Saturday, February 4, 2012

Which of the seven 'Planet of the Apes' movies is your personal favorite?

I’m a big fan of the long-running “Planet of the Apes” movies, and I recently got the chance to watch the latest installment in the series, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” I don’t know if I can say that it was the best movie in the series, but it was still pretty good.

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, it’s about an intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar, who spends most of his life in a research lab, where he’s given drugs to boost his mental abilities. He eventually comes to live with a young scientist after the scientist is ordered to euthanize all the chimps in the lab. In defense of the scientist’s father, Caesar attacks one of the neighbors and ends up in an animal sanctuary, where he suffers abuse at the hands of his handlers. Caesar eventually becomes the leader of the other monkeys in the sanctuary, and he proceeds to lead them in a revolution that results in their escape.

Released on Aug. 5, 2011, this movie was directed by Rupert Wyatt. The movie starred a number of well known actors, including James Franco, Andy Serkis, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, David Oyelowo, Brian Cox and Chelah Horsdal. This movie was a critical and box office success. It reaped box office revenues of over $481 million against a budget of $93 million.

I was interested to read that the movie is based on a 1963 French science fiction novel called “La Planete des singes” by Pierre Boulle. Translated as “Monkey Planet” or “Planet of the Apes,” this book is said to be the inspiration of all the “Planet of the Apes” movies.

In all, there have been seven “Planet of the Apes” movies. They include “Planet of the Apes” (1968), “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” (1970), “Escape from the Planet of the Apes” (1971), “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” (1972), “Battle for the Planet of the Apes” (1973), “Planet of the Apes” (2001) and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (2011).

Fans of these movies will know that “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is very similar to “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” and that the 2001 “Planet of the Apes” is a remake of the 1968 “Planet of the Apes.” If I had to pick a personal favorite from all seven, I’d probably go with the 2001 “Planet of the Apes” remake. That’s not to say that the others aren’t very good.

In the end, I enjoyed “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” and I recommend it to anyone out there who enjoys a good sci-fi movie or has enjoyed the previous “Planet of the Apes” films.

How many of you have watched “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”? What did you think about it? Did you like it or dislike it? Why? Which of the seven all-time “Planet of the Apes” movies is your personal favorite? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.

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