Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall star in this legendary science fiction masterpiece. Astronaut Taylor crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist. The "Planet Of The Apes: 40-Year Evolution" includes "Planet Of The Apes: 40th Anniversary Edition", "Beneath The Planet Of The Apes", "Escape From The Planet Of The Apes", "Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes" and "Battle For The Planet Of The Apes".

It is amazing to see how popular this film series became. The first film was good but I never thought it was groundbreaking enough to spawn the series that it did. The follow-ups were of varying quality with some approaching the level of the first film (Conquest and Escape come to mind), while some were almost embarrassingly bad (Beneath the Planet of the Apes). Still as a whole this is a very effective sci-fi series that not only incorporates some universal messages but also showed some of the turmoil facing the country during the time these films were made. Fox has done a tremendous job with this Blu-ray set and it would make a great present under the tree for any fan of the series.

The HD video presentations were far better than I was expecting. I haven’t seen these films in some time and I think the last memory I had was some cable viewings that weren’t in high definition. The first film looked the best to me overall but the others weren’t far behind. The prints are in excellent condition and detail and depth is solid. You will notice some occasional softness from the filming style but it is never distracting. Print wear is rarely an issue but I saw some occasion noise in some of the later films. Contrast levels are strong and dimensionality is excellent for the most part. By far the best I’ve seen any of these films look.

All of the films get DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks but most sound about average overall. These are older films and the sound design has a dated feel. Dynamic range is a bit limited and the soundtracks can be on the bright side at times. Dialogue sounds slightly thin but imaging is excellent across the main channels. Surround usage is good but a bit gimmicky at times. Low bass extension is a bit disappointing for the most part and the upper end seems a bit pushed at times giving some of the material a tinny sound. Most of this is a product of the age of the films though and wasn’t very intrusive.

The 40-Year Evolution set comes in a very nice book style package that slips out of a case and each film gets a general breakdown of features and timeline. There is also a great book included that sheds light on the history of the series and is full of great pictures from the films and production. The first film is definitely the highlight here. You are greeted by a CG ape that gives you a overview of the supplements before the main menu pops up. This disc features a picture-in-picture feature that gives you some space history, speculation on the fate of earth and information on the themes of the film. Feature commentaries and interviews are also included along with some deleted scenes. A game is also included and gives you the opportunity to play some trivia about the film. The rest of the films have some production features of varying quality, trailers and some deleted scenes. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes features both the theatrical and unrated cuts as does Battle for the Planet of the Apes. All in all a very complete package for fans.

Fox has done a tremendous job with this special edition set. Fans of the films will be more than happy with the A/V presentations and the breadth of the supplements. One of the better special edition sets I’ve seen on the format yet!