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Based on Pierre Boulle's intriguing source novella "Monkey Planet," the original Planet Of the Apes was a fantastical, action-filled allegory that actually had something to say, albeit overtly, about race relations in 1960's America. Flashforward to 2001, and we have all the ingredients on the table for a great remake that, finally, may also have a brain rattling around somewhere inside its head. Replicating the basic structure of the original film in its setup, our intrepid pilot Mark Wahlberg takes off from a damaged space station in search of his monkey (don't ask), and ends up on some sort of parallel planet where the apes are in charge and the humans mere pond scum. Fair enough, and why mess with a successful formula, right? But then it all starts to go awry...

To be fair, it is easy to see all the great possibilities here and why a remake would be an attractive proposition. But aside from great new ape makeups from Rick Baker and Burton's typical visual excesses, no new subtext is introduced into the material. Why update Apes now? Sure, the apes look nifty and so does the planet, but just what is the point of this film? After a flat first act, Wahlberg's introduction to the apes is so fast that we barely have time to get our bearings before we're plunged into this alternate, and admittedly fascinating, universe. But with such a weak first act and no time to really get to know the characters, the finale becomes so ludicrous as to be cringe-inducing. And believe what you've heard about the now-infamous "surprise" denouncement. Where the original was a masterstroke that totally threw the preceding 100- odd minutes into a whole new perspective, this "reimaging" smacks of desperation, a tacked-on attempt to set up a sequel with nary a nod towards plausibility or common sense.

It may sound like I'm being exceptionally harsh towards Planet Of The Apes. To be sure, there is a lot of fun to be had here. While Wahlberg delivers what is likely his worst performance ever as a lead actor, Helena Bonham Carter thankfully balances the pyrotechnics with genuine emotion and pathos, and Tim Roth is all aggression as ape leader Thade. I also enjoyed Burton's humor and respect for the culture and customs of the ape world, and Baker's effects are again extraordinary. But, against all odds, this reimaging of Planet Of the Apes becomes just another assembly-line action flick with little of anything genuine to say. More fun than a barrel of monkeys? Sadly, no.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Presented in what appears to be 2.20:1 anamorphic widescreen, this transfer is a stunner. The overall depth and three-dimensionality is a joy to behold and offers a breathtaking image rare on DVD. Throw out your old demo discs... do we have a new champion here?

The source elements are impeccable, with nary a blemish or imperfection to be found. As you would hope for in a Burton film, blacks are rich and pure and color reproduction reference-quality. Aside from the bright interiors of the opening space station sequences, the film is largely awash in dark-hued but vibrant primary colors, a myriad of crimson reds, jungle greens and midnight blues. Colors are striking in their stability with no trace of color bleed, noise or inconsistency. Contrast is also excellent with shadow delineation strong even in the darkest scenes. Detail is also beautiful, with a sense of depth unrivaled by even the best of DVD transfers currently our there.

If there is any nitpicking to do, it may be in the sharpness of the transfer. Indeed, 95% of the time it is terrific, but a few shots (especially near the climax) appear a tad bit soft. While edge enhancement is thankfully next to nil, I noticed a few compression artifacts in solid backgrounds, but it is very slight and depending on your player, might not even be apparent. But my over-analysis aside, this is a reference- caliber transfer that is likely to be first-choice DVD demo material for years to come.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

Presented in both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround tracks, this is also a very impressive aural presentation. Certainly, as state-of- the-art soundtracks go, this is up there with the best of them in terms of fidelity and dynamic range. It's powerful, clear, distinct and free from audible anomalies, with dialogue perfectly reproduced and balanced with the music and effects. The front soundstage is also very well mixed, with the score and effects filling up the front three speakers and dialogue anchored firmly in the center channel. The .1 LFE is also as strong as you would hope for in such a big action spectacle, with thumping bass that will likely move your couch around if you crank it up to high!

However, aside from some clever use of surround and ambient effects, I was a bit surprised that the mix is so front heavy. Perhaps most disappointing is the music, which aside from a bit of bleed to rears, is largely confined to the front (though the LFE really adds greatly to Danny Elfman's fine compositions.) Dialogue is properly placed at the front, with just a few select ape effects directed to the rears. Pans and imaging is fine, though aside from some of the more aggressive passages, I found this a bit lacking in terms of envelopment.

Comparing the DTS and Dolby tracks produced minor differences. The DTS track may have had a slightly fuller sound, especially interms of the score, and bass was a bit tighter. But the surrounds still lacked the punch I hoped for on either track, with imaging more transparent so I slightly preferred the DTS track. But either mix is a fun ride, though I still hoped it would have been more aggressive.

Also included is a Spanish 2.0 surround track and English subtitles and Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Another in Fox's growing line of two-disc wonders, Planet Of The Apes is loaded with extras that, for once, are actually fun and enlightening. And remarkable for a DVD these days, I actually found myself far more entertained and stimulated by the extras than the main feature, so kudos must go to DVD producer David Prior for a great job. (Another story, however are the fully animated, visually sleek menus. While I loved the visual look of the screens and the animation, the 360-degree navigation is a bit obnoxious and the constant segueways redundant. But, they sure do look great!)

Anyway, let's get to the goodies. Starting with disc one, aside from the main feature we have no less than three alternate viewing options. First up is the screen-specific audio commentary with Tim Burton. Alright, Burton's voice and speaking style is not for everyone (as Helena Bonham Carter recently said, "Tim is the king of run-on sentences") but what I wanted to know was, would Burton finally speak out on all the controversy surrounding the rushed production of the film? Unfortunately, not really. Burton is cordial if honest about what he could and couldn't do on the film, and is appreciative of his great crew and cast. While a bit slow with long gaps of silence (Burton has been honest that he doesn't feel he is all that great at recording commentaries) this still is a pretty good track, and I was gratified that at least Burton touched upon some of the themes and ideas that stimulated him in revisiting Apes, and this wasn't all pure technical claptrap. And, I was intrigued to find out, Burton is actually scared of apes, ranking them up there on the fear-o-meter with Santa Claus!

Next up is an isolated score with sporadic commentary by composer Danny Elfman. Since the full score was never made available on CD (only a single disc release with about half the cues was released) this is a real boon to collectors. The majority of the track is filled with the music in 2.0, with relatively sparse comments from Elfman edited into the gaps of silence. Elfman has always been an intelligent guy, as clearly evidenced by his commentaries on discs like Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, so it is great to hear from him once again and music fans should love this.

Last but not least we have the Enhanced Viewing Option. Sort of a hybrid of "Follow the White Rabbit" and the "visual commentaries" a la The Goonies or Glory, this is an interesting amalgam. Switch on this option, and throughout the film two things will happen. Either a weird ape symbol will pop up prompting you to hit "Enter" on your remote, which then takes you to various featurette clips (usually 3 to 5 minutes, and I counted five clips total.) Or, at alternate intervals, instead of the symbol actual video boxes will appear featuring various actors and tech crew discussing the particular scene in question. These boxes alternate position and the interview audio replaces the film soundtrack, and also last around 3 to 5 minutes a pop. While neat, I guess it may be frustrating that the only way you can view this added-value material is by sitting and watching the whole film again (unless you are really clever with your remote's "Title" function), so it would have been nice to have been able to view this material via a traditional menu option. But the interviews, especially with the supporting cast, are quite interesting so this is still worth searching out.

Moving on to disc 2, here you'll find tons of goodies that really truly delivers hours of fun. (Multimedia preview: Behind-the-scenes clips; menu preview.) Divided into six sections, let's start with The Making Of The Apes, which houses seven new making-of featurettes - "Simian Academy" (22 minutes), "Face Like A Monkey" (29 minutes), "Ape Couture" (8 minutes), "Chimp Symphony, Op. 37" (9 minutes), "On Location: Lake Powell" (12 minutes), "Swinging From The Trees" (9 minutes), and "Screen Tests" (a combined 15 minutes.) But the word "featurette" only scratches the surface, as all seven of these segments add up one great 105-minute documentary. This is simply one of the best behind-the-scenes looks at the making of a new film I've yet seen on a DVD.

The "Ape School" and the look at Baker's makeups are utterly fascinating, and it made me want to run out and sign up for Planet Of The Apes 2, not because the inevitable sequel will necessarily be a great movie, but because it looked like such an amazing experience to be a part of! We get interviews with director Burton and Baker, the main cast and much of the production crew, and wonderfully extensive production and onset footage, exclusive 35mm camera test and preproduction material, concept art and designs, and even a visit to a scoring session with composer Danny Elfman.

The "Screen Test" section is also fascinating, and includes five subsections - "Make-Up Tests," "Group Tests," "Costume Tests," "Stunt Test," and "Movement Test." Here you'll find additional montages and split screen breakdowns with way-cool footage, and even optional audio tracks on the "Group Tests." Thorough, entertaining, and enlightening, if they handed out Academy Awards for DVD, this would be a front-runner for Best Supplement.

But wait, our journey is only just beginning. Section 2 features four Multi-Angle Featurettes, running about 25 minutes total. Each of the scenes - "Limbo's Quadrangle," "Sandar's Escape," "Escape From Ape City," and "In the Forest" - also includes 2 to 4 subsegments, and each can be viewed from two different camera angles or a side-by-side composite of both, and with two audio tracks, one for each camera angle. You can also branch off to view conceptual art for each segment, link up to the corresponding final scene in the film, or the script! Very interactive and well laid out, this is again one of the best multi-angle presentations around.

On to section 3, here you'll find five Extended Scenes, "Launch The Monkey," "Dinner," "Kill Them All," "Ari In the Trees," and "She's A Chimpanzee." Each is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen video that looks like it was taken directly from an AVID output. The quality is fair, but we do get decent sound, so these are still more than watachable. Since these are extended scenes, the running time is rather short all told, clocking in at only about 6 minutes. But, here they are.

Section 4 houses Promotional Works. Yep, uh-oh, first on the list is the HBO Special which runs 28 minutes. Alright, it ain't so bad even if it is an extended commercial, but compared to the other great material already included on this disc, it just can't compare. More fun is the ludicrous Paul Oakenfield "Rule The Planet" Remix." If you are as big of a fan of cheesy, pointless dance remixes as I am, you'll appreciate this one. Already a big hit on Christopher Street, at least we get a fairly decent montage of film clips. Other promo goodies include the film's theatrical teaser and trailer in non-anamorphic widescreen, additional trailers for Moulin Rouge and Dr. Dolittle 2, and 6 TV spots. There is also the Posters & Press Kit, which features 12 stills with the film's clever poster campaign as well as all the text from the original press kit. Lastly. we have a short and really lame music promo spot.

Skipping section 5 (see the ROM section below), section 6 Gallery is just that, a more robust collection of stills, divided into two sections ("Scenes" and "Props") and featuring over 150 images of conceptual art, designs, sketches, storyboards, and production photos. Easy to use and well organized, I did long for better descriptive text, but not matter. This is still a nice addition, especially for such an effects-heavy film.

Obviously a pretty spectacular package, just about all a fan could want can be found here. My only complaints? First, no extensive making-of booklet with production notes (though perhaps I just miss the laserdisc days with the big packaging and liner notes?) Second, all the making-of video footage is presented in full frame with non-anamorphic film clips, but I'd really like to see anamorphic widescreen featurettes and documentaries become the norm. But then I'm a high-falutin' elitist bastard, so what do I know?

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

But wait, there is still more. Section 5 features the disc's DVD-ROM features, which are actually split over both discs. Largely text based, Fox seems to have made some sort of pact with the devil (er, publisher Harper Collins), as we get two substantive excerpts from Apes novels that are really commercials for the books. Jr. Novella offers about a fourth of Pierre Boulle's original"Monkey Planet," while Leo's Logbook is more excerpts from the novelization of the film. More exciting is the Script & Storyboards feature, which is an advanced script viewer allowing you to peruse the entire script, or watch the corresponding scene or storyboards. Easy to use, thankfully we have the ability to watch a scene in the usual small window or full screen, and the printing option is a nice touch. But, given the amount of video-based content on the disc, these ROM features are comparatively disappointing.

Parting Thoughts