in one scene) and the make up and the complexity of it all.
They forgot to put a good plot into it. so here is why this movie (...). 1. first and formost. this movie was not,NOT supposed to be a comedy. the directors tryed to make you laugh and make you scared at the same time. horror and comedy usually dont mix except for a few times. this was not one of those times 2. second, which one of the Planet of the apes titles was this supposed to be recreating? the story of the very first planet of the apes was about two people who went into space and then when they returned they had gone through the idea of in space (nobody can hear you scream LOL.) you will travel through time in a much faster period. this totaly does not relate to the originals that alot of people came to see for. 3. third, the story had nearly zero plot at all. sure, it had what you would call a twist in the plot or two, but the actural plot was nearly unexistant. even moreso then The Mummie Returns!
it was just graphics and the fighting. that was it. 4. The acts which were in the plot were so cheesy! the movie was 99.999% cheese. everyone had horribly rehearsed their lines. like for example the scene at the slavers place where the humans were getting branded. after the first branding a female ape actor came in, snatched the branding iron and began to sound like a old time superhero. 4.5 the movie's ending was really cheesy! im sure if the dirrectors had wanted to they could create a better ending. its just that they are so into twists into the plot they are blind to the cheesyness of it all. 5. and lastly the soundtrack was very unoriginal. the title scene and song was so unoriginal i thought i went into the wrong theatre and was watching Batman! I would seriously advise not to buy this movie. or at least rent it before you buy it. it is not worth the money that you would spend for it. and what i spended for it
Rating:
Summary: "Bow your heads!"
Review: As a fan of the original "Apes" and the subsequent sequels that came from it, the idea of going back to this subject seemed to be redundant and at first, unecessary. However, I did manage to enjoy this "re-imagining" of one of my favorites. In a weird way, it resembles my love of Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" and it's remake in the great Western "A Fistful of Dollars". To say it doesn't have it's problems would be wrong. As much as I enjoyed the solid visuals and great make-up (used to great effect by the actors), I had to ask about the minor details, like the history of the humans and apes, which isn't touched on enough, in my opinion. The ending is a little too open-ended, but at least works in leaving us as disoriented as our hero is. It's not the remains of the Statue of Liberty, but it'll do. The music by Danny Elfman is quite impressive, even touching upon the original's percussive score. The 2 disc DVD set has a commentary with Elfman, as well as one by director Tim Burton, some interesting documentaries about the make-up and training for the actors playing the apes, and a lot of other material that at least elevates this up for a rental at the very least. Despite the little complaints mentioned above, it's not that horrible of a film, and unlike some of this summer's cinematic horrors, at least it's interesting to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Whats all the Whining about?
Review: What is everyones problem with this movie? Sure its not Heston driven symbolism fest, but its still an entertaining movie! Well, I'm going to take a rather Unorthidox approach to reviewing this. (...) Planet of the Apes has an amazing, very immersive atmosphere, It was set in a vivid world. And I mean vivid in all parts of it; from the lush green jungle that he lands in, to the Ape Metropolis, to the dusty wastes of 'forbidden zone'. All of it had a such vividness that even if the films wonderful musical score was not present, the scenery would give music to your mind by it self. One of the things that people seem to bash endlessly on is the ending. I personally did not think it was the greatest way to end the movie, but it was fitting. (...) The Predominant theme of the movie was dark, it would not have fit to end it with a happily ever after. Sol, overall, a thoroughly entertaining film, I reccomend it to anybody. One last note, am I the only one who found the characture Ari rather.....sexy? ;)
Rating:
Summary: dismal remake
Review: "Planet of the Apes" is a joyless, soulless and utterly pointless remake of the 1968 sci-fi classic. The original film had two strong elements going for it: its expansive visual style and its playful spirit. Both qualities have been effectively eliminated in Tim Burton's update, along with the sense of wonder that came, thirty-three years ago, when the material was still innovative and fresh. What viewer can forget the time he first saw that stunning final shot of the earlier version, with a weary Charlton Heston coming upon the remains of the Statue of Liberty - then bellowing in outrage at the tragic reality hitherto unrevealed to both him and us? Burton, not wanting to be a slavish devotee to the original (and not wanting the audience to know everything about the story in advance of entering the theatre), attempts a similar "surprise" ending here, but the execution of it is so ludicrous, confused and clumsy that all one can do is scratch one's head and giggle in bemused befuddlement. Much of the effectiveness of the original "Planet of the Apes" lay in its deliberately paced buildup. The early stretches of the film, in which Heston and his fellow astronauts wandered the desert in search of life, helped immensely in generating an atmosphere of suspense and mystery. In the new version, however, the lone hero, Thade (Mark Wahlberg), crash lands on the planet and, almost instantaneously, finds himself caught in this strange world in which evolution seems to have taken a reverse course, where apes speak and have dominion over docile humans - though they're not quite as docile as they were in the first version since in this edition the humans speak, rendering absurd the idea that the apes would consider humans to be a subspecies. Also, in the original version, much of the time was spent focusing on Heston's attempts to convince the apes that he was every bit as smart as they were. Thus, much of the pleasure of the film came from the fact that there seemed to be a duel of wits going on between apes and humans - a contest that often took the form of high-spirited, clever and even witty dialogue exchanges. For all the ludicrousness of its premise, the original "Planet of the Apes" was not a DUMB movie. I wish one could say the same for the remake. The plotting in this version essentially boils down to little more than an extended and distended chase story, with apes racing madly after humans from one dimly lit locale to the next. And here we come upon another problem with the movie - one it shares with many modern action flicks, actually, especially those made by Burton. It is simply shot too dark. One of the qualities that distinguished the original film from most of the sci-fi adventure films that came before it was the near-epic feeling created by its beautiful wide screen images of the desert setting. These shots lent a visual impressiveness to the potentially childish material and helped to bring an aura of seriousness to the proceedings. In Burton's version, however, the visual style is often dark, cramped and confining, not at all conducive to the sense of majesty and awe that Franklin Schaffner's version afforded. Wahlberg is a bland substitute for Heston who, dressed only in a loincloth and hissing virtually every line through clenched teeth, seemed to sense the camp potential hidden beneath the story's surface - a fact not acknowledged by the stolid Wahlberg (or by Burton for that matter). How we miss the charming personalities of Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter as the sympathetic ape characters. Poor Helena Bonham Carter, in the Hunter role, doesn't get to recite even one vaguely amusing line. It seems amazing that a movie made thirty-three years ago would take itself so much less seriously than a film made today. One would expect that a filmmaker like Burton, known for his ability to find humor in the most macabre of situations, would be the last director to take such a humorless, deadpan approach to material like this. The original "Planet of the Apes" managed to combine the elements of originality, suspense, humor, irony, surprise and visual acuity to create a work of lasting value and interest. My prediction is that copies of it will still be on video store shelves long after this remake has hit the bargain-price recycling bins.
Rating:
Summary: MAJOR disappointment...
Review: ...but still a sometimes-entertaining-film. Burton is one of my favorites, but I can't recognize any of his earlier work in this. Please stay out of sci-fi, Tim - except for a sequel to MARS ATTACKS! I mean that is hilarious, man!
Rating: 
Summary: I love TIME TRAVEL !!!
Review: One of the best, well-made, excellent, well-done sci fi movies in the whole universe. Watch it after you watch the first one made in 1968. Scary thought. Excellent movie. Highly recommended.
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