Behind the Planet of the Apes

Rating:
Summary: Priceless
Review: A magnificent documentary that originally aired in AMC in 1998, that acomplishes being an interesting and complete retrospective on the whole "Planet of the Apes" phenomenon. An excellent opportunity to update your "ape-knowledge" just prior to the upcoming Tim Burton "re-visit" (not re-make as he has often underlined) to the Pierre Boulle world. This film is hosted by late Roddy McDowall and includes very interesting and exciting behind the scenes material, such as a first "ape make-up" test.

Rating:
Summary: Priceless
Review: A magnificent documentary that originally aired in AMC in 1998, that acomplishes being an interesting and complete retrospective on the whole "Planet of the Apes" phenomenon. An excellent opportunity to update your "ape-knowledge" just prior to the upcoming Tim Burton "re-visit" (not re-make as he has often underlined) to the Pierre Boulle world. This film is hosted by late Roddy McDowall and includes very interesting and exciting behind the scenes material, such as a first "ape make-up" test.

Rating:
Summary: I'm Goin' Ape With This DVD!
Review: About six months ago, I bought the "Planet Of The Apes" box-set with the herald "sixth" disc, "Behind The Planet Of The Apes". So why did I also buy the new 2 Disc "Behind" version recently? Because it doesn't monkey around like the original "Behind" did! This version has the two-hour retrospective like the original, but so much more too! "Apes" N.A.T.O. presentation, more behind the scenes footage, extensive photo galleries, three totally different 1960's featurettes, the full complete E.G.Robinson screen test, and last but not least, an intimate rough-cut interview by Roddy McDowell himself, and it's over AN HOUR AND A HALF LONG! Along with brand new menus, totally different from the original disc, this is a must have for any Apes fan! I'm just goin' Ape with this!

Rating:
Summary: I'm Goin' Ape With This DVD!
Review: About six months ago, I bought the "Planet Of The Apes" box-set with the herald "sixth" disc, "Behind The Planet Of The Apes". So why did I also buy the new 2 Disc "Behind" version recently? Because it doesn't monkey around like the original "Behind" did! This version has the two-hour retrospective like the original, but so much more too! "Apes" N.A.T.O. presentation, more behind the scenes footage, extensive photo galleries, three totally different 1960's featurettes, the full complete E.G.Robinson screen test, and last but not least, an intimate rough-cut interview by Roddy McDowell himself, and it's over AN HOUR AND A HALF LONG! Along with brand new menus, totally different from the original disc, this is a must have for any Apes fan! I'm just goin' Ape with this!

Rating:
Summary: Go Ape!
Review: As a fan of the 1968 film starring Charlton Heston, a film school graduate, and a fan of the VHS documentary from '98 I was very anxious to see this new version. The 2 disc set has the original 127 minute documentary, hosted by the late Roddy Mcdowell as well as host of extras. For the most part, it serves fans of the films very well. There is a wealth of rare footage showing a lot of behind the scenes stuff not seen in the documentary. The best of that stuff is the full make-up test with Edward G. Robinson James Brolin and Heston. There are all 5 "apes" trailers, a National Association of Theater Owners "preview, outtakes, and dailies. Also included is an unedited or "raw" interview with McDowell that offers some nice tidbits and a unique perspective After watching all of this it reaffirmed my belief that Tim Burton's take on the PLANET OF THE APES is visually stunning. But it doesn't hold a dozen banannas to the original.film in terms of story or impact Anyone who sees the documentary will gain a new respect for all involved with the original film and its sequels

Rating:
Summary: More apes than before
Review: As stated before, the main feature (Behind the Planet of the Apes) is the same as that in the 30th Anniversary VHS and DVD sets, so nothing new here. But included are great extras, such as featurettes and previews (one even containing deleted footage) and the entire screen test as seen in the 'Behind ...' feature. There are also outtakes and dailies from the first film, though they contain no soundtrack so the score is played instead. All in all, some pretty darn good extras. The real treat is the full unedited Roddy McDowall interview which is almost 2 hours. The only problem with the set is that the feature which is the basis for the set was included with both the out of print and upcoming re-release of the dvd sets and by mail order from the vhs set. Thus, all the new features could have been put out on a single dvd. If the dvd set had been done right, all the extras (except maybe the full interview) could easily have been included earlier and it would have been even better. As it stands there's a great interview and over an hours worth of extras avaible nowhere else. The only reason I gave it four stars was I had to pay twice for something I already had just to get some great new stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Interview with Roddy Poorly Done
Review: Behind the Planet of the Apes has about every extra about the series even the most die-hard fan could ask for. But the interview on the second disk was awful. Some guy kept adjusting Roddy's mic. every few minutes, there was no editing so the footage was raw indeed. To make matters worse, the questions being posed to Roddy were all off camera and virtually inaudible; thanks guys.

Rating:
Summary: Good Behind the Scenes Stuff
Review: Behind the Planet of the Apes

Personally, I find behind the scenes documentaries about how films were made to be one of the more desirable extras found on DVD's. This two disc release from Image Entertainment consists of only such a documentary (none of the "Apes" series is included) but it is a good one. The disc looks to cash in on the interest in the classic "Apes" series created by the release of Tim Burton's remake of the film that started it all.

This release was first broadcast by American Movie Classics (AMC) and is hosted by the late Roddy McDowell who played "Cornelius". Included here is three plus hours of footage (in addition to the main documentary) that will be most welcome to fans of the series and a pleasant surprise to those like myself who are not that familiar with "Apes". All five films in the series are covered and trailers included for all. Also here is the 1967 North American Theatre Owners (NATO) presentation as well as a fascinating screen test featuring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson, who was originally tapped to play Heston's ape nemesis, but later bowed out due to health concerns. However, only diehard fans will appreciate the uncut interview footage with MCDowell, especially since the questions he is asked are mostly inaudible.

All in all, this will appeal to two groups of DVD fans-those that love the "Apes" series and those who love behind the scenes and "the making of" type documentaries. You may want to wait awhile as the price could come down after the buzz about Burton's remake wears off.

Rating:
Summary: So much better the second time around!
Review: I was pretty happy with the previous documentary only version of "Behind the Planet of the Apes" which came with the DVD Box set released a couple of years ago. This updated version just blows if off the map! So many great added features and footage, as others have said a treasure trove of behind the scenes information. The interview with Roddy McDowall on disk 2 is fantastic. his insight into the film and television series are riveting. He does tend to ramble off topic from time to time but the places he wanders into are even more fascinating than where the interviewers intended! Great stuff. He is such a gentleman throughout it makes the loss of him even more keenly felt. When the topic gets to the possibility of his appearing in a sequel it really makes one wonder what he would have thought of Tim Burton's incarnation, I kind of think he would have liked it from his comments. If you think you have this disc because you have the DVD box set, you are wrong.Stand up and BUY THIS DISK LIKE APES!

Rating:
Summary: So much better the second time around!
Review: I was pretty happy with the previous documentary only version of "Behind the Planet of the Apes" which came with the DVD Box set released a couple of years ago. This updated version just blows if off the map! So many great added features and footage, as others have said a treasure trove of behind the scenes information. The interview with Roddy McDowall on disk 2 is fantastic. his insight into the film and television series are riveting. He does tend to ramble off topic from time to time but the places he wanders into are even more fascinating than where the interviewers intended! Great stuff. He is such a gentleman throughout it makes the loss of him even more keenly felt. When the topic gets to the possibility of his appearing in a sequel it really makes one wonder what he would have thought of Tim Burton's incarnation, I kind of think he would have liked it from his comments. If you think you have this disc because you have the DVD box set, you are wrong.Stand up and BUY THIS DISK LIKE APES!