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Showing posts with the label Planet of the Apes

Dave's DVD Dungeon | Part 4

After the Conquest comes the battle... apparently. Battle for the Planet of the Apes  is exactly what you expect to happen when a movie franchise isn't allowed to come to an end with dignity, grace, and at the right time. The proverbial horse has been flogged, left to rot, picked at by vultures, lost to the sands of time, and now archaeologists have uncovered what's left of its fossilised remains. Not only is it a terrible movie, it's a horrible way for such a ground-breaking franchise to end. Granted there has been a gradual decline since the first movie, but it really feels like we fell off a cliff with this one. Although the opposite has to be said about the make-up effects, which were brilliant to begin with and have only gotten better with each subsequent movie. Unsurprisingly, Roddy McDowall continues to be the shining light of the franchise - more so than ever in this rather sub-par entry. His performance as Caesar is excellent. Seeing the son of Zira and Cornelius s

Dave's DVD Dungeon | Part 3

So we escaped from the Planet of the Apes, and now all the dogs and cats are dead. Anyone remember that scene in Back to the Future Part 2  where Doc Brown talks about the timeline skewing into a tangent? Yeah, that sprung to mind a lot while watching Conquest of the Planet of the Apes . This is definitely the start of an alternate timeline, and the point where the franchise begins to take a swan dive. Believe me, those two things are not mutually exclusive. But 1991 looks very different in this timeline. I mean, some highly evolved chimpanzees show up in  a spacecraft NASA launched a while back and all of a sudden you've got "a galaxy far, far away" on Earth. Maybe the dogs and cats have distracted us so much over the centuries they've hindered our advancement. Without them we could enjoy a life that includes energy shield doors, fancy interrogation methods, extreme yet uniformed tailoring, and ape servants. Of course we'd also have to live in a Nazi-like police

Dave's DVD Dungeon | Part 2

We've returned to the Planet of the Apes, only to escape it. After the rather disappointing Beneath the Planet of the Apes  things take a considerable step up with Escape from the Planet of the Apes ! Which is odd given that from here on out the franchise takes on a more 'made for TV movie' aesthetic. The fact that by this point the filmmakers were operating on a much lower budget is apparent, and yet, Escape  is the best of the sequels, by far. Not only is it very entertaining, it's also thought-provoking. We are presented with an entirely new scenario. One that allows for a much deeper examination of humanity's flaws, as well as its strengths. Escape  is very much a movie of two halves. After the opening scene the first half can be quite light-hearted. Even silly, at times. Everything from the zoo to the hotel, the shopping trip and the prize fight. Not to mention the Top Secret CIA base that's not disguised in any way and is clearly a government installation.

Dave's DVD Dungeon | Part 1

Return to the Planet of the Apes ... movies. Recently a buddy of mine - his name is Dave, which may or may not become apparent - began talking about rewatching the classic Planet of the Apes  movies. Naturally I was interested, not only because I hadn't seen them all, but also because I can't turn down the opportunity for a movie marathon. Quite the revelation (that last one), I know. Anyway, that's how Dave's DVD Dungeon  came to be, and no movie is safe. Dave and I decided to kick things off with a double feature - not one Planet of the Apes  movie, but two. Two movies from the same place, yet wildly different. Even by today's standards  Planet of the Apes  is groundbreaking - somehow forward thinking and very much of its time, all at once - and like many groundbreaking movies it spawned a litany of sequels. Some better than others. Thankfully however, this doesn't take anything away from the genius of the original. Hilariously it all begins with a decidedly 6

War for the Planet of the Apes | Average Guy Movie Review

Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his clan are in the fight for their lives when a Colonel - in what's left of the US Military - takes it upon himself to wipe out all of the apes. Still struggling with the events that started the war and what happened to Koba, Caesar is just trying to protect his own. But after a devastating surprise attack by the Colonel (Woody Harrelson), Caesar and his closest friends find themselves on a mission of vengeance. Along the way they will meet new friends 'Bad Ape' (Steve Zahn) and a mute human girl (Amiah Miller). Director Matt Reeves second instalment in the reboot trilogy sees Andy Serkis back in the motion capture suit delivering yet another breath taking performance. It is incredible to see how far Weta Digital have come with the motion capture technology. Through Rise, Dawn and now War we've seen incredible leaps in the imagery and the look of the apes. Watching the apes travel from the forest up into the mountains through the sn