Planet of the Apes Marathon

Recently I set myself the target to sit through the entire Planet of the Ape films. I swiped the DVD box set from the shelf and put on Planet of the Apes, slid into bed to shut off the World outside. I remember when the DVD box set was released. I received it as a Christmas present from my parents in 2001. I was only twelve and I was fanatical about the series. Nine years later and I thought it was about time to have a marathon of apes.

In Planet of the Apes (1968) I always found Charlten Heston appealing but always found that the men in the film didn’t look like men. I don’t know whether it was the terrible tans or the big thick beards. Maybe it’s just that men from the sixties in Hollywood had a totally different look to what we expect men to look like these days. The music is appalling; it doesn’t create an atmosphere just annoyance. But no one can forget the classic ending and the iconic image of the Statue of Liberty sunken in the sand.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) is tolerable yet it still has its problems. It seems rushed, does have some imagination but is not explored enough. The new man on the scene, Brent, is definitely better to look at than Heston, yet the plot seems to derive from the fact that Heston probably didn’t want to have much screen time? Therefore Heston bookends the film and has James Franciscus fill his shoes by repeating the same storyline.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), released only one year since Beneath the Planet of the Apes is totally pointless and incredibly rushed. There is no entertainment value and seeing apes attempt to live within a human society is rather dull and feels like I’m watching a strange version of Pretty Woman (1990). The best thing about this movie is it pieces together how talking apes came to exist as Zira has had her baby and left it with the circus.

Having been rather bored with this film I found it impossible for myself to put on the next two films. I failed my marathon sadly so I decided to put on Tim Burton’s remake instead, Planet of the Apes (2001). The acting is certainly better by the actors portraying the apes than the original – it certainly shows the development of acting within the last thirty years. I remember many people criticising this film to pieces. Yet I do believe it is a good movie apart from the casting choice of Leo (our alternative Taylor character) but then again I have never been a fan of Mark Wahlberg. A lot of people claim this movie didn’t need to be remade yet I believe if a filmmaker has the credibility to start making movies for themselves, then I say why not, if it flops at least it is something special at heart to the filmmaker. I certainly think that it was a good move for Burton because it enabled him to diverse from his usual gothic mise en scene and not cast Johnny Depp. Yet I would quite like to see this movie remade by someone like Danny Boyle to enable a deeper look at the psychology and emotional breakdown of the human character entering the Ape World.

The TOM HARDY Song

I met my favourite actor before Christmas - Tom Hardy It was a Christmas Present from my parents. They had secretly arranged it that I would meet him as they know Tom Hardy's friend. I had just finished a night shift and had officially been awake for 24 hours.

It was an amazing experience for me and as you can imagine I was rather emotional (I blame having no sleep) and the man is a gentleman. He even signed two of my DVDs, Wuthering Height and Bronson. So the performer in me decided to write a song about Tom Hardy.

My First Post

Hello Everyone,

I just want to leave a message before I start posting away with the movie reviews and youtube videos. I hope you all enjoy my blogs and consider subscribing to me on youtube :-)

Bring on 2010!

Leah xx