Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

★★☆

Directed by: Don Taylor

Written by: Paul Dehn

So now I'm three down out of five, having watched Escape from the Planet of the Apes last night. Unlike Beneath, Escape is regarded as the best of all the Ape sequels.

The big difference with this one, is that unlike the first two films, it is set on present day Earth, not 2000 years into Earth's future. So for me that automatically sets it apart from the first two films, and in a way made it harder for me to relate and get into the film. The opening credits were done over a montage of the Apes arriving on Earth and being taken in by the humans. I felt that this trivialised the Apes arrival on Earth, making it feel as though it wasn't as ground breaking an event as it would be, if it really happened. Although this was mostly explained when it is shown that the humans didn't realise the Apes were intelligent and didn't necessarily think of them as aliens, because of the chimpanzee's that had previously been sent into space in space shuttles by NASA.

There was a point in the middle of the film, once Cornelius and Zira had become celebrities and were shopping for clothes, where everything seemed to become a little too comical. I sort of felt that these sequences undermined the more serious elements of the film, but they didn't last too long and the film soon moved on with the story.

There were definitely some great moments here as well. The scene where Dr. Lewis and Dr. Branton are testing the Apes and slowly realise how intelligent they are, has a quite a few laughs where you think to yourself; "oh if only they knew...". This scene feels very familiar to those in Planet of the Apes, when the Apes first realise that Taylor is intelligent. In a lot of ways the setting of Escape is the same as Plantet, just reversed. Intelligent humans among unsuspecting apes are replaced with intelligent apes among unsuspecting humans. The continuation of this scene, when Cornelius and Zira are put in front of the Presidential Commission, is very entertaining for the same reasons.

The film's climactic ending where Zira and Cornelius are dramatically gunned down, is also very effective, as a dying Zira crawls over to be with her dead husband.

Well, that's about all I've all got for now. Tune in next time!

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

★★☆

Directed by: Ted Post

Written by: Paul Dehn & Mort Abrahams

So I watched Beneath the Planet of the Apes last night. Although I believe it is critically regarded as one of the worst films in the series, I still enjoyed it, albeit not as as much as the first one, but it did still have some great moments.

One of these moments is when Cornelius and the gorilla army are marching on the Forbidden Zone. In an attempt to deter the apes, the mutants create horrific telepathic illusions of apes strung up and burning alive, as well as a gigantic statue of the Lawgiver who then bleeds from the eyes and mouth. Even though the visual effects used to created this sequence are very obviously outdated (sadly, you could tell they were quite proud of their superimposed flames that were WAY out of the scale with their surroundings), I still found this scene to be very effective. The fact that it was so dated gave it a very different feel to anything that could be created today (or at least, would be created today). Instead of horrifying the audience with it's visuals, which would be lost on today's audience, because of it's unrealistic, 'antique' look, it had a much more eerie feel to it, which I think was very effective, and for me, still made this sequence rather chilling.

Having said that, I did come close to having a mental breakdown when the mutant's singing scene just went on FOREVER. We get it, they have gross, mutant faces, and yet they are still capable of beautiful singing, just please, for the love of Lawgiver, CUT TO THE NEXT SCENE!

Here's a fun fact for you: the ending of Beneath the Planet of the Apes; having Taylor detonate the Doomsday bomb and destroy Earth, was Charlton Heston's (who played Taylor) idea, as he was reluctant to reprise his role in the film to begin with, agreeing to it only if his character died and destroyed the Earth, in hopes that would destroy any chance of more sequels being made. But of course it didn't, as I still have Escape from, Conquest of and Battle for the Planet of the Apes still to watch! And I have to say that I'm glad Charlton didn't have his way, as I am rather looking forward to watching them. So until then, bye, "you bloody bastards!"

Toy Story 3 (2010)

★★★★

Directed by: Lee Unkrich

Written by: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich & Michael Arndt

I saw Toy Story 3 last night with a group of friends and let me tell you, it was brilliant. It had so much heart, and while I didn't cry, I came closer than any 19 year old boy ever should, at quite a few moments throughout the film. *Spoilers* There was one part that, when the toys where facing what they thought was certain death, they all just stopped, looked at each and slowly joined hands one by one and waited for the inevitable. It was so touching, and also I think very mature in terms of the themes. Accepting your own death like that is a theme that goes far beyond a regular kinds movie. There a quite a few moments like in this film, although they did it well so that the more mature content would kind of drift over the younger viewers heads, while still being entertaining enough for them not to be bored or confused by it. I mean, they are just kids after all... The character of 'Big Baby' draws heavily from the stereotypical classic horror symbol of the creepy child's doll, and is another example of much more matured content, while not being too scary for the kids, but is enough for the adults to say "oh yes, I see what they are doing there, very clever".

The humour too was great in this film, again for children and adults alike. 'Ken' was a wonderful new addition to the Toy Story family, and the source of a lot of the film's humour, supplied mostly by the constant references to him possibly being gay; "I'm not a girls toy! Seriously, why do you guys keep saying that?". Buzz Lightyear's Spanish/crab dance to woo Jessie was another hilarious moment for me.

I should also note that I saw this films in 3D. Now I know there are those people that will be all; "3D is so silly and doesn't make any difference", but I think it was really cool, so there.

All of these things make Toy Story 3 a marvellous film, that I really enjoyed and really does appeal to ALL ages.

So stay tunes folks, more movies to come!

Planet of the Apes (1968)

★★★


Director: Franklin J. Schaffner

Writers: Michael Wilson & Rod Serling

Oh look. I put up the director and writers. Huh. That makes things slighting fancy and more professional-looking. Maybe that can be a regular thing that I do? Who knows, maybe it will take off. But probably not... it was kind of annoying to look it up on imdb.com and copy and paste the names... the lengths I go to...

But anyway, the actual film. Ok, so for whatever reason we decided to order the special collector's edition on blu-ray with all five of the films off the internet. It arrived yesterday and we promptly watched the first film; Planet of the Apes, that evening. I wasn't sure if the quality was actually going to be any better on blu-ray, seeing as it's so old, but I think it actually was. Not that I have bothered to compare the blu-ray to the dvd, because that would just be... well, lame... right?

I had seen it before, but not for six months or so, so I didn't remember too much of it which was good.

I don't need to tell you that Planet of the Apes is one of the greatest classic science fiction films, but I kind of just did, so there. But it really is. It's just such a cool idea.

Oh and just as a quick side note; I love science fiction. Like, a lot. Too much in fact. But hey, deal with it.

Although I suppose the credit for the idea shouldn't go the film, at least not completely, as the film was based on a book by French writer Pierre Boulle, called La planète des singes, written in 1963. It might interest you to know (I know it interested me, but that really isn't saying much) that there were some rather large differences between the film and the book, which I found out while watching the special features that came with the film. Naturally some spoilers will follow, so please don't read on if you haven't seen the film. But then again, if you haven't seen Planet of the Apes then you really shouldn't be here, as I hate you and you make me sick. It's a classic. Go see it. Geez, what the hell is wrong with you? Seriously?? But as I was saying. In the book, the ape society isn't primitive or suspiciously similar to Tatooine (Star Wars), like it is in the film. In the book the ape society is very futuristic and much more advanced than Earths' was. Now, prepare yourself for the other big difference... it wasn't Earth. The huge twist at the end of the film? Not from the book. Made up. Amazing none the less, and an iconic science fiction moment, but yeah, not how the book ended. I found that interesting.

Now I think that brings this post to an end. I hope you enjoyed and I hope that I can be bothered to come back and do it again when I see another film. I'll leave you with this insightful message: "Take your stinkin' paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"

An Introduction.

Hi there. How are you? Good? Great. Let's get started.

So the best case scenario here is that this will become a blog in which I will list (and talk about... briefly) the films that I watch, both new releases at the cinema and just what ever tickles my fancy at home on TV or DVD (or Blu-Ray. I LOVE the Blu-Ray). The worst case scenario on the other hand, is that I will rapidly lose interest, and this space will become a sad reminder of my pitiful attempt at committing to something. Either or.

So anyway. First up? Planet of the Apes. Which I watched last night. And will be posting about today. In a separate post from this one. Oh dear, everything is collapsing already... STAY TUNED!