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Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection [Blu-ray] [1968] [US Import]

4.5 out of 5 stars 164 customer reviews

3 used from Â£50.84

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Product details

  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
  • Dubbed: French, Spanish
  • Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 2.35:1
  • Number of discs: 5
  • Classification: Unrated (US MPAA rating. See details.)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (164 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B001G7PX80
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 249,529 in DVD & Blu-ray (See Top 100 in DVD & Blu-ray)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

Format: DVD
Franklin J. Schaffner's original Planet of the Apes is in a class of its own - superb, serious filmmaking with an incredibly strong script which manages to encompass everything from the creationist/evolutionist debate to the Hollywood blacklist (all five films feature heavy presences from blacklist victims both in front of and behind the cameras). And John Chambers' make-up is still quite miraculous, convincingly simian while still retaining much of the identity of the players underneath the masks. Unfortunately, the edition in this 6-disc boxed set misses the excellent extras from the later 2-disc DVD edition.

Unlike the Star Trek films, this is one franchise where the odd `numbered' films are better than the `evens.' Beneath the Planet of the Apes suffers heavily from the loss of writers Michael Wilson and Rod Serling, and perhaps more so from Schaffner's replacement with talented but often uninspired journeyman Ted Post. The first half hour is a rushed recap of the first film, with Charlton Heston-lite James Franciscus taking the lead to little effect. There are interesting jabs at Vietnam era America - peace protesting chimps, militaristic rabble rousing gorillas - and civil rights - Thomas Gomez's prayer is actually a KKK blessing - but it lacks the wit, character or detail of its predecessor. Heston's insistence on no more sequels (or so he thought) also adds a somewhat needlessly nihilistic ending.

Much better by far is Escape From the Planet of the Apes, which is when Paul Dehn really took over the series by proxy and created the mythology which would see it through to the short-lived TV series. Roddy McDowall may get top billing, but it's actually Kim Hunter who easily dominates the film, and it's a wonderfully imaginative and witty inversion of the original.
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Format: Blu-ray
It's a grat package of a (mostly) classic series of films. The image quailty is great, the audio quality is reasonable for films of this vintage and the extras are pretty impressive.

The inclusion of the original cut of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is fabulous, as it turns what was a fairly downbeat and drab film into one that is brutal and uncompromising, complete with vicious ending - doing what sci-fi does best in taking contemporary issues (with Conquest, it was the race riots and civil rights movement) and showing them in an alternate setting, but resonating with an audience on multiple levels.

It's a real pity that due to whatever reason (it's supposedly copyright issues), the extended version of Battle for the Planet of the Apes has not been included in this set, despite being available in the US box-set. Many of the extra scenes are minor, but the absence of a couple of major scenes that tie in with Beneath the Planet of the Apes and bring the series full-circle really hurt the film; these inclusions make it slightly more adult in tone, raising it above the frothy kiddie film that it ultimately became.

The set is very good, but without the extended Battle... it fails to be great.
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Format: Blu-ray Verified Purchase
Whilst I sympathise with some of the hardcore fans not getting the full package that the US got...all I`m bothered about are the films. These are the best they`ve ever looked and at this current price an absolute steal.

The set comes in a normal blu-ray case, slightly fatter than normal to house all 5 discs. Personally I`ll take this any day over some fancy packaging that takes up half my shelf. The first film remains an absolute classic and the transfer is beautiful. The other 4 don`t come close but are all fun to watch and there are bags of extras for each.

So yeah, no book, no fancy case and just the deleted scenes for Battle instead of an extra cut. Sure it would have been nice to get all that, and it sucks we`ve been short changed compared to the States...but I`m reviewing what I`ve got...not what I haven`t. £23 for all 5 films on blu-ray? That`s worth 5 stars.
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Format: DVD
this box set is a treasure for fans of the original series. In my opinion, the 2001 tim burton re-make wasn't all that bad, but this set wins hands down! What you get are five films, plus a fantastic 2 hour documentary disc hosted by roddy mcdowell who plays cornelius in the films. The five films also have five different storylines, none of this repetiveness you see in horror film sequels to name but one. In the first, charlton heston plays taylor, the astronaut stranded on the ape planet who befriends two chimp scientists who helps him escape, only for taylor to discover something truly dreadful at the films' climax. The second film 'beneath the planet of the apes' follows a similar story, only this time featuring a different astronaut sent to rescue taylor who encounters a gang of mutant humans living deep in the bowels of the planet who worship an atomic bomb as their god. the third film features the two scientist chimps, zira and cornelius as they travel back in time to the planet earth and are initially treated as celebrities before a dreadful piece of news regarding zira's unborn baby forces them to go on the run. the fourth film "conquest of the planet of the apes" shows how the apes took control from man and chronicles the beginning of the ape reign, and finally "battle for the planet of the apes" is the final showdown in a nuclear wasted world. overall, a fantastic box set, and although there's not much on discs 1-5, disc 6 and the incredible indepth look at the series is more than worth it.
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