Rating: 
Summary: SIMIAN SAYS
Review: The pedigree behind this 1968 classic speaks for itself:
*Director Franklin J. Schaffner would go on to win an Oscar for directing PATTON.
*Oscar winners Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall were incomparable as Zira and Cornelius.
*The musical score is behind Oscar winner Jerry Goldsmith.
*Oscar winner Charlton Heston in the title role.
The story is familiar to us all by now, and even though the remake managed to flesh out the irony of the reversal in dominance, the original still manages to show how hypocritical and racist the apes are as we humans have been throughout our centuries, too.
Enjoy also the understated performance of Robert Gunner as Heston's comrade; the sheer beauty of Linda Harrison, who never uttered a word; the terse but scintillating direction of Schaffner, especially in the opening sequence when the rocket crashes; the subtle performances under makeup of James Whitmore, James Daly and Woodrow Parfrey.
And never will we forget the ending of this version, which the remake could not even come close to copying.
This is a classic; the sequels fell short, but this one will be with us for generations to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Save your money!
Review: This release offers very little in the way of new material. If you already own the Evolution box set, this goes double for you. The commentary tracks, in you can call them that, are spotty and pieced together from old interviews. One of the few actual new bits turns out to be an old Mego toy ad that looks and sounds terrible! Menu graphics, as well as the box art itself, are really lame. This is a fine example of the license holder strip-mining its property!
Rating: 
Summary: Finally this classic gets a decent transfer!
Review: I have to say that I agree with most of the negative comments already made here over the new "35th Anniversary" DVD edition of "Planet of the Apes" (1968). This appears to been something of a rush job on the part of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to please the die-hard fans of the film. Unfortunately this package doesn't contain enough of the things those very fans covet most: an extensive photo gallery of behind-the-scenes shots, deleted footage from well-known cut scenes, and a gallery of nearly every product ever released with the "Planet of the Apes" logo stamped on it. Also, most of the extra stuff here has been previously released on DVD, with only Roddy McDowall's private 16mm films taken during the production being the most fascinating extra on the two-disc set. Jerry Goldsmith provides a wonderful commentary but there are long stretches between his comments, and there's no isolated score, which would have been nice.So what is there to get excited about? Well, finally this classic Science Fiction film is available in the anamorphic DVD format of 16X9. If you have a widescreen video display with progressive scan this movie is going to look marvelous. For a 1968 flick, the movie looks remarkably good, a tribute to the original Panavision photography. And the movie sounds better than ever, with a stereo that now finally approaches the original 4-track sound of the era. It's true that there's hardly any rear surround information, but this is typical of the era's mono surround track for four channel films. If you're not a fan of the "Planet of the Apes" and hardly know anything of its production, then this DVD is going to tell you everything you'll want to know and more. After viewing everything on this disc you may want to "Escape from the Planet of the Apes." And if you are a member of the "Apes" cult of fans, then just keep writing to Fox for "more, more, more." There are still the four "Apes" sequels waiting to get the anamorphic treatment on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: CLASSIC MOVIE! AWFUL PACKAGING!
Review: I give 5 stars to the film, which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest films ever. The packaging for the 35th anniv. edition is awful. First they put a photo of Caesar (from Conquest) on the cover, the back cover has a photo of Ursus (from Beneath) and the inside opens up to the gorilla stadium scene from Beneath. Are they clueless at Fox??? The film is Planet and should include photos from Planet (not its sequels!!!) Secondly, most of the special features are recycled material. I was really dissapointed with the section of Ape Merchanside and Ape Collections. There are hundreds of ape collectibles and all they show are a few Mego figures and wind-up Medicom figures. what a joke! Then for the Ape Collections they show a few masks, facial appliances and costumes. How weak! I thought I would be seeing some actual collections. Anyways, the movie is a classic, but once again the folks at Fox have butchered it's DVD release.
Rating:
Summary: Apes Revisited
Review: Planet Of The Apes is a true science fiction classic. Now, for the film's 35th anniversary, the latest DVD release combines extras from the past and some rare stuff to celebrate the occasion. The Film-When Colonel George Taylor (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. The film disc has two audio commementaries. I have to say, I was disappointed in the first track. This commentary with actors Roddy McDowall, Natalie Trundy, and Kim Hunter, producer Richard Zanuck, and make-up artist John Chambers may sound like it would be good. It really isn't though. Even with all of those participants, the actual talk time only amounted to about 25-30 minutes And most of the comments will be repeated elsewhere on the second disc anyway. Can anyone say padded...Better realized, is the second track with comments by composer Jerry Goldsmith, discussing his landmark score. An added treat is hearing the entire score in Dolby 2.0. The text commentary by Eric Greene, author of Planet of the Apes as American Myth, is pretty good too. Filled with nice little tid-bits of analysis that's quite interesting and fun. The second disc features the great full length AMC documentary called Behind The Planet Of The Apes. The program was originally released separately on DVD by Image Entertainment This 126 minute program takes you through the entire Planet of the Apes phenomenon as of 98 anyway. Hosted by the late Roddy McDowall. We are there, film by film, from production meetings to make-up sessions, then right onto the movie set to see the actual filming. Hear exclusive interviews with stars Charlton Heston and Kim Hunter, see rare archival photos, and view never-before-seen footage. Then see how the Apes saga reached beyond the original visionary films, creating a franchise that includes television and books. This is the most comprehensive history of Planet of the Apes ever created. The other extras include The Planet of the Apes National Association of Theater Owners presentation (1967), The Planet of the Apes featurette (1968), "A Look Behind The Planet of the Apes" (1972), Behind the Planet of the Apes promo (1998), The Planet of the Apes makeup test with Edward G. Robinson (1966), dailies and outtakes (1967), and 20 minutes worth of Roddy McDowall's personal home movies. There's also plenty of vintage publicity material, like, the original theatrical trailers, film reviews from 1968, and the theatrical posters. The gallery section contains the original sketches by costume designer Morton Haack and stills gallery. As if that were not enough, you will also take a look the merchandising of Apes with a vintage MEGO toy commercial, that's a real hoot, as well as other various ape collectibles. Topping off the set is a DVD-ROM Planet of the Apes Timeline and an Easter egg for all hunters to find. Aside from the needless 30 minute audio commentary track gaffe, I still think it's a five star effort, just the same. I'm glad the 35th Anniversary Edition is here, making for what will hopfully be, the definative edition
Rating:
Summary: Legendary
Review: A lot of spoofs are made about Planet of the Apes, but the movie itself is still breathtaking. As old as it is, it's still better than many of the movies made nowadays.
Rating: 
Summary: Love Apes, Hate Greed
Review: This is the third time Fox has release "Planet of the Apes" on DVD. First in a box set with the four other movies and a documentary disc, second by itself. Now the 35th Anniversary edition. All the extras you see listed are simply repeated, except for the commentary by the actors and Jerry Goldsmith. Is it worth another 25-20 bucks for this edition, if you have the first? It depends on how big a fanatic you are.
However, it is amazing how many times a studio will rerelase a film on DVD, milking the die-hard fans of more money every few years. It's simply not fair. The first edition should have included commentary (after all, this commentary had to be taped a while ago since Roddy McDowell has long since passed away).
Studios love when a format (such as VHS) becomes obsolete, they can sell their libraries all over again.
The Simpsons hit the nail on the head in a recent episode. Homer is marching through a garbage dump. He passes by a pile of VHS tapes, next he passes an empty spot with a sign: "Reserved for DVD's".
If you are looking to upgrade your VHS copy, maybe you should wait for the Apes Virtual Reality Chip. On second thought, go for the DVD, it'll be good for the economy!
Rating:
Summary: Great movie, AWFUL cover
Review: This movie is fantastic...Charlton Heston overacts but not nearly as much as in the shameless "Soylent Green." Actually I think he does a very good job, and the film is well thought out and gripping. My beef with this DVD is the cover (front and back), which ruins the film entirely. This film boasts arguably the greatest ending in film history, so what do the geniuses who design the cover do? Put the end scene right on it. This completely ruins it for anyone who hasn't seen it before; the greatness of the end is its surprise and shock, and anyone who buys this DVD now sees it straight off and its effect is reduced to almost nothing. I'd like to know who the [expletive deleted] designed this.
Rating: 
Summary: The movie is anamorphic but the extras are just retread....
Review: It's nice to see that this movie is finally being released as an animorphic widescreen version, but ALL of the extras are already available on the BEHIND THE PLANET OF THE APES 2 DVD set. So those of us fans that already bought the Behind set are getting corn-holed. Buhahah... it figures. And while were on the subject... hows about letting us have the damned ANIMATED Planet of the Apes series on DVD already!! Geez!
Rating:
Summary: Better than the book, the rest of the series, and the remake
Review: Pierre Bouelle's novel was good; the rest of the movie series ranged from okay to abysmal, and the remake was adequate (and arguably more faithful to the novel). But the 1968 version of _Planet of the Apes_ is just one of those _great_ moments in SF film history that nothing else can touch. Charlton Heston is magnificent in the first of his three well-known 'last man' movies (the other two being _The Omega Man_ and _Soylent Green_, which are also nonrepeatable classics). The makeup is excellent, especially for 1968. But it's the brilliant script (for which Rod Serling shares a co-credit) that raises this film to its iconic status. This is the sort of thing that 1960s cinematic SF (including the original _Star Trek_ series) tried to pull off and rarely managed to succeed at. This film is a carefully constructed drama, a meditation on human nature, and a two-hour morality play -- backed by a wonderfully evocative Jerry Goldsmith score. The 'science' in its science fiction is nothing to write home about, but its digs at human culture, religion, and species-centered pride work every bit as well today as they did in the latter portion of the turbulent '60s. On the off-chance that there's somebody out there who doesn't know how it ends -- despite the fact that (duhh) a shot from the _final scene_ appears on the DVD cover -- I won't describe the Big Finale. But man, oh, man, even when you _know it's coming_, Heston still pulls it off. The closing moments _never_ fail to grab me. And this mind-wrenching ending was specifically created for this film. It's not in the book and it's not in the remake. The widescreen-format DVD is nicely done. If it's not in your collection already, get it at once.
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