Review of Planet Of The Apes: Special Edition

Introduction

Apes. Lots of Apes. Apes that speak English and wear clothes. Sound familiar? Yes, it`s Planet of the Apes by Tim Burton.

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Clarke Duncan amongst others, this is the remaking of the 1968 classic. Although it is billed in some places as a remake, it cannot really lay claim to that, as it is more a different interpretation of the idea or theme. It`s certainly an all star cast as well as a top director, so this should be an exciting and gripping film.

We shall see.

Video

The aspect ration is 2.35:1 and is anamorphic. It is also superb.

The scenes of the space station, whilst being very reminiscent of Star Trek TNG or any other modern sci-fi show, are stunning. The station is defined beautifully against the dark depths of space, and the scenes inside are just as good.

The colours are pin sharp and there is not a hint of noise or any kind of interference to the picture.

The same can be said for the scenes set on the Apes planet, although the jungle scenes do seem at first to be of a lower quality to the prior action, once you start to look and take in the detail you will be impressed.

This is an excellent demonstration of what DVD can produce in the home theatre.

Audio

The disc has the option of either DTS or DD5.1 audio tracks. I initially chose to watch the film in DTS mode, as that is my personal preference.

I also re-watched certain scenes in DD5.1 to get a feel for the difference, if any, in the tracks.

I found them to be equally as involving as each other with DTS being a little more dramatic in times of high drama.

The front soundstage is used to good effect with both speech and the excellent score moving from side to side. The rears are used less than I expected and I found myself waiting for some action from behind, but you begin to realise that this is a very subtle and carefully mixed soundtrack that does encompass you right from the word go, you`re just not totally aware of it.

Features

This 2 disc set is that rare and much sought after beast in Region 2 land, a disc that is blessed with extras. There are plenty of them too.

The menu system is very entertaining, with plenty of angry chimps in funny outfits making a noise. The animations are nicely complementary to the film.

Disc 1, which contains to movie, has an enhanced viewing mode attached to it. Now, this confused me at first. The blurb says that it takes you behind the scenes as you watch the film. I was still a little confused as to how this would work, so there was only one thing for it, watch the film again but this time in enhanced mode.

I didn`t make it to the end. I didn`t make it to the end of chapter 2.

When the section of behind the scenes footage arrives, it is located in a picture in picture box, that a lot of the time obscures the action. Also, the sound is muted down from the main film and directed towards the small box so there are two soundtracks playing.

This may just be acceptable, but the really annoying thing is that this causes the sound on the main film to become disjointed from the lips of the actors and it is extremely hard to concentrate on the behind the scenes footage when your waiting for the actors words and lips to match up again.

Apart from that little niggle, the rest of the extras are excellent. There are too many to list in a review, but they are listed in the disc specs. Suffice to say, if there`s anything you wanted to know about this film, it`s probably somewhere in the multitude of extras on the second disc.

More of the same please!

Conclusion

This film has taken some knocks and criticism since it was released and in some respects I can see why. It is definitely not a remake of the original as too many parts are missing, although Carleton Heston in an uncredited role as an Ape is a nice touch. This is also a big failing of the film as there are several places where parts of the original have been incorporated but don`t work that well, one of Hestons pieces is a good example.

For all that it`s an entertaining film and is a pleasure to watch in a technical perspective, but be prepared to feel a little short-changed at the end. Speaking of the ending, you`ll have to make your own mind up on that one, as it`s got me beat.

This is an excellent 2-disc set that will show off your system well. The acting`s good, the direction is also good, but the script, well, personal taste has me reaching for the original every time.