A collection of some of the most highly-politicised and thought-provoking Sci-Fi ever made. Great production values at a good price.
A collection of 7 planet of the apes films in widescreen format. Very good quality of picture, audio, and subtitles. The concept of apes as masters and humans as slaves has proven to be a very powerful metaphor, and a vehicle for several strands of social and political ideas.
Heston's astronaut Taylor, in the first two films, expresses a disgust with US society in 1967. Principally, racism, vivisection, and the Cold War policy of mutually-assured destruction. So deep is his disgust, that he opts to take a one-way trip to an unknown future. Then, finding no improvement, he ends everything. There are some shocking scenes towards the end of the 2nd film.
The ape world of 3950 AD is extremely well-presented. The orangs are priests, philosophers, and leaders. The gorillas are agressive soldiers. The chimps are inquisitive, sociable, and scientific types, well-acted by McDowall & Hunter. It is these two who carry the 3rd film, `Escape From...,' in which a pair of chimps survive a return time-trip to the 1970s.
`Escape' is a little gentler in tone, poking fun at politicians, the military, and scientific advisors, though some may find that there's too much talk, and not enough action. However, it does give
a chronological framework for the first five films, followed up in films 4 & 5, which act out the watershed moments when apes are dopted as pets by humans, and when an attempt is made at a multi-species egalitarian society.
Interestingly, the 1974 tv series (not included here) has more centrist scripts, still condemning slavery, but emphasising the Capraesque values of loyalty to friends and the karmic rewards of random acts of kindness, as well as the virtue of passing on good American farming know-how.
The 6th film, `Planet of the Apes' 2001, is purer SciFi, far closer to the original French novel, and less directly political. The 7th film, `Rise of ...' returns to the territory of films 4 & 5.
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