Fox invites you to go "Ape" once again-deluxe edition of films look really good-longer verby wtdk

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December 06, 2008: Fox once again invites fans to go "ape" with the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of all five of the films in the "Planet of the Apes" series. The good news is that we get exceptionally good looking transfers for all five films AND we get the extended "International cut" of "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" with its original more downbeat ending. Audio sounds quite good but keep in mind that this these films were shot and released anywhere from 40 to 33 years ago so they aren't going to sound like "Transformers".

For those that don't know the plot I'll give a brief synposis of all five films.

All the extras from the previously released DVD boxed set released about a year and half ago EXCEPT the live action TV series and animated TV series (both of which should have been included to make this definitive even if they were in standard definition). We also get new featurettes on each film and its production featuring the authors of PLANET OF THE APES REVISITED book among others. Additionally, we get a couple of vintage featurettes on the production of the films, stills galleries, isolated music tracks and an excellent commentary track on "Planet of the Apes" featuring a variety of the original cast (most of whom have passed away)and crew. Sadly, the three people that would have been most important to hear on the commentary track passed away quite some time ago--director Franklin J. Schaffner, producer Arthur Jacobs and writers Rod Serling & Michael Wilson. Still, its an intelligent and informative commentary track.

The most annoying and unnecessary extra here is the introduction by a poorly rendered CGI of "the Lawgiver" character that John Huston played in the fifth film "Battle for the Planet of the Apes". It's not that it's necessarily a BAD extra just that it is unnecessary. It is an example of a good idea at the time that clearly no one really had any idea as to how to use it effectively.

We also get a deluxe hardcover book which has plenty of terrific looking photos (some of which have never appeared in print before)and text giving us background on the production of the films. Additionally, the cardboard fold outs of the "box" have timeline for the films, where they fit and what occurs in each. ALthough the book is nice and the packaging makes good use of all the extra cardboard, fans will probably find this a bit cumersome to store with their other DVDs or Blu-rays. Additionally, the films are held in place in the set with little pieces of clear rubber that will eventually fail allowing the discs to float around inside and become damaged. Again, this is an example of a idea that seemed good on the surface but was poor in execution. I would have preferred to have one Blu-ray holder like we saw with "Blade Runner". This box could easily have been redesigned to hold that AND the book making better use of the extra space of this boxed set.

Overall, this is quite a nice set--the images are sharp and crisp for the films. The book is an excellent glimpse behind-the-scenes and the timeline welcome. Just the packaging for the films themselves is lacking and the box a bit too big and cumbersome.