I Love/Hate "Rise of the Planet of the Apes".

Cracker Funk

Cracker Funk

For a long time, I was skeptical, to say the least. I mean, Tim Burton's remake was almost painful to watch. That really put a sour taste in my mouth.

But I have to admit, this trailer looks pretty F-ing awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28Z_D9Grh18

Yeah-yeah-yeah, I know that a trailer is a highly-manipulative marketing tool, and not really an indication of the quality of the movie, but c'mon -- you gotta admit this movie looks pretty sweet!

But here's the problem I see -- this looks like a straight-forward Sci-Fi Action-Thriller. Completely different than the original, which was of course highly politically-charged. Sure, maybe they'll throw in some token Jurrassic-Park-esque brief commentary about how we shouldn't play God, or something, but I highly doubt this new movie will come anywhere close to the original, in terms of social commentary.

The final image of the original is iconic not just because it was like finding out that Bruce Willis is actually dead, but because it was a major indictment against the political structure of the time. It meant something!

So, while this new re-boot may end up being a fun thrill-ride, I worry that it may lead to an entire generation completely misunderstanding what this series was about in the first place.

So, here's my plea, to all you young'ens out there: If you're a fan of Sci-Fi, I'm sure you're looking forward to this re-boot, as am I. But if you haven't seen the original, put it on your to-do list, and be open to the idea that this new movie will probably have absolutely NOTHING to do with the original (except for the whole non-human-apes-ruling-the-world-thing).
 
Watched the original series and it was great, and I also think that this new film will be nothing similar to the original, but honestly, it looks sooo awesome
 
Looks like a joke to me. The CGI is terrible, and why even use CGI? Dressing people up as the apes worked perfectly in both previous films of the same name.

The story doesn't even correlate with the original. I'm not excited about this at all, I'm just going to laugh bitterly at the people who are. :grumpy:
 
As long as someone calls them 'dirty apes' at some point during the film I'll be happy enough. The music sounds good and it has Draco Freakin' Malfoy in it...

But I've got to agree that some of the CGI looks a little ropey...
 
I dunno, I think the CGI looks damn near flawless. Obviously, it's not fair for me to put words in your mouth, I'm only speculating here, but I'm thinking it's possible that you're turned off by the CGI because they anthropomorphized the facial expressions of the chimp -- gave him muscle movements that we normally only see in humans. Which wouldn't make any sense -- even if you could somehow cause a chimps' brain to rapidly expand, it would still have the same muscle and bone structure. That's a detail minor enough, though, that I'm not gonna let it bug me.

harpsichoid, have you seen the latest episode of South Park? I think it rather apropos.
 
Yay! I looked at the trailer a little bit ago and was cautiously stoked about it too. Oh...when I was child (cue that Floyd song) I was bonkers for all things Planet of the Apes. I'm pretty old.

I'm sure your suspicions will be confirmed. Oh God, here I'm gonna go and be the millionth person to make this bitch, but it's probably just another example of Hollywood mining a great classic like the original Planet of the Apes to what?, play it safe?, because they're just not very interested in fresher edgy contemporary stories? I just looked it up. The original was released in 1968. Maybe it's because this is not 1968.

From the trailer, I agree that the VFX look good, if not excellant.

How could you beat that ending with that reveal and with Charlton Heston's classic, breast beating line.

I thought Burton's was okay. It had some cool things. I hope this is even better.
 
I've been looking forward to this for a while, but the trailers have put me of somewhat.

I just don't see how this story can tie in with the original, I just don't think it'll work. I mean, this looks as if it's set in present day (which does make sense) but are we supposed to believe that Charlton Heston and his crew have already been sent into space? And the way the apes are developed, doesn't sit well with me. In the original (during the movie, before the big reveal at the end) we never questioned why the humans had devolved so greatly, to me, this trailer digs up these questions and makes them even more unanswerable...

My biggest gripe with the whole thing though, is the title. What was wrong with "Rise of the Apes"? I find the addition of "Planet of the" really annoying. It's a mouthful now, it was much better before.

Still, I'll be watching, fingers crossed for a good movie!
 
Off subject, but didn't 2001 LOSE the Oscar for best costume design or makeup to Planet of The Apes because the people who voted didn't realize the apes in 2001 were human actors?
 
It might be the anthropomorphized faces or whatever but I saw the trailer on a massive screen before Super 8 yesterday and, for a second, some of the CGI looked like video game cut screens.

That said- they've got Andy Serkis as Caesar so the mo cap will probably be awesome. Is it Weta doing the effects?
 
I was totally uninterested in the first remake. And I'm totally ininterested in this one. The

originals were made during a time of social unrest in this country, which Cracker already

mentioned, and had a valid message. Honestly I can only see this movie as being another

doomsday/zombie type movie with a decent budget. I will watch it just to make sure my

Netflix subscription is earning its way.:)
 
Looks interesting, but I think this will wait for the DVD Rental (unless I have netflix by then :) )

Cool to hear about Andy S though, he's a great mo-cap actor (is there such a category? ;) )
 
UC, now that you mention it, I agree, the original could've made a really tight short (though I'll cherish the 1968 version, regardless).

Nick, I hope you're enjoying your Westward trek! Yes, this is a Weta project (says so in the trailer). I originally caught this trailer in front of "X-Men", then again at "Super 8". On both occasions, I heard a few random chuckles and snickers around me. I think this one probably won't reach a real wide audience, but I think Sci-Fi nerds will flock to it.

Oh, almost forgot to mention another side-note. I was trying to watch the original last night. Not streaming on Netflix; resorted to looking for it on youtube (you'd be surprised how much copyright-infringed stuff is on youtube). Yep, it's on there, but the audio-quality was so piss-poor I just couldn't take it, and gave up. Decided to find something legit on Netflix instant queue.

Anyway, because I had just gone on my rant about Sci Fi that serves as political and/or social commentary/satire, my Netflix browsing landed me on "They Live".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJC4R1uXDaE

Oh, my God, how have I gone so long without seeing this movie?! It's a total B-movie with horrible acting, and a political message that is (though I agree with it) sometimes way too in-your-face and kinda preachy. Nevertheless, it's a really fun movie, and some of the satire is spot-on perfect!
 
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I cherish the original, too, but I cherish Serling's work on TZ more. Somewhere on Youtube exists a great little edit of the original Planet of The Apes done as a 20 minute Twilight Zone episode, down to the titles, making it black and white, adding the TZ theme and maybe even some Jerry Goldsmith or Bernard Hermann music. There might even be a Serling-esque voiceover. It's really brilliant. And it proves some ideas might be better suited to shorter formats.

I first saw it HEAVILY abridged on Super 8!
 
Uranium City said:
I cherish the original, too, but I cherish Serling's work on TZ more. Somewhere on Youtube exists a great little edit of the original Planet of The Apes done as a 20 minute Twilight Zone episode, down to the titles, making it black and white, adding the TZ theme and maybe even some Jerry Goldsmith or Bernard Hermann music. There might even be a Serling-esque voiceover. It's really brilliant. And it proves some ideas might be better suited to shorter formats.
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That sounds really cool. I just searched for it, but the only one I could find has been removed, due to copyright infringement (at least the first two parts, anyway). It reminded me, however, of another fan-made edit that I've been wanting to see. "Star Wars Episode 1.1: The Phantom Edit" is on youtube, in it's entirety.
 
harpsichoid said:
why even use CGI? Dressing people up as the apes worked perfectly in both previous films of the same name.
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because even today, the mouth movements are incredibly limited and the CGI trades quality of look for performance.... a decision that I agree with, although no one said everyone had to.

It's a matter of preference, not right or wrong. CGI allows a lot more control for the nuance and subtle facial controls that are absolutely unavailable in any kind of prosthetics, especially hairy ape-like ones that have non-human proportions.


harpsichoid said:
The story doesn't even correlate with the original.
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That's because it's a remake of CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, the 4th movie in the series, not the original.
 
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