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Marooned on a alien planet 700 hundred years in the future, Astronaut George Taylor finds himself suddenly at the opposite end of the evolutionary scale. In this strange world apes are in control, with humans existing as mere savages. But through the compassion of a pair of intellectual chimpanzees, Cornelius and Zira, Taylor has a slim chance to escape the cages of his oppressors. But is there more to this seemingly alien planet than meets the eye - and what secrets does it hold in Taylor's search for his long lost home?

That Planet of the Apes is an obvious allegory for oppression, discrimination and prejudice is of course now well known, as is its classic ending (which was ruined for years by the previous VHS and DVD box covers). But because the film so expertly constructs the social order of the apes, it is more than just still relevant today, but has achieved the status of timeless classic. Effects-wise, it hasn't fared so well - I can't help but to snicker at the primarily immobile facial activity of almost all the apes. Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter seemed to have mastered the necessary skills to act through the groundbreaking prosthetics, but other actors aren't as generous. This plays most obviously in the mouths of the apes as some of them barely open when the character speaks.

Is this a reason to avoid the film? Absolutely not - despite the considerable advancements in special effects since 1968, Planet of the Apes proves that science fiction has always been more about we humans today than it is about technology, gadgets and spaceships.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Originally released on DVD in 1998 in a perfectly fine if far from spectacular non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, Fox Home Entertainment has at last reissued the film here in 2.35:1 anamorphic. Overall it is a step up from the original release, but this still looks like a flick from 1968, albeit a well-produced one. The condition of the source material this time looks about as good, with only a few minor blemishes and some minor grain, especially during any matte or effects shots. Blacks are quite solid throughout and contrast good, and also impressive is color reproduction - hues are generally clean, vibrant and free of any real noise or smearing. Best of all is the increased detail due to the anamorphic enhancement; gone is most of the jaggies that plagued the previous DVD, although effects shots and some of the most sharply contrasted objects still display some minor ringing. But overall, this is a fine transfer and an improvement over the lackluster first DVD.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Also new to this edition is a DTS 5.1 remix, plus a Dolby Digital 5.1 option. Both sound dated; frequency response is cramped and flat, with rather shrill highs and low end that fails to sparkle. Overall the mix is very front-heavy, even the DTS track - I had trouble discerning any rear channel activity at all, even during the most aggressive sequences save for some bleed. Jerry Goldsmith's score also is directed primarily to the front channel. Only some stereo effects were truly evident. I suppose this was a nice try on Fox's part, but to be honest I found neither of these remixes to be particularly effective.

Also included are French Dolby 2.0 surround and Spanish mono dubs, English and Spanish subtitles, and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Aside from the nice new transfer, the main draw here are the two discs of extras, although those familiar with the previous Apes box set and Image's two-disc Behind the Planet of the Apes collector's edition will experience some major deja vu. The vast majority of what is here has been seen before, but it is still nice to have it all in one place.

The audio commentaries are a real mixed bag. The first track with stars Roddy McDowell, Natalie Trundy and Kim Hunter, and makeup artist John Chambers, is both a cheat and a disappointment. It is a very slim partial track (I counted perhaps 30 minutes of talking at best) and it doesn't even jump to the scenes with commentary automatically, making for endless passages of dead silence. It was also poorly recorded - Hunter sounds like she is in a wind tunnel - and given the fact that little here is all that much different than what you get in the documentary, one wonders why they bothered at all. Much better is the isolated score and commentary by Jerry Goldsmith. His landmark score is presented in Dolby 2.0 stereo with the composer speaking during silent passages. He is an engaging speaker and makes a great addition, as he is not well- represented in the video-based extras. Also very strong is the text commentary by Eric Greene, author of "Planet of the Apes as American Myth," which is quite scholarly but fascinating. Greene, despite the limited nature of a text commentary, imparts a wealth of analysis and his theories, even the more outlandish ones, are intriguing.

Disc two is where the majority of the extras can be found. The first and by far most robust section is Exploring the Apes. Here you will find almost all of the contents of the Image two-disc Behind the Planet of the Apes special edition, the highlight being the two-hour documentary of the same name which first premiered on American Movie Classics on September 6, 1998, as part of their "Hollywood Real to Reel" series. They don't make 'em like this anymore - feature-length, comprehensive, well-produced and covering all of the five films in the original series. Of course, the first gets by far the most coverage, but each film is touched upon in enough detail that only diehard fans will likely be disappointed. Interviews that were new at the time of this documentary's production are a real highlight (Fox has not reedited or updated it in any way), including Charlton Heston, McDowall (who also narrates) and Hunter, plus producer Richard Zanuck, writer Pierre Boulle and various cast and crew. Also touched upon is the whole Apes phenomenon, including the endless merchandising and even the failed "Back to the Planet of the Apes" television series. A fabulous documentary.

Also in the Exploring the Apes section is a wealth of additional making-of material. There are three self-contained featurettes: 1967 NATO Presentation (10 minutes) is essentially a trailer but ends with a great pitch by Heston to exhibitors, to revel in such a "highly exploitable" epic; the original 1968 Featurette (5 minutes) is pretty cheesy but does include some nice concept sketches and makeup footage; and then there is A Look Behind the Planet of the Apes (15 minutes), produced in 1972 and hosted by Heston, which is a pretty dang cheesy makeup making-of and appears to have been made for TV. Raw making-of footage includes "Don Taylor Directing Escape From The Planet of the Apes" and "J. Lee Thompson Directing Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" (7 minutes and 1 minute, respectively), plus the narrated "Planet of the Apes Makeup Test with Edward G. Robinson" from 1966 (9 minutes), "Planet of the Apes Dailies and Outtakes" (no audio, 18 minutes) and best of all, "Roddy McDowall Home Movies" (20 minutes), which is a nicely-edited assemblage of the makeup process and shooting a couple of the film's most famous scenes. All of these featurettes are in full frame, except the Edward G. Robinson makeup test, which is in non- anamorphic widescreen.

This set's remaining three sections are initially exciting but ultimately very weak. Best of all is a Publicity section with theatrical trailers for all five original Apes films (but not the Tim Burton remake) plus a teaser for the original flick. (All the trailers are presented in 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and mono.) Also featured here are two text reviews of the original film, plus a short 1-minute video montage of various Apes posters, most from foreign territories. The Galleries section features another short 1-mintue montage of conceptual art sketches by Morton Haack, plus a 2-minute collection of side-by-side actor-versus-ape photos and production and publicity stills. And last but not least is - English 5.1 Surround, which houses two more 1-minute montages: "Apes Merchandise" - a look at various Apes action figures, and "Ape Collections," with more figurines/rare collectibles grouped by character.

Last but not least is an 8-page color foldout with some brief historical notes on the Apes phenomenon.

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

There is only one PC extra included, a nice little Planet of the Apes Chronology timeline that charts the history of the Apes movies and phenomenon. The graphics are attractive, and there is a good amount of production note and factoid info as you click across the timeline. Note that there is no actual interactivity with the disc itself - this is its own application housed on the disc (which should self-execute on a PC, or when the application is found and double-clicked on a Mac). So as such, there is no direct scene access, DVD controls or links to active online content.

Parting Thoughts