Planet of the Apes (2001) - Some entertaining fun in Burton's mixed bag sci-fi actioner

♥♥♥

 

Star Mark Wahlberg fronts a group of human/simian characters looking our way on this gloomy and crowded poster for Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes

In 2029 an astronaut crash-lands on a planet where apes are the dominant race and humans are their subordinates.

 

Planet of the Apes is written by William Broyles Jr. (Cast Away (2000)), Lawrence Konner (The Many Saints of Newark (2021)) and Mark Rosenthal (Mighty Joe Young (1998)), adapting Pierre Boulle's (The Bridge Over the River Kwai (1952)) same-titled 1963 novel, previously adapted for the same-titled 1968 masterpiece by Franklin J. Shaffner and its 4 sequels. The film is directed by Californian master filmmaker Tim Burton (Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)), whose 9th feature it is.

It is an atypical venture for Burton, who fails to make a really good new interpretation of the fascinating source material. 

Mark Wahlberg (All the Money in the World (2017)) as Captain Leo Davidson, this version's human on the ape planet, doesn't muster what it takes to make his character anywhere near interesting. The fight scenes lack dynamic energy and don't bring anything new, which is a big problem for an action movie.

An important quality, however, are the good-looking ape costumes, prosthetics and makeup, which helps us to accept the simian supremacy surprisingly fast. Especially Tim Roth (Broken (2012)) and Paul Giamatti's (Win Win (2011)) ape performances are fun. The reversed world, where apes are in control (over us), is also still thrilling, and especially the film's first half is quite good.

 

Related posts:

The Apes franchise: War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) - Reeves and Co. astonish with truly spectacular film that finishes the Ape circle 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) or, Ape 3.1: Mad Apes!
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) or, The Final Ape!  
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) or, The Ape Uprising   
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) - The enjoyable if farfetched second Apes sequel
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) - Decent follow-up to the SF milestone  
Tim Burton: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) - Burton and a fine cast bond with auspicious material 

Dark Shadows (2012) - Fun, flamboyant vampire romp is a celebration of culture
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Alice in Wonderland (2010) - Wasikowska is the perfect lead for Burton's visual wonderland 
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) or, Tim Burton's Bloody Theatrics 
Corpse Bride (2005) - Impressive, loud, hollow, dark doll fairytale 
Ed Wood (1994) - Burton's sticky biopic with strenuous Depp 

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Batman Returns (1992) - Burton gives us the ultimate, Gothic spin on Gotham City and its sinister characters
Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
Batman (1989) - A huge, glitzy, empty joker
Beetle Juice (1988) - Burton and team serve one of the best horror comedies ever   

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 100 mil. $

Box office: 362.2 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.62 times its cost)

[Planet of the Apes was released 26 July (Hong Kong, Puerto Rico) and runs 120 minutes. Development of a new Apes movie had been ongoing since the late 1980s with a long list of talent involved including Adam Rifkin, Tom Cruise, Charlie Sheen, Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi, Oliver Stone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Phillip Noyce, James Cameron, Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay and the Hughes brothers, - before Burton was finally hired. Wahlberg was paid 8 mil. $ for his performance. Production was rushed with shooting taking place from November 2000 - April 2001 in Australia, Arizona, Utah, California, including in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and in Hawaii. Burton insisted that the apes be created with practical effects and not CGI. The film opened #1 to a 68.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#5), grossing 180 mil. $ (49.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 24.7 mil. $ (6.8 %) and France with 20.2 mil. $ (5.6 %). It was the 10th highest-grossing film of the year in North America, and the 9th highest-grossing in the world overall of the year. The film was nominated for 2 BAFTAs and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The film earned an additional 40.8 mil. $ on video rentals in North America in 2001 alone. Plans for a sequel never came to fruition, - and Burton stated that he "would rather jump out a window" than direct a sequel to the film, - as the franchise was instead rebooted for a new trilogy starting with Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). Burton returned with The World of Stainboy (2000-01) and theatrically with Big Fish (2003). Wahlberg returned in Rock Star (2001). Planet of the Apes is rotten at 44 % with a 5.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Planet of the Apes?

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - One of the all time greats

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Co-star Alex Guinness looks paranoid while holding a riffle in front of his precious bridge on this evocative poster for David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai

A large group of British prisoners of war in Japanese-occupied Burma in 1942 get as forced assignment to build a bridge for the railway. The mentally deteriorating British Colonel Nicholson in charge puts all of his pride into the project, which is to symbolize the unparalleled craftsmanship and unbreakable will of the British, he announces, while other allies are sent on a deadly sabotage mission through the hostile jungle towards the self same bridge.

 

The Bridge on the River Kwai is written by Carl Foreman (The Key (1958)) and Michael Wilson (Salt of the Earth (1954)), adapting the same-titled 1952 novel by Pierre Boulle (La Planète des singes/Planet of the Apes (1963)), and directed by English master filmmaker David Lean (This Happy Breed (1944)), whose 11th feature it was.
Kwai is an unequaled masterpiece in the suspense-based war movie genre. It is inspired by facts, but is for the most part fiction, as the real life parallel, the Japanese-led construction of the Burma-Siam railway, was actually much more terrible and deadly than the events depicted in the film. (13,000 war prisoners and between 80,000-100,000 civilians died as a result of the project; Nicholson is also entirely fictional.)
The film has some of the most exciting suspense scenes in all of cinema, and yet most of this epic relies on unforgettable, insightful character studies: There's the pragmatist doctor, who sees only pointlessness in the trials of the war; the zealous major, who makes it a matter of personal spite and principal to prove the Japanese inferior to the British. And there's the Japanese colonel Saito, who buds heads with the Brit and follows his own culture's specific codes of conduct.
Alec Guinness (Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)) portrays Major Nicholson brilliantly, a character whose rigid mind and jungle fever takes him to the blinded edge of sanity. Sessue Hayakawa (The Geisha Boy (1958)) is also supreme as Saito. The scenes between the two are some of the film's best. Highly sophisticated, intense and alive.

In other supporting roles, Jack Hawkins (To Bury Caesar (1963)) and William Holden (The Towering Inferno (1974)) are enjoyable. The film is also unusual in that it is almost entirely bereft of women.
The Bridge on the River Kwai is one of the best war films of all time, an eminent epic, and it has been restored beautifully. It is a must watch for every movie-lover out there, and especially so for the war-interested ones.

 

Related posts:

 

David Lean: Top 10: Best epic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Great Expectations (1946) - Lean's first Dickens adaptation is pure cinema magic 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: 30.6 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 10.6 times its cost)

[The Bridge on the River Kwai premiered 2 October (London) and runs 161 minutes. The film's American writers wrote the screenplay in British exile due to being on the McCarthy blacklist, and this also prompted non-English speaking Boulle to become credited with its writing. Foreman was paid 17k $ for the job. Guinness was paid 150k $; Holden 250-300k $ (different reports) plus 10% of the worldwide gross. Shooting took place from November 1956 - May 1957 in Sri Lanka. Lean had serious disagreements with Guinness during filming and also at one point nearly drowned in the river. A scene with a woman was shot solely to appease US studio Columbia. The film earned 17.1 mil. $ (55.9 % of the total gross) in North America: It was Columbia's highest-grossing at the time and the global top-grosser of the year, as well as the highest-grossing of the year in North America and the UK. It was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 7: For Best Picture, Actor (Guinness), Cinematography (Jack Hildyard (Emily (1976))), Director, Editing, Score (Malcolm Arnold (Hard Times (1977, miniseries))) and Adapted Screenplay; losing Supporting Actor (Hayakawa) for Red Buttons in Sayonara. It also won 4 BAFTAs, a David di Donatello award, 3/4 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a Grammy, won 5 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. The first TV screening of the film was in 1962 on ABC, with a record result of 72 mil. viewers. Warren Buffett has said that it is his favorite film. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #171 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between Trainspotting (1996) and Klaus (2019, VoD). Lean returned with Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Holden returned in The Key (1958); Guinness in All at Sea (1957); and Hawkins in Terror! Theatre (1957, TV-series), The World Our Stage (1958, TV-series) and theatrically in Gideon of Scotland Yard (1958). The Bridge on the River Kwai is certified fresh at 96 % with a 9.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Bridge on the River Kwai?