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Planet of the Apes - The Evolution (Complete Series)

Planet of the Apes - The Evolution (Complete Series)

List Price: $49.98
Your Price: $39.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great set
Review: Great set, excellent quality

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: TERRIBLE Audio Mixing
Review: I would think a big Hollywood Studio like Fox would have done a better job with the DVD transfer. The Audio mixing is terrible. The score and sound effects are too loud and the dialogue is barely audible. The volume must be continually adjusted thru-out the viewing. Beware buyers, wait until a better transfer is released.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dream come true!
Review: I've wanted these films in a durable form for many years. Now DVD has made it a reality! If you grew up on these too then get this collection and you'll be watching them your entire lifetime...and so will your kids...and so will whatever evolutionary being appears after us...ha ha!

I figure I first discovered the Planet of the Apes in 1974 with the TV series (I wish they'd release those on DVD, or VHS, as well). Eventually I'd see the 4th film "Conquest" then the 5th "Battle". I remember getting a Planet of the Apes jigsaw puzzle in a can with Claude Akins ape character from "Battle" sitting on a horse. I'll bet I put that thing together 50 times. I wish I still had it. I may have had some action figures too. In the late 70s or early 80s I saw the first film and then the others. They now produce that nostagic feeling every time I watch them. I know people have their likes and dislikes about each one, but to be honest I like them all equally well.

Now, as for this DVD collection, I found that the picture quality on the 1st, 2nd, and 5th films to be superior to the other 2. Although none were disappointing. The 5th film, "Battle", was quite colorful and sharp in the closeups with very little graininess. It made me enjoy that 5th film more than ever before. The overall sound on the films was a mixed bag on my PC-based DVD system (probably my slow 350mhz processor with an ATI DVD player). There was a lot of scatching and popping on the 2nd & 5th films, as well as the documentary. If fact, the documentary would simply stop and I'd have to restart that section. The full screen picture is more cumbersome to a computer's CPU than widescreen. But definately worth the effort since the documentary was as good as the films themselves. Aside from the accational sound difficulty, each film ran smoothly on my system without many noticable hiccups. A dedicated DVD system may not have these problems.

This "Evolution" collection was a Christmas gift from my mom and dad. They know what I like! I can't wait to watch them all again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty Good film.
Review: This film is the last in the planet of the apes series.Though not the best this film is quite satisfying and shows how mans future can possibly be changed if apes and humans can get along.But there is a group of mutant humans(deformed by the radiation from a nuclear blast)plan to take back earth in a giant battle.Again great performance by Roddy Mcdowall returning as Caesar.A pretty good last film for the Apes series.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: You'll go ape over these!
Review: Let me start out by saying the only reason I didn't give PLANET OF THE APES -- THE EVOLUTION series more stars is because as DVDs go, there are little extras and the sound was less than spectacular. Other than that, this is a great set. The first movie is (I believe in most people's opinion) the best one. But the others are wonderful too (although BATTLE FOR... is kind of lame). As a kid I used to watch them on Channel 9's (then WWOR-TV) 4:30 movie after school and never realized the political and social relevance each film contained ... I just thought they were cool monkey movies. But after watching them all again (even the hokey ESCAPE FROM...), I learned that they were and still are important statements about social equality and injustice -- while still being cool monkey movies! Though the behind the scenes documentary DVD is great, I wish there were more things on the DVDs themselves.

For those of you who don't like sci-fi and never wanted to watch PLANET... and it's sequels (as is the case with my fiancee), give them a shot. They're funny, action-packed, incredibly intelligent and still worth watching today. Let's hope Tim Burton's new take on it will be just as good (I think it will).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ES LO MAXIMO
Review: ES LA MEJOR PELICULA DEL MUNDO, NO DEBE FALTAR EN UNA COLECCION, YO POR LO MENOS LA PUEDO VER UNA TRAS OTRA Y CUANDO TERMINO LAS QUIERO COMENZAR A VER DE NUEVO. YO VIVO EN VENEZUELA Y AQUI NO LLEGABA NADA DEL PLANETA DE LOS SIMIOS, CUANDO ERA PEQUEÑO LAS QUERIA EN VHS PERO AQUI NADA QUE VER. GRACIAS A INTERNET Y EL DVD TENGO UNO DE MIS SUEÑOS HECHOS REALIDAD.

GRACIAS

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Apes A'Poppin'
Review: Planet of the Apes is a really absurd and way cool movie with tons of...well...APES! The first movie is probably why Charlton Heston is the head of the NRA now, in case the apes ever find him (I'm kidding, of course). It's the best one in the series, and has the all time best ending in 1960's sci fi this side of "SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!! IT'S PEEEEEOOOOPPPPLLLLE!" Man, Charlton Heston rules. The second movie is like a Star Trek episode with guys in gorilla costumes, and the third is just too whimsical for it's own good, but it has Ricardo Montalban in it, so it's still watchable. Then we get to my favorite, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes! This movie ROCKS. It's about a talking chimp named Ceasar who turns people's pet apes into a pack of millitant monkeys that wage war on their former masters. The ending is so over the top! A must see. Finally, I didn't really watch the whole Battle for the Planet of the Apes, it was kinda cheesy compared to Conquest, but it had John Houston as an ape, which was really surreal. The whole set is worth getting, it's monkey fun for everyone!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Missing scene - be warned
Review: I was shocked to learn that FOX has decided to entirely change the tone of the series by cutting a crucial scene from 'Battle for the Planet of the Apes'!

If you've never seen the series, you won't miss it. But if you've been watching these films all your life - where was the scene where the radiated man and woman decide not to explode the Alpha Omega bomb, but decide to worship it? This leads (timeline-wise) directly to the mutants in 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes'.

This has changed the entire tone of the series! The pre-destination has been tossed out for a feel-good ending!

Is this only in the boxed set, or did FOX also cut the individual DVD release?

Do the director, writer, and AP Jacobs' widow know about this?

I love these movies, but as a DVD set this is a shame.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: FIGHT LIKE APES!
Review: Planet of the Apes may be the strongest science fiction film series ever.

Hear me out on this.

It had a single story thread that carried through the films. The ending of Planet of the Apes is one of the classic shock endings of all time, right up there with "it's a sled" and "She's a man" (the latter being so good that's it's been used many times in many different films) In every way, Man is responsible for his own downfall. In the first film we believe its by simple atomic holocaust, but as the films go on we learn it's even more than that.

There's a bit of a hole in the narrative, I'll admit. There had to have been a MASSIVE amount of discoveries made about Man's history between Planet and Return, because in the first film they don't know spit-in-a-cup about their past, but by the time Cornelius and Zira get away before the planet gets the big finger at the end of Return, they have learned all about how apes rose and overthrew man, in great detail (Not to mention how to repair, fuel and navigate a spaceship through a time warp, but I digress) But the rest of the story is so strong you don't mind. In Escape, they TELL the government, almost verbatim, how everything happens, and in the next film (Conquest) after it all happens, the virus that kills all cats and dogs, they're still ready to train apes, figuring they'll be okay cause they know what to avaoid, merrily trundling down the path of destiny.

And let's face it. Paul Willams as an orangutan. How can you NOT love these movies?

I don't forsee the remake getting the idea right. It'll be fun to watch, lots of action, but I don't see the heart of the story being done right. See this instead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Primates never looked so good!
Review: The Planet of the Apes movies are classic sci-fi. The first film, Planet of the Apes, is by far the best but it's hardly without flaw. Beneath the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes are also pretty good B-grade movies in my estimation. Escape and Conquest are subpar. You really have to wonder what happened to the budgets after the first two films. I don't recall what the film industry was like in the early 70's, but it's obvious that Fox did not put as much funding into the third through fifth Ape movies.

This DVD collection is very nicely put together with good-looking interactive menus and a really nice "Making Of" DVD that shows all the behind the scenes stuff, the ape make up, etc.

The Ape movies are dated and pale in comparison to today's big-budget action and sci-fi extravaganzas, but for nostalgic purposes and a fun look at late 60's/early 70's social commentary, they can't be beaten. The pacing and development of the mysterious ape world in the first two films as still a joy to watch even though I've watched these movies countless times. The Ape movies are a lot of fun and a must for any devoted sci-fi aficionado.


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