Planet of the Apes (2001)

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers (WGA):

Pierre Boulle (novel)
William Broyles Jr. (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 July 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Rule the planet.

Plot:

An astronaut lands on a planet inhabited by human-like apes, who rule the planet with an iron fist.

Plot Keywords:

Swimming | Alternate History | Skinny Dipping | Senator | Space

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 8 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Mark Wahlberg	...	Captain Leo Davidson
Tim Roth	...	Thade
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Ari
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Attar
Paul Giamatti	...	Limbo
Estella Warren	...	Daena
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Krull
David Warner	...	Sandar
Kris Kristofferson	...	Karubi
Erick Avari	...	Tival
Luke Eberl	...	Birn
Evan Parke	...	Gunnar (as Evan Dexter Parke)
Glenn Shadix	...	Senator Nado
Freda Foh Shen	...	Bon
Chris Ellis	...	Lt. General Karl Vasich

Also Known As:

The Visitor (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sequences of action/violence.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Philippines:PG-13 | Iceland:12 | Brazil:12 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12PG (original rating) | Ireland:PG (video rating) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Michael Clarke Duncan had sprained his ankle during filming and was forced to go to the hospital in his full gorilla makeup.

Goofs:

Plot holes: After the group cross the river, they set up camp and make fires. They are in the middle of the desert and there are no trees as far as the horizon. Where did they get the firewood?

Quotes:

Ari: You know one day they'll tell a story about a human who came from the stars and changed our world. Some will say it was just a fairy tale, but, it was never real. But I'll know.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Catch That Kid (2004)

Soundtrack:

Rule The Planet Remix

Escape from the Boulle planet.

Visually,this film is sometimes a splendor;the light falls on a crepuscular world.The Apes' town is quite scary particularly when you see it from a distance ,as it stands out against an ominous sky.In the very beginning,the cast and credits are also successful,with an adequate martial music.The first third has some funny,parodic and sometimes politically incorrect lines.In the second third,the movie begins to lose steam,although the discovery in the wrecked spaceship is a rather good idea. But that's not all good news.First of all,the hero lacks charisma and the apes and their sensational make-up simply overwhelm him and drown him out.On the contrary,majestic Charlton Heston,even when he was in chains,displayed a Shakespearian grandeur in the first version.

The last third consists in battles,a "second coming" and the "astonishing" ending without which..that would not be "planet of the apes".Actually,the new ending was borrowed from Pierre Boulle 's novel,but not without adding a mathematically unlikelihood which will give you headaches if you begin to think too hard:the least they can do:Everything ,even the proper nouns from the French writer's book have been removed,even if some characters recall some of the Boulle/Shaffner version.Shaffner had contented himself with changing the astronauts' name(eg:Ulysse Mérou=Taylor) Hats off to Helena Bonham-Carter who brings warmth and emotion in a rather vapid cast:in a part close to that of Kim Hunter/Zira,she really asserts her distinctive identity. Tim Roth is effective as well,but his part is less so.David Warner and Kris Kristofferson are wasted.As a tribute to Shaffner(?)both Linda Harrison (an unidentified woman captured with Leo) and Charlton Heston (moaning his curse,which is,admittedly,funny)appear unbilled.

Tim Burton might be a director to remember.Although he has not made a genuine masterpiece yet,his filmography is already rich:"Sleepy hollow","Edward Scissorhands ,the marvelous "Ed Wood" (Martin Landau is unforgettable).But redoing "planet of the apes " was a hard task.Shaffner's movie followed a progression,it moved slowly,from the long introduction showing the three astronauts making their way across desolate landscapes to the stunning final shots with Heston and Harrison 's roaming down by the sea.Remember how long it took Taylor to convince Zira he was a thinking man!Here it seems natural to Ari almost as soon as she sees him,that Leo is no dumb idiot animal.And that's the last straw,even Tim Roth (some kind of cross between Shaffner's Cornelius and a pulp fiction baddie)pretty damn quickly believes too that that human is too clever for his own sake.

Tim Burton's so-so remake epitomizes the dearth of good scripts.Pierre Boulle's book is a golden mine and one could have written a coherent story out of it,different from that of the first version.Why not,for instance,introduce the two "astronauts" whose scenes open and close it,and turn Leo's adventures into a flashback?What about showing the love between the hero and the woman-animal ?And the son they had?And the menace this son represented for the simian race? All these ideas were left over by Shaffner's script writers and could have built a strong new tale.

The main flaw lies in the human beings:here,they speak -English!- ,they can reason,they can swim (!),they are (except for bubble head Warren)clever,so why the hell did the apes tame them?