Customer Reviews

Planet of the Apes Collection [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Now 20th Century Fox in an effort to gouge the fans some more have released "The Planet of the Apes" ultimate collection with deluxe Ape head packaging consisting of all the theatrical movies, TV series, animated series and Tim Burtons version. After considering the cost of the new ultimate collection the Evolution set is definitely a great value for any "Planet of the Apes" fan and a great place to start.

They used to have "Planet of the Apes" week on channel 7 out of Detroit and like any other kid I ran home from school everyday to watch them. I absolutely love the "Planet of the Apes" Evolution boxed set. You get all five "Planet of the Apes" movies plus a sixth bonus disc containing all the wonderful special features. It's all here except the superior picture and 5.1 digitally remastered sound found in the new Legacy box set.

The picture and sound are a definite improvement over any of the television broadcasts but they still don't compare to the Legacy set. I don't understand why 20th Century Fox Studios didn't take the time to remaster all the movies at the same time when they had the chance.

20th Century Fox have always had the ability to remaster these films, because the Legacy set is proof of what can be done. How many times can a studio release the same titles over and over and not make any improvements in picture & sound quality? If the ultimate picture and 5.1 sound are what you're after then I suggest holding out and purchasing the legacy set. I hope this review was helpful.

Films Included:

- Planet of the Apes (1968) - NASA astronaut (Charlton Heston) is stranded on a planet where apes dominate humans.

- Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) - continues the original film pitting militant apes against mutant humans dwelling in the subterranean ruins of New York City.

- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) - Cornelius and Zira travel backward in time restoring the dominance of the apes once again.

- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) - Roddy MCDowall plays Caesar, the son of Cornelius, leading an ape revolution against the humans.

- Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) - Roddy McDowall as Caesar attempts to defeat the gorillas and human mutants to establish the hierarchy introduced in the original film. This was the final film in the series.

{rant on} Why release in LETTERBOX instead of WIDESCREEN ANAMORPHIC? This is a great series, filmed in widescreen. It is unconscionable that anyone would opt for this restrictive format.

The issue is that with the LETTERBOX format, people with 16:9 TVs still see the black borders at the top and bottom of the screen and THEIR picture will be horribly distorted, while people with 4:3 aspect ratio TVs will see a nicely formed perspective correct image.

If this series were released as a Widescreen ANAMORPHIC, both TVs would see the film correctly - since the DVD player will create the borders for you. Those with 4:3 would see the black borders at the top and bottom, and those with 16:9 would see a full screen (if filmed at 1.77:1 or 1.85:1) or a very small black border if filmed at 2.35:1.

Nobody should be releasing movies in Widescreen Letterbox anymore, period. There's no excuse. They must release DVDs in WIDESCREEN ANAMORPHIC!

The world is not made of 4:3 aspect ratio televisions alone anymore! What other reason to buy a widescreen television, hmmmm?

Do not buy this DVD! Widescreen Letterbox.... Paahhhh! {rant off}

Shipped directly from Amazon, and I'm happy with the purchase. I wish that the dvd's were not individually contained in separate cases, other then that it is a very good series and i'm pleased with my purchase.

This is one of my favorites. I was thrilled to finally get it. I received it in perfect condition and in the time it was supposed to get to me. I'm truly happy.

A full-screen version of POTA on DVD? WHY? I thought DVD's main selling-point was WIDESCREEN! So now we get a full-screen version... okay ... what's next? Full-screen versions of the sequels? How about the cartoon show? How many ways can you milk an ape? Greed sucks.

Product reviewed: Planet of hte Apes: The Ultimate DVD Collection with Ape Head Packaging

Great set, of course, and a wonderful collectible case. For the fan and collector of POTA, there is little extra here. It is finally a treat to have an official release of the animated series "Return to the POTA" from 1975. Fans have been exchanging poor copies of this for years. The quality of the print was not cleaned up, so although the colour is clear, there are many artefacts visible on the screen. For a cleaner editions of Return to the POTA, see the indivually released 2-disc DVD set of 2006.

The only other advertised bonus here that was not present on previous releases on dvd were the TV spots for the live-action series. Unfortunately, there are NO TV SPOTS on these discs!! Inaccurate product description was misleading. So, the only new thing here is the animated series, nothing else.

This is a great movie series. The problem is that it tends to drag after the third movie. However, all, and all I do like this. It's very different from the book but good non the less. I recommend it to any one who has ever wondered what would happened if another creature ruled earth.

The first couple movies in this boxset are fantastic. Simply fantastic - they take you away to another world. Easy to follow, and they make you think...

However...the last 2 movies in the boxset are.....strange. Somewhat get off topic a bit - and are a bit hard to understand. Takes this far fetched idea...a bit too far fetched.

Essential to own though if you are a Planet of the Apes fan in the least...it's complete.

The first movie is odviously the best, followed by the second and then the Conquest/Battle series. Escape is goofy, but ties together the "astronaut sequence" and the "Heir to the Throne" sequence. That is incentive enough to watch all five in order(not all in a day of course). The two hour documentary is interesting, but not tiring and represents all of the movies, and is not the rediculous six-hour documenary/reality show with boring actors whining about how hard it was to make the movie, like most DVD sets. Lord of the Rings for example has six hours doc/reality drama per movie, I am now totally dis-enchanted with LotR, thanks alot, Jackson and team! With PoA I am totally more interested in the movies. Thanks Roddy McDowel(sincerely)Whining only constructively presant and not excessive. Peas and Carrots, never would've thought.

Okay, let's start this review by saying if you have not seen Tim Burtons version of Planet of the Apes... DO NOT SEE IT EVEN IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. IT HAS A HARD TO UNDERSTAND STORYLINE AND THE ENDING MAKES NO SENSE! Anyway, let's go back about 35 years ago when Charlton Heston was young and healthy, when the Planet of the Apes saga began with Planet of the Apes. Now here is a list of the films in this set:
Planet of the Apes- The Best in the series. Starring Charleton Heston as Taylor and Roddy Mcdowal(Did I spell that right?) as Corneleus. The ending us shocking and it is the only one the critics like.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes- Not as good as the first, but still excellent. Starring James Franciscus as Brent and our friend Charelton Heston as Taylor again.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes- The Best of the sequels and the last with original characters. Starring Mcdowall as Corneleus and Ricardo Montalban as Armondo.
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes- The revolt of the Apes is very well done. It's the only ape film rated PG. Starring Mcdowall as Corneleus's son Caeser and Ricardo Montalbon as Armando.
Battle for the Planet of the Apes- Sadly, the last of the series and another battle between the apes anf d humans. Starring Mcdowall as Ceaser again.
Behind the Planet of the Apes- a documentory for all the films. I haven't seen it, but my uncle said it was good.

So here are your options: 1. Buy this on DVD or video 2. rent them 3, Watch them on AMC.
Go Apes!!!!!!!!!!