Scifi Collectibles, Science Fiction Discounts

Reviews

The year was 1968. The five Oscar nominated films for Best Score were "The Thomas Crown Affair" by Michel Legrand, "The Fox" by Lalo Schifrin, "The Shoes of the Fisherman" by Alex North, "Planet of the Apes" by Jerry Goldsmith, and "The Lion in Winter" by John Barry. Legrand was nominated thirteen times, won a total of three Oscars, but not in 1968. Schifrin was nominated six times, but never won the Oscar. Alex North, Jerry Goldsmith great mentor and friend, was nominated fifteen times without ever winning the little gold statuette. He was finally awarded a unique special Oscar in 1985 "in recognition of his brilliant artistry in the creation of memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures." Jerry Goldsmith was nominated eighteen times and won just once, for "The Omen". The winner for 1968 was John Barry for "The Lion in Winter". Out of seven career nominations, he won four Oscars. So why did I decide to bore you with all this minutia? My way of pointing out that there was a time, not so terribly long ago, that film scoring as an art form offered, year in and year out, an embarrassment of riches. While there are still fine composers in film today, the emphasis is much different now. We won't see a year like 1968 again, and I, for one, think we are the lesser for it.

Jerry Goldsmith's musical accompaniment to The Planet of the Apes is so magnificent it is almost other-worldly. If you like the music in this movie you must check out director Akira Kurosawa's two movies: Yojimbo and Sanjuro. The music is similar and the same jarring, but beautiful percussion is woven throughout. When I first watched those movies I thought that they shamefully copied Goldsmith, but then I realized that Planet of the Apes came after, so it is very possible he was in fact inspired by them.

Jerry Goldsmith has a lot of credits in his movie music, but this is one of his finest works. It is so original and unique, but seems to fit the movie like one is no good without the other. Listening to the first few numbers give you goose bumps,especially the way he uses the instruments to project the mood. It is a triumphant piece of work,and I recommend this CD for all to discover. Thank You R.F.

I'm sure other reviews will discuss instrumentation, so I'll pass on that one. I will just tell you that I this score was so impressive that I loved it EVEN when the only version I'd ever known of was the trebly Project 3 release which only featured about 25 minutes of music. Acquiring this full-length release is absolute confirmation. Who could've ever thought that experimental "cacophony" and melody could be cross-bred to create something so appealing and instantly memorable? You'll find after listening to it once that, upon the next listening, you remember the themes. A Goldsmith classic, and truly THE turning point in film score history!

I enjoy this sound track. It's fast past most of the time and the music is by Jerry Goldsmith. This is the original movie and Escape music. Not the newer one with Mark in it.This sound track is more filling and is more simple. It's orchestra through the whole thing and the music is very powerful.

Reviews

If you are a guano apes fan, then you will love this album.

I could easily be writing this review about any of the band's albums since this IS a greatest hits collection. Of the band's three albums of original material here's the breakdown: Walking on A Thin Line is by far their strongest and best material. The second disc, Don't Give Me Names is also an exceptionally strong album that you can play from start to finish. Only their first disc, Proud Like A God, has some relative clunkers on it. That disc does have two of their most famous tracks (Lords of the Boards and Open Your Eyes...which was a minor radio success in the U.S. in 1997). Forgive the uneveness of the first disc due to youthful experimentation and an attempt at four very different musical personalities trying to make something they could all agree on. This is an underappreciated and definitely overlooked band in America. Only their first disc is available via a U.S. distribution company. Don't Give Me Name was yanked by RCA in America on the eve of the distribution citing the "don't hear a single" nonsense. Let's not forget that the band, under contract with BMG in the rest of the world, had something like four or five hits of that album in Europe and won Mtv Europe awards etc. So, that's really a bunch of BS. This band was lost in the shuffle of the big companies like RCA having to restructure and clean administrative house. This wasn't "the band" to new execs who had no relationship with them and they were told to try again with the next album. That would be the third and best CD which was hugely successful once again in Germany and certain European markets. But still no release here. How do I know all this? Well, I was a journalist working for a major rock magazine at the time Don't Give Me Names came out and am a big supporter of the band. I have no doubt that if even half the budget being spent on promoting Lacuna Coil (whom I also like, though a very different band) or the crap like Nightwish and Evanescence, Guano Apes would definitely had a solid market over here with several radio hits. They did sell 150,000 units of the first disc here with almost zero press and publicity budget. That means with a little effort, the band could have worked here. I was trying to push this band in that female void after No Doubt basically broke up. The record companies wouldn't hear of it...then suddenly Evanescence breaks and it's a whole different story. Too bad the band was well on its way to breaking up at that point. I flew over to see their farewell tour in Germany in Feb. 2005. Absolutely great people with still more to say as a band musically, but the relationships between Sandra and the band are probably not mendable at this time. Who's to say what could happen if Sandra's new CD (due out later this year 2006) flops, but honestly, I am not expecting it to. She told me personally her album will be a rock album. It will be interesting to see what her vision is. She truly is a dynamic performer with the best female ROCK voice I've ever heard. She is hard to define as she candle most any style, but when she let's it go, she's ferocious! I would love to hear some new guitar music from Henning (guitarist), but nothing is on the horizon seriously at this time. If you're a fan of early Incubus, Red Hot Chili Peppers with some 80's type melodies infused with seriously rocking riffs spread over with serious female vocals, this is the band for you. They are fun and talented, somewhat twisted and quirky. Think of a much more fun and heavier No Doubt. I have never met anyone I've played them for that said they didn't like them, and that's pretty impressive. Too bad the U.S. record companies dropped the ball on this one. And shame on BMG too for forcing the band to find U.S. distribution deals outside of BMG rather than partnering with Sony (remember the merger a few years back) at the time of the third album to try again in the States with this band...then again...you've got to want it too. A starcrossed band with plenty to still offer. Start with this one and work your way back. Enjoy!

These guys and (lady)were doing some fantastic work starting in 1996 with "Open Your Eyes", an amazingly intense, uplifting song about facing the little (and BIG)lies we live with and tell ourselves. The greatest hits album does cover a lot of sonic territory. I've heard the Guano Apes described as a heavier version of "No Doubt", and there is some similarity on a few songs ("Open Your Eyes" is unlike ANYTHING else I've heard out there - Queensryche meets Evanescence meets Ice Cube - hehe). So if you like heavier music, this will be a good album. Their debut album, "Proud Like a God", is also very good. The second track there entitled "Maria" is one of my favorite songs, but does NOT appear on the Greatest Hits CD.

I have nine Guano Apes CD's. This collection certainly has the cream of the crop. I do wish there were just three tunes that would have appeared on this "Best Of" collection, "Heaven", "Storm" & "Sugar Skin". I have an unusually wide spectrum of musical interest. I LOVE "Quality" wherever it may be found. My collection also includes, Tapping The Vein, Die Happy & Lacuna Coil. I even like The Lords Of Acid once in awhile. But as of late, Whenever I feel the need for un-leashed raw female power in expression, I reach for this single CD, or better put "CD of Singles". This one Frosts My Cake.

I have nine Guano Apes CD's. This collection certainly has the cream of the crop. I do wish there were just three tunes that would have appeared on this "Best Of" collection, "Heaven", "Storm" & "Sugar Skin". I have an unusually wide spectrum of musical interest. I LOVE "Quality" wherever it may be found. My collection includes, Tapping The Vein, Die Happy & Lacuna Coil. I even like The Lords Of Acid once in awhile. But as of late, Whenever I feel the need for un-leashed raw female power in expression, I reach for this single CD, or better put "CD of Singles". This one Frosts My Cake.

Reviews

This sounds like nothing else I've run across on this continent. Not that I've heard anything on another continent. Don't get out much. But this makes me want to. The techno track is dope as hell too. So quit reading this, you damn dirty human...and go buy it. You won't regret the movement it'll put in your primordial soul.

First of all, this CD is rather different from previous Elfman/Burton projects. It is very loud, percussive, bombastic, and clangy. Second of all, this CD takes the loud, bombastic tracks, and mixes them with Elfman's original fun style. The result is an extremely creative and fun CD to listen to. It is dark and loud sometimes, but mixed with Elfman's manic style, this CD is the one of the most unique soundtracks of all time.

Unlike the actual film, Danny Elfman's composition for the new Planet of the Apes is repetitive, unimaginative and most of all mind-numbingly dull. Elfman, best known for his dark, gloomy and brooding contributions to such Tim Burton flicks as Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands, seems to have his hands full trying to recapture the melodramatic spectacle of Jerry Goldsmith's classic 1968 soundtrack, so much so that his "tribute" to him in the "Main Title Deconstruction" seems nothing more than a blatant rip-off of Goldsmith's mysterious masterpiece. At the same time, Elfman also tries to recreate the gripping tension of his Batman pieces and seems to invoke a composition that is brutal as it is unrelenting, but turns out to be, on the other hand, nothing more than melody-challenged. While not a total disaster (the opening main titles is an instant pleaser), the album does suffer from boredom, and deafening boredom at that. We've come to expect more from such a highly rated composer. That said, probably the most enjoyable track on the CD isn't by Elfman, but by DJ king and sometime film composer Paul Oakenfeld (soundtrack composer for the Travolta vehicle Swordfish), who wraps up the soundtrack with a mix of music and dialogue from the film that seems to recall sounds executed by the Chemical Brothers on the Fight Club score. Despite Oakenfeld's excellent salvage, the Planet of the Apes soundtrack isn't even worth the plastic it was recorded on.

I hadn't seen the movie when I bought the soundtrack. Once again, the evocative music inspired me to see the movie when it came out on DVD.How to describe this composition? I think it struck a chord in my primate heritage. It is stirring, hitting your primal instincts with the visceral percussion at times. Yet it is shamelessly erotic in the very next movement. It can invoke tears of empathy, while in another passage you almost want to join in the militaristic cadence.It's fun stuff, moving, and another Elfman score...(tiresome pun intended.)

Danny Elfman gave all of us the most haunting and compelling score of all of his career. It amazing and percussive and cool, for lack of a better word. Danny Elfman is a friggin' genius and he will always live through his amazing scores. Goldsmith gave us the sparing score. The "Main Titles" of his is very mysterious and Danny's is hard and gritty, very reminiscent of "Batman", with the huge gong at the end. I loved it.

Reviews

A survivor of a spaceship crash named Taylor (Charlton Heston from THE OMEGA MAN and SOYLENT GREEN) finds himself in a world of intelligent, fully socialized apes. The ape society has three classes or groups- The gorillas are the military group, chimpanzees are the scientists, and the orangutans are the religious / political leaders. In this evolution-gone-mad morality tale, Taylor must resist those apes who consider him a threat to their society, politics, and religious beliefs. This is classic stuff, w/ a twist ending that remains unparalleled...

Adapted from Pierre Boulle's 1963 French novel, director Franklin Schaffner's Planet of the Apes stars Charlton Heston as a "spaceman" named Taylor, who, along with two other astronauts, finds himself on a mysterious planet run by intellectual apes. After eventually escaping the confines of the apes' prison, which still holds one of his earthly companions captive (the other is the local museum's latest addition), he ventures out into the planet's uncharted parts, where he makes a dire discovery that will make your stomach churn. Planet of the Apes is a time-standing masterpiece of sociological complexities that gleams with on-screen beauty, lavish sets, brilliant costumes (which garnered an Oscar nod in '69), and enough action to appease a popcorn-movie hound. It is considered a vital piece of the sci-fi movement and preceded four sequels and a remake in 2001, none of which compares to its ingenuity. Still, none of the aforementioned qualities amount to its mind-blowing conclusion, one of the most eerie endings in film history.

Considering how old this is it is really amazing to see this in blu-ray. Fabulous soundtrack !! And of course the story and message(s) are timeless. Can't go wrong with this if you are a thinking person.

Great movie for the period. I am a Heston fan, He carries the movie for the most part. I recommend this to anyone.

First of all, if you can find it, you should buy this two-disk edition (the one with the silver cover), rather than the edition that seems to be more ubiquitous on Amazon: Planet of the Apes, since that one doesn't have all the goodies this has. Unfortunately, I think the two-disk one is going out of print. As for the movie itself, I don't think I'll be watching it again: I know you're supposed to suspend your disbelief before you pop in a movie like this, but watching it in middle age, I couldn't get around the plot holes. They were simply too enormous. Sure, I know it's a classic movie and all. And sure, when I was a teenager this really fired my imagination. But this time around, the only thing I marveled at was how hoodwinked I had been before at such second-rate entertainment. In this case, the plot-hole that triggered my dissatisfaction was the fact that Heston wasn't struck at all by the fact that the apes spoke English. At least in Boulle's book, they spoke another language which he slowly had to learn. I know that sounds like a minor matter, but once you start to notice that, a whole lot of other things seem to go wrong, until the point where you're just rolling your eyes instead of taking the movie on its own merits. Another thing that seemed completely off was the direction: think of the crashing-to-earth scene. I realize they had a limited budget, but that has got to be some of the most inept direction I've ever seen.

Reviews

"Escape From The Planet Of The Apes" is part of the the classic SciFi movie series begun with the great "Planet Of The Apes". Three "apes" arrive in the pop culture America of 1973 (?) from a future where apes are the dominant and intellectually superior species, able to communicate by spoken language (English), and humans are as beasts. Upon their escape, they witness the destruction of the earth due to a weapon of warfare created by humans and used by apes. This film provides a thematic bridge in the movie series, but also stands on its own. It is both comic and tragic. It is notable for trotting out the social and political concerns as defined by the pop media of the period in a heavy-handed way and trivializing them with humor at the same time. The great thing about this film is that it gives one numerous themes to consider. It is serious and rich with meaning while at the same time campy and fun and ultimately tragic. Among the interesting ideas presented are: - submission to God's will... - danger of political zealotry... - ends justifying the means... - analogy between "apes" and the negroid race... - trumping of absolute truth by majority vote... - modesty in dress vs. exhibitionism... - pacifism vs. just use of violence... - use of animals... - truth telling and omission... ...and on and on The film is a great vehicle for discussion and a definite candidate for repeated viewing. Sure, the ape costumes are rather silly, but so what; we know they are not real apes anyway. Last, but certainly not least, is the great, great, great musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. Wow! Good plot, interesting characters, campy humor, serious themes, great music, action; what's not to like?

Now it's the apes who can talk in a human society as three of them fly to the United States from Earth's far future. An interesting story, it uses the only two likeable characters from Ape City to deal with humanity. Lots of laughs and social barbs but not one of the best of the series. The plot device that gets the apes to the past is pretty weak too. A must-see though, if you've watched the other movies.

This installment in the POTA series is not as child friendly as some reviewers would have you believe. Despite the lighthearted scenes of Zira speaking for the first time to the unexpected, the presidential inquiry, and the apes tour of the city. This movie has a serious and sometimes grim tone with a sad and tragic ending that may upset some children. I would recommend that you watch this in it's entirety first before you decide if this is suitable for your children. There is no nudity or profanity, so it's safe in that respect. I saw this for the first time when I was roughly 13 years old and the ending traumatized me to no end. I may have been a little extra sensetive then, but to this day I can not forgive Eric Braeden. He played the part of Otto Hasslein too well.

I wasted good money going to see the remake of Planet of the Apes, so I decided I needed to watch the original movie. I bought the whole collection and stayed up all night 'just like I did when I was a teenager', to watch them all in a row. The special effects are not up to today's standards that's true, but the story line doesnt get lost in today's political correctness like the remake did. I enjoyed them very, very much.

OK, None of the sequels measure up to the original, but this is the best of the sequels. It is done with some humor as it should be, because at this point the whole plot is skating on very thin ice! The movie is funny, tragically sad and interesting, just don't think about it too long afterwards. I am a fan of the series and I'm being generous with my rating. The DVD transfer looks great. If your a fan of the series you want them all!

Reviews

Even though Charlton Heston is only in BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES for a few minutes, it's still a good movie w/ an interesting story. James Franciscus plays the astronaut following Heston's character, and he is introduced to a surviving cult of mutated humans living underground. These odd folks have psychic abilities and a "god" that looks all too familiar and is definitely dangerous! BTPOTA is a near masterpiece and a nice follow-up to the original...

Two millennia hence, there is a barren planet which has at least one small area of fertile land. To the east lies an ocean. On the landward side, it is surrounded by an endless wasteland known as the Forbidden Zone. Living in this paradise are apes and humans. The apes are the dominant life form; the humans are second bananas. These humans have lost the capacity of speech. They are uncivilized. There lives are short, not because of disease, but because the apes are hunting them to extinction. The burgeoning simian society is made up of three classes. There are the gorillas; their main activity is to hunt humans. Those not killed are used for research and target practice. Their General sent scouts into the Forbidden Zone; only one came back. Then there are the chimpanzees; they are the intellectuals, scientists, and veterinarians. Although the gorilla's believe there is nothing to be learned by studying humans, they do allow the chimpanzees to examine and experiment on them. And lastly, there are the baboons; they are the administrators. Most prominent, Doctor Zaius is the Minister of Science and The Chief Defender of the Faith. He is privy to secret scrolls that, if revealed, would expose the truth about man and destroy the apes age of innocence. In the first movie, Taylor's starship crashes; he is captured, but then escapes with Nova into the Forbidden Zone. In this sequel, Brent is sent to rescue Taylor, but his starship also crashes. He meets Nova; she has Taylor's dog tags dangling around her neck. Where's Taylor? Why, somewhere in the Forbidden Zone, of course! If you have not seen the first move: 'The Planet of the Apes', you should watch it before watching this sequel. Picture: outstanding. No cropping. Sound: good. Volume: typical.

Not a bad sequel, and one of the better films of the film series. It goes in unseen directions, not previously explored. Later, when Tim Burton remade the original, it didn't have what the the earlier version contained, namely, originality.

If you can check off most of the following then you definitely need to buy Beneath the Planet of the Apes! Do you enjoy Mutants living underneath the earth that use telepathy to torture the beans out of everybody Mutants with burned faces that cover them up with rubber masks Mutants that worship an active nuclear warhead inside of a church Dialogue like: "Glory be to the bomb and the holy fall-out" Mutants, talking apes, sexy mute cave women, James Franciscus AND Chuck Heston all together.... oh yeah, and armageddon! Then, for crying out loud, what's not to love about this movie!! This is a typical 70's sci-fi treat....dark, antiheroes, grim view of the human race, apocalyptic, bizarre, and bold. I'm a big "Apes" fan. Great movies mostly. I like the first two movies the best. I hope you like this one, too. I have great memories of seeing this movie as a young kid on Action Theater on local TV at noon on Saturdays. Fun fare...

Version: U.S.A / Region A / FOX Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / BD+ / High Profile 4.1 Running time: 1:34:42 Movie size: 26,71 GB Disc size: 32,32 GB Total bit rate: 37.61 Mbps Average video bit rate: 28.99 Mbps DTS-HD Master Audio English 3193 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3193 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio English 2422 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2422 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps Dolby Digital Audio French 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / Dolby Surround Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps Subtitles: English SDH / Chinese / French / Korean / Spanish Number of chapters: 24 #From Alpha to Omega: Building a Sequel (HD - 22m:10s) #Galleries are next -- The Ape News, Interactive Pressbook, Advertising, Lobby Cards, and Behind-the-Scenes #Theatrical trailer (480p - 3m:10s) #D-Box enabled

Reviews

The movies are good, but the features are so-so. The accompanying book has some interesting parts, but overall I could live without it.

Got this as a gold box special for $50 for a friend who spent New Year's eve watching a Planet of the Apes marathon. I think and hope he likes it! Great price for Blu Ray!

Great package & price apart from the small bad production with the disk holders (which i knew about from previous reviews & could live with) These get easier to remove after removing them a few times, a lovely package & nice transfer to blu ray. No complaints just think you self lucky to have this set available as you could not get this set in New Zealand & was over the moon to see them available on Amazon as a new customer.

Love the first and last movies and saw most other places were selling this for over $100 bucks. I spent half that here at amazon. Blue ray treatment is amazing and I nearly forgot about the monkey's paw in the last one. Spent a Saturday and aped out on the couch. I would suggest that only fans of this series invest in this collection. Not for the casual fan.

This was the perfect gift for my partner who enjoyed these movies as a child! Sure, the "packaging" is cumbersome but it's loaded with great info! Best price available too!

Reviews

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE EMPLOYED THERE FOR THIER EXCELLENT SERVICE. I RECEIVED THIS SET OF DVD'S IN TOP CONDITION. THE PRICE,OF THIS DVD SET,WAS VERY LOW WHEN I COMPARED THEM TO OTHER STORES. I RECEIVED THEM VERY FAST EVEN THOUGH I CHOSE STANDARD DELIVERY

My wife also ordered this for me from my Christmas wish list. I have enjoyed watching it. I am glad to add it to my collection of dvd's. It arrived before Christmas but was not opened until Christmas Eve. I enjoy watching movies over and over and over again.

stumbled upon this wonderful set like new (flawless) in a buy , sell and trade store here in certal florida . only 15.00 bucks . man what a deal . "PLANET" gets ***** out of ***** from me . classic stuff . "BENEATH" i'd lob **** out of ***** . nearly as much fun . "ESCAPE" would cop **** out of ***** here . love that goofy stuff and unforgiving ending . "CONQUEST" gets ***1/2 out of ***** from me . good will , KHAN and fond memories of ape violence . "BATTLE" i'd award *** out of ***** . for having the stones to put PAUL WILLIAMS and JOHN HUSTON in prosthetics . the "DOCU" receives ***** out of ***** because of RODDY narrative and length and interesting content . if you're of a certain age (say 45 and up) and you're a sci-fi fan , you pretty much need this collection as sort of a membership to the pre-CG-WHY fan club . you know you belong . don't let 'um wow you with their 200 million dollar + budgets . this is the strait dope . mainline it .

Husband was very pleased with this dvd, Great gift for anyone who likes these movies. 5 stars

While the first is still the best, all the others are just as fun to watch. It's great to see how many times the writers could go back and forth in time to come up with the next movie. And at the price of the box set each movie is a bargain so grab the set and have an ape fest!

Reviews

I said to the, like, 20-year-old behind the counter at the video store, "Even Marky Mark and his funky bunch of astronauts - in white briefs with their pants around their ankles no less - couldn't jazz this one up." He stared at me vacantly. So then I said, "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you." "Uh, strangely enough, actually I do," he mumbled. "Really!" I said, hopefully. "Yeah, um... I think my mom told me." "Oh," I said weakly, "Your... your MOM?!?" "Yeah, she's always telling me stories from the old days. I think she was trying to discredit Mark Wahlberg or something because she thought I thought he was cool." "I see," I said, realizing that for this kid, stories of Marky Mark blooming out of his trousers in the late 1980s were like teepee-fire tales of Hiawatha, and all the deeds of the Old Ones, spiraling downward through the evening twilight even as the pale gray smoke spirals up into the slate blue of evening, in the days that are forgotten. One day all memory of the deeds of the faint beforetime will be gone from this vast black universe - all memory of the fact that there was once a tiny blue marble, and on this marble there was a land, and in the land there was a town, and in the town there was Marky Mark with his pants down.

was in very,very good condition. It the Best planet of the apes that has ever came out!

An astronaut trying to retrieve a monkey in space ends up landing on a planet inhabited by talking human-like apes. Leo Davidson finds himself captured by the apes and placed in a cage with other humans. All the apes take this same 'human hating' attitude, with the exception of one. A kind, female ape called Ari sees something different in these humans, and plans to help them in whatever they need to do. The story the, direction equals perfect. I could not dream of a better movie to see. It was quiet unique about the story about how he traveled in time. And the end, it was quiet interasting how this movie ended, too. When it's good, it comes to being great.

This film is simply good entertainment, it is interesting, and the acting enjoyable, definately superior to the originals, however, the character interaction is not as well choreographed as the some of the originals were. This movie is worth watching for those afectionados that new the originals.

I like the way the apes and ape city were done. the story line could have gone on a little bit longer. the main reason i got the dvd was because of the apes. now if i just figure out how to get heston in the dvd it will be a great movie. even without him it was a good movie.

Reviews

This kit is my favorite, a highly detailed base, I dry-brushed mine, this one was fun to do. One of the few kits that STILL bear the Aurora logo on the box. These from this series are a must have if you collect old models. Paint & glue not included.

Reviews

I love the original movie with Charleston Heston! So, I will not share my views (which are not necessary) on the remake with Marky Mark. The book is dated in certain expressions and descriptions. But, overall it is a good story. I did find the amount of violence and technology to be above what was visualized onscreen. Nova 's role was more significant than the theatrical version. Nova was more subdued and less interesting than in the book. I wish they would have kept the first time Taylor discovers Nova! I won 't spoil it. But, it is engaging when read! I did feel that the end was surprising and yet cheated at the same time. I would have felt better if the end was unknown or left to the reader 's imagination. But, it is worth reading and I am glad I own it. GET YOUR STINKIN PAWS/HANDS ON THIS BOOK AND READ IT!

I never liked the movie, except for the statue of liberty scene at the end, which isn't even in the book. I'd hoped the book might be better, but I found it equally uninteresting. French astronauts surrender to the ape society. Wake me when it's over.

This book reminds me a great deal of "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, in that it should be read as a satire on society. Humans have always considered themselves to be the pinnacle of natural development, yet Boulle turns this around by having the humans ultimately loosing out to the other primate classes of chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. Once these primates replace the humans as the dominant species, those primates consider themselves and their planet to be the center of the universe. Humans rapidly devolve into wild and mindless creatures, hunted by the gorillas for sport and the subject of horrific experiments performed on their bodies. This is an obvious and effective statement against the use of primates in medical experiments, especially when the goal is to deliberately damage the body in order to observe the results. If you try to take this story literally, then you will find it bordering on the absurd. However, if you consider it social satire and commentary wrapped up in a science fiction story, then the message is powerful and significant, for it is a strong criticism of the human perception of perpetual greatness and planetary dominance.

This is a very well-written book that astonishes my mind. I had first seen the movie before I read the book and it is amzing to me what the writers of it came up with. A world where apes ruled over humans is just amzing to me. In fact, I would be suprised if there were any other kinds of species that ruled humans on any other planet. Reading the book about apes who were more technologicaly advanced and knowledgable than humans is just amzing to me.

I loved the book. I was surprised at how closely the movie adaptations had stayed true to Boulle's original concept. Also so note worthy is the wonderful translation from French to English that manages to keep in tact the authors wit and charm. The novel reflects our ethical and moral short comings in satirical fashion, which were the critical elements that made the movies so memorable. I highly recommend this book, for its time, it is truly an original piece of work.

Reviews

For any devoted POTA fan this is a must have book. Rich Handley has taken great care in creating a timeline that is both immensely readable and thorough. Including artwork from the various comics, novels, and movies over the years, this book includes every detail of the POTA saga and helps to clear up a lot of the questions fans may have had over the years regarding the various plots and sub-plots. Reading it made me want to go back and experience the films and the books again.

I am a long time Planet of the Apes fan. But like most fans, I have always had difficulty figuring in the timeline of all the incarnations of the saga. So I picked up this book. I was originally going to rate this book low. But after personally speaking to the author, I understand what is in here and why. Though dedicated to the franchise as I am, I never read the comic books or the novels (aside from the novelizations of the animated series and some movies), and was unaware of what else was out there. And believe me, there are strange things out there. A lot of corporations who own properties like this are picky on what gets included into the mythos they created. I know Star Trek has a pretty hard nosed guidline as to what can be written and considered cannon. It seems that is not the case in Planet of the Apes. Some of the stuff I read in this book sounds more like fan fiction than licensed product. But all that aside, I commend the author for taking all this stuff, licensed and okayed by Fox, and put it into a logical, though at times inconsistant, timeline. The book is layed out that if you come across a section you don't agree with, you can skip to the entries you are more familiar with, and it helps explain a lot of questions you may have about the films and why certain things were done. So if you are a Planet of the Apes fan, and you don't mind some interesting twists on our beloved saga, I recommend the book. The three star rating is not based on how it was written but on the amazement felt when reading some of the stuff he had to be shaped into the timeline. And he deserves plenty of credit for that. Get the book, read what you like, and enjoy.

A must-own for not only POTA fans, but fans of timelines and of massive universes. This is a fantastic and exhaustive effort, beautifully organized and designed, with loads of facts and information. Highly recommended!

Rich Handley's Timeline of the Planet of the Apes is a magnificent labor of love. He's taken on the staggering task of trying to make sense out of the jumble of contradictory facts and figures -- not to mention temporal paradoxes -- in the five original movies, the live-action and animated TV series, Tim Burton's remake, and more, presenting a fascinating chronology of humanity's downfall, the rise of the apes, and the ultimate fate of our planet. The book is gorgeously designed, handsomely printed, copiously annotated, and more fun than -- you guessed it! -- a barrel of monkeys. Highly recommended.

This is a work of immense scholarship, encompassing all the various POTA films, TV series and offshoots, like the comics, Power Records and novelizations. The breadth and depth of the book is just staggering. This is the must-have reference book for all POTA fans. The cover art gallery, alone, is worth the cover price.