Planet of the Apes
Rule the planet with this thrilling, action-packed epic from legendary director Tim Burton (Sleep Hollow, Batman).
After a spectacular crash-landing on an uncharted planet, brash astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) finds himself trapped in a savage world where talking apes dominate the human race. Desperate to find a way home, Leo must evade the invincible gorilla army led by ruthless General Thade (Tim Roth) and his most trusted warrior, Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan). Now the pulse-pounding race is on to reach a sacred temple that may hold the shocking secrets of mankind's past- and the last hope for its salvation!
Member Reviews
another average reimaging of a classic - liquidpearl
i really dig this adventurous remake of the charleston heston classic but the ending on this one SUCKED BIG TIME. mark wahlberg rocked in this one. whatever happened to the luminous estella warren these days? the ending is where it's at for most POTA movies and this one was preposterous.Very Good, Original Story - revsdd
This movies deserves a rating of 8 just for the surprise twist at the end, about which I will say no more.
I hadn't really been expecting that much from this when I rented the video; I rather thought that the "Apes" franchise had been done to death back in the late 60's - early 70's, with a collection of movies and a TV series that went progressively downhill and became more nonsensical with each installment. But I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie, which was very entertaining and - if I recall correctly (although it's been many years since I read it) is more consistent with the story of Pierre Bouille's original novel). So, my advice is that if you're either avoiding this or watching it because you expect it to be like the "Apes" movies of thirty years ago, plan to watch it on its own merits instead.
The cast was in general very good. Mark Wahlberg did a fine job as the astronaut Leo Davidson, stranded on this nightmare of a planet (for him) with no obvious way of getting home. Tim Roth as his primary ape antagonist, General Thade, was also very good. I had a mixture of reactions to Helena Bonham Carter's role as Ari, the human-loving ape. Her performance was quite good, but, frankly, I found her character to be rather irritating. It's a necessary role. We have to see these divisions in ape society, but the character just didn't appeal to me in the same way as, say, Cornelius and Zera did in the original movie. I also thought the ape makeup was rather weak. Frankly, they did a better job thirty years ago.
But those minor criticisms aside, I really did enjoy this movie. It was a fast-paced story that held my attention, there was enough humour to make it fun, and enough drama to make me wonder how Davidson was ever going to get out of this. And - as I said at the start - the end itself is worth watching the whole movie.I wish there would have been a sequel - Charlie_Brown
I saw this movie originally, and just watched it again. I am a big Tim Burton fan, and for me this movie doesn't dissappoint. I know that this was a movie that didn't do as well as hoped, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this film.
The costumes and effects were terrific, as were the actors. I felt the script was a little weak at points, but overall good.
Member Reviews
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another average reimaging of a classic - liquidpearl
i really dig this adventurous remake of the charleston heston classic but the ending on this one SUCKED BIG TIME. mark wahlberg rocked in this one. whatever happened to the luminous estella warren these days? the ending is where it's at for most POTA movies ...Very Good, Original Story - revsdd
This movies deserves a rating of 8 just for the surprise twist at the end, about which I will say no more.
I hadn't really been expecting that much from this when I rented the video; I rather thought that the "Apes" franchise had been done to death ...I wish there would have been a sequel - Charlie_Brown
I saw this movie originally, and just watched it again. I am a big Tim Burton fan, and for me this movie doesn't dissappoint. I know that this was a movie that didn't do as well as hoped, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this film.
The costumes and ...