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Planet Of The Apes
The Complete TV Series
review by Zach B.
Running Time: 644 minutes
Starring Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper, James
Naughton
Studio: Fox
Retail Price: $49.98
Features: Trailers
Specs: 1.33:1 Full Frame, English Mono, French Mono,
English Closed Captions, English Subtitles, Spanish
Subtitles, Scene Selection (24 Scenes)
Released: November 20th, 2001
One of the more popular franchises ever, "Planet Of The
Apes" has truly made its mark in pop culture. From the
original novel to the finale in the first movie everyone
seems to know, it really has made its mark on culture.Not
only was "Planet Of The Apes" a giant franchise, it holds it
own for giving some birth in merchandising and licensing as
far as products, as when the original figures came out, I do
believe extensive lines on something from a different medium
were never done. In anycase... the point is while the movies
are still popular, back in the day they were huge. In an
attempt to capitalize on the success of the movies, a
television series was introduced. Only makes sense, right?
The series takes place in 1980, where two astronauts
named Alan and Peter crash on a weird planet in the year
3085. It's a planet where humans or nothing and the apes are
super intelligent and rule it all. Why, they've landed on a
planet full of apes! It's up to them to survive. With the
help of Galen, the trio have to avoid the evil General Urko
and his army through the episodes. While each episode has
the same plot line more or less about avoiding Urko and the
tension, it surprisingly remains rather fresh and original
during the episodes and not the same old thing.
I like "Planet Of The Apes" stuff, but I'm not a giant
freak or anything. This is the first time the series is
being offered on home video, no doubt to tie in with Tim
Burton's remake err "j" of the first movie. "Apes" fans will
want to check this out and have in their collection.
So how is the series? It's okay. The writing's fine for
what it is and so is the directing... it's 1970s TV. The
actors fit their roles, but there's really nothing that
makes the series stand out above other shows. It fits fine
within the franchise. So if you're a big fan of "Planet Of
The Apes," you'll probably be into this show more than
myself and like it better than I did. Again, this is for
collector's... and you even get a lost episode that never
aired in the original run! Enjoy "Apes" fans.
Presented in their original full frame aspect ratios of
1.33:1, you won't get much here. Shimmering, noises,
oversaturation of the colors at times, blemishes, scratches,
grain... it's all here. Ech. It can be rather distracting,
but some episodes look better than others. If you're
expecting a great TV transfer... you're not. These episodes
are old, and I must admit I did sorta expect them to be like
this.
Not much to say here. It's in mono (English or French,
take your pick). Fidelity is rather limited and I had to
turn my volume up quite a bit. Dialogue is clear and you can
hear it, and nothing really overpowers what's here. English
closed captions, English subtitles and French subtitles are
on the episodes as well.
On the fourth disc you have a Planet Of The Apes Cross
Trailer and the 2001 version Theatrical Trailer.
Might as well promote the others...
Finally on video, the television series of "Planet Of The
Apes" is being sold at a good price and something collectors
should have in their collection. While this is pretty bare
bones and you're not buying this for presentation, it's
worth it if you're a fan.
 (3/5 - NOT included in
final score)
(3/5)
 (2.5/5)
 (.5/5)
(3/5,
NOT an average)
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