At the Movies with Kane and BN

[Kane52630]

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Wowey wow. Such an interesting series of events. The film starts as a lame generic copy of the first movie only they subbed out Charlton Heston for a younger version of himself minus any of his signature odd charisma. For the first half, it pretty much plays more into the anti-Vietnam War undertones of the story which kind of worked but it's not as subtle as they hoped. And then it goes into some Cold War commentary that would lead into what happens at the end. A lot of it felt kinda lackluster compared to the first movie and I thought the scenes with the apes weren't as well written. It doesn't get interesting until they discover the NYC ruins and then the story really loses its mind. Everything that dealt with the nuclear bomb and the telepaths with human masks was so out of left field that it felt like you were watching another episode of the Twilight Zone. The ending of this movie for me bumps this up a rating just on the sheer WTF-ness they were able to pull off because it's up there with some of the darkest endings to a movie I've ever seen. I'm actually so interested to see how they continue with this series because there's really nothing you can go from here.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

A fun uno reverse card on the original film by having Zira and Cornelius (and Milo) be the Taylor of this story. By having them travel back in time and escaping the events of the last film, it was pretty much the only way to go. It's funny because realistically and cynically, all the humans would have gone to the nuclear ET option where they would be experimented on the moment they showed up on shore, but that's not where the story takes us. The US council/commission scenes mirror the scenes with Taylor in the original film which was pretty interesting although sometimes played for laughs as if were a sitcom. Bradford Dillman and Natalie Trundy play the human friendlies of the cast where they eventually help them out and I thought they were just okay but kinda forgettable. Kim Hunter as Zira felt more like the main focal point of the story and I thought she did it pretty well as well as Roddy McDowall. Eric Braeden is probably the most interesting character of the movie who plays the antagonist much like Dr Zaius. There's also a fun Ricardo Montalbán performance as well. There is some commentary regarding abortion and a woman's choice that felt pretty apparent. The ending here remains to be also pretty bleak and horrific considering who they killed off but I can already see where it's headed and a certain name is probably going to be mentioned. Overall, I really dug this one through.
4/5

 

[chintai80]

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

A fun uno reverse card on the original film by having Zira and Cornelius (and Milo) be the Taylor of this story. By having them travel back in time and escaping the events of the last film, it was pretty much the only way to go. It's funny because realistically and cynically, all the humans would have gone to the nuclear ET option where they would be experimented on the moment they showed up on shore, but that's not where the story takes us. The US council/commission scenes mirror the scenes with Taylor in the original film which was pretty interesting although sometimes played for laughs as if were a sitcom. Bradford Dillman and Natalie Trundy play the human friendlies of the cast where they eventually help them out and I thought they were just okay but kinda forgettable. Kim Hunter as Zira felt more like the main focal point of the story and I thought she did it pretty well as well as Roddy McDowall. Eric Braeden is probably the most interesting character of the movie who plays the antagonist much like Dr Zaius. There's also a fun Ricardo Montalbán performance as well. There is some commentary regarding abortion and a woman's choice that felt pretty apparent. The ending here remains to be also pretty bleak and horrific considering who they killed off but I can already see where it's headed and a certain name is probably going to be mentioned. Overall, I really dug this one through.
4/5

for me, this one is the 2nd best film in the original series, after the first one with heston.

i very much enjoy all 5 of original films, and i love the franchise as a whole.

but this one had such a dark and bleak ending (it has such a visceral cruely to it), it really contrasted with the light-hearted tone of the first half of the film, so it almost catches you off guard with how it ends.

 

[Kane52630]

for me, this one is the 2nd best film in the original series, after the first one with heston.

i very much enjoy all 5 of original films, and i love the franchise as a whole.

but this one had such a dark and bleak ending (it has such a visceral cruely to it), it really contrasted with the light-hearted tone of the first half of the film, so it almost catches you off guard with how it ends.

Yeah with the way it ends, I'd love to see youtube reactors react to Escape and even Beneath. Jaws will most certainly drop. I just finished Conquest and I don't know which one is my second favorite after the original.

 

[Kane52630]

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

This Ceaser had that Koba in him.

A pretty damn well sequel that is very clear on its intentions and commentary on the race protest and riots of the 60s and early 70s. It's funny how this feels more in line with how it went years later in Rises but the meaning and intentions are very different. While I think they could have added a few more scenes of Ceasar's character development early on and given him more scenes where he interacts with the other apes, this was a pretty great performance by Roddy McDowall and maybe his best of the previous three movies as an actor. And a lot of the time they gave some more screen time to Ricardo Montalbán, Don Murray, and Hari Rhodes, who were all great. The makeup and prosthetics are probably at their very best here and they do a good job moving their mouths. J. Lee Thompson, who was originally supposed to direct the original 68 movie, is here as the director and it's incredibly well-shot and directed. They do a great job showcasing the visual language of the apes vs the humans and the obvious undertones of Nazi Germany whenever they go to the scenes with the futuristic government of the 90s. And funny enough, the set design looks similar to the Empire in Star Wars which I'm sure it's no coincidence that Lucas definitely saw this movie. Overall, I really dug it and I think it edges out the last film by a little bit.
4/5

 

[chintai80]

Yeah with the way it ends, I'd love to see youtube reactors react to Escape and even Beneath. Jaws will most certainly drop. I just finished Conquest and I don't know which one is my second favorite after the original.

conquest was great too!
it's like terminator, where you can't really stop judgement day...you either speed it up or delay it.

lot of people consider battle of the planet of the apes as the weakest, but i still liked it, even when you can tell the studio cut the budget for it haha.

the whole POTA franchise, both the original and new series, are an example of when storytelling and characters are given priority.

 

[Kane52630]

conquest was great too!
it's like terminator, where you can't really stop judgement day...you either speed it up or delay it.

lot of people consider battle of the planet of the apes as the weakest, but i still liked it, even when you can tell the studio cut the budget for it haha.

the whole POTA franchise, both the original and new series, are an example of when storytelling and characters are given priority.

I do find it interesting how the storytelling of the original series so far is always based on an allegoric take on current events of the time whereas the new trilogy/series is more based on a more biblical and Shakespearean style of storytelling and more about the hero's journey.