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Planet of the Apes (2001)

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A Techtite Review

The Film: Most movie remakes are a hard sell. After all, weren't the original films good enough to begin with? Take, for example, the remake of Psycho a few years back. In a nutshell, it didn't provide anything new, nor unique, to what was already a classic film. Surprisingly, the same cannot be said for Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes; a summer release with a breath of originality to it, that as a remake truly took me by surprise. In some ways, it may even surpass the original classic sci-fi film...if that's possible.

The film begins on a space station experimenting with DNA on monkeys, so they can use them for various space exploration experiments. Along comes a space anomaly which thrusts one of their finest lab chimpanzees into a time warp. Against orders, Captain Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) uses a second ship to go find him. As you might expect, this was a noble, yet very bad move. The anamoly first makes the chimpanzee's ship disappear, then Leo's, to some unknown, different area of either time or space itself. Of course, this includes a crash landing on the title's Planet of the Apes, leaving Leo with no idea how to get home, presuming he even can.

This remake includes some intriguing revisions to the original plot. For one thing, looking at the planet upon Captain Davidson's entry into orbit, shows this is far and away from Earth; the multiple moons and altered appearance of the oceans/landmasses are a dead giveaway. While there is still the subplot of how apes shouldn't treat humans poorly any more than we should mistreat them, it is done with far better insight and intrigue than the heavy-handed approach of the 1968 original.  Even better is the training the actors were given who perform "simian" characters, to simulate actual movements that the apes would make in real life. Best of all is the make-up, with lively expressions of the apes that makes them far more lifelike than they ever looked in the original film. 

All this leads to a far more involved story. The earlier film had its pilot see his astronaut friends killed one by one in various ways, with only the intent of escape. While Captain Davidson is equally in no mood for anything other than his departure from the planet, he soon finds himself the center of a possible rebellion, once the other humans see a man willing to stand up against the apes. Along the way is Ari (Helena Bonham Carter), a liberal-type chimpanzee who abhors the way  apes treat humans, who becomes a close friend to Davidson. Some rumors circulate of the original script implying they were "more" than just friends, which might've seemed too wierd; the way the film plays now is much better, with a strong sense of platonic friendship between the two.

However, all is not a bed of roses in any remake. For one thing, too much care went into making the apes look "lifelike," with the human talent (aside from Wahlberg) apparently told to just stand around and speak their lines. The result is a bunch of slave humans who are not very intriguing, and seem more like rejects from a Mad Max sequel. Even the apparent love interest for Leo, named simply Daena (Estella Warren), doesn't lead to much romance, and seems like a loose end more than the important supporting character she could have been. Last of all is the finale, which as you've probably heard by now is both inspired to some, and a major let-down to others. I'll try not to spoil anything here, though suffice to say, I'm one of the ones who felt it was a disappointment. So much so, given how great the movie was up to then, I'd compare it to going warp factor 10 straight into a solid brick wall. If that's too cryptic, let's just say that they ruin a perfectly good, solid, grand finale with an open-ended "epilogue" that seems merely made to say, "look for the sequel, in theaters soon!" What a letdown.

However, the ride up until the so-called "finale" is a good one, and more than worth the trip. It is hardly easy making a remake, and Tim Burton did a smashingly good job (unlike other remakes recently, including Charlie's Angels and Josie & the Pussycats). Even if the let-down finale was meant to inspire possible sequels, can you blame Burton if that was his goal? The original film led to maybe half a dozen more sequels than it should have. If a sequel is made of this remake, I'd love to see it.

The DVD: This is one of those two-disc DVD affairs which offer you dozens of items. However, none of them offer the one-single, thing viewers of the film really want; an explanation of the finale. Better yet, how about alternate endings...? Better yet, how about an alternate viewing option, that cuts off the final scene entirely, and thereby ending the film happily and productively? None of that is on these two discs. So why bother?

Okay, maybe that last line is uncalled for; two discs of bonus material is bound to have something worth your while, right? Disc one has the film itself, with bonus materials that seem reserved mostly for an inspired alternate viewing option; a picture-in-picture setup during key moments of the film, showing various filmmaking topics. Personally, I liked this feature in The Goonies DVD better, when the audio commentery faded in and out of the studio with the kids as they are now, offering anecdotes both during filming, and after the film hit theaters. However, this is still a nice concept --far superior than just an alternate audio comment track-- and a nice addition. However, diehards of audio commentary can choose such comments from director Tim Burton, and by composer Danny Elfman...even if commentary from Helena Bonham Carter and Mark Wahlberg would've been nice.

Disc two is where the real bonuses reside. However, if you wanted deleted scenes, no dice; only "extended scenes" are offered. What's an extended scene, you ask? This is when the deleted snippets are too obscure to show by themselves, so they show you the whole uncut scene instead, to show you the few seconds cut from it. Such scenes include the scene where the monkey is launched, Ari in the trees, and amusingly titles scenes such as "Dinner," "Kill Them All," and "She's a Chimpanzee!" Too bad about there being no alternate ending, though. I was really hoping for that one.

Technical features seems to be the common theme on disc two. Six documentaries include behind the scenes footage, of all the different steps it took to make the apes in the film look so real. This includes make-up, "swinging from the trees," and so on. In addition, there are four multi-angle sequences, which can be used to see how alternately filmed angles of the scene would look. Topping off the documentaries and similar video shorts, is the original HBO special about the film, Paul Oakenfold's "Rule the Planet Remix," as well as the obligatory theatrical teaser and photo galleries (movie posters, etc.).

Of course, all this is very impressive by DVD standards. However, I think everyone who is so ready to make 2-disc versions of their films should take a cue from Disney lately, which often offers their latest animated features with both the two-disc technical version, and the affordable single-disc version. Without deleted scenes --and no, "extended scenes" don't count-- my hopes for any worthwhile features on disc two were substantially deflated. I guess I was looking too forward to a possible deleted scene involving the ending. Regardless, this is a nice assortment for the technical features fan.

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