Planet of the Apes – most underrated film of 2001?

After my comparison thread between this film and TPM met with incessant flaming, it seems clear to me that a lot of people hate this film even more than TPM.
All I posted was this:
?First of all, there was more romance hinted at between Marky Mark and the chimp lady then between Anakin and Padme. Second, Thade was a more evil villain that Darth Maul, and he survived. So we can look forward to more of him. Finally, the ending of POTA left the audience as baffled and confused as the hero, whereas with TPM the audience actually knows more than the stupid heroes. So I look forward to Planet of the Apes Episode II: Attack of the Chimps. ?

Reasonable enough, I?m sure you?ll agree. So why the hate? Is it because people are out to get Tim Burton after making too many weird films? Is it because Mark Wahlberg was the least charismatic leading man in history (he was supposed to be like that!) Or is it just that after lapping up Pearl Harbor, Tomb Raider and Jurassic Park 3, audience weren?t ready for a blockbuster as challenging as POTA? It was a thought-provoking mess with a decent villain and no excessive CGI ? how many recent blockbusters can YOU say that about? Sure the monkeysex was cut out, but that wasn?t Burton?s fault.
Mark my words: the only two films from the summer of 2001 that will be watched years from now are AI and POTA. Rush Hour 2 is no classic.
End transmission.

 

I thought POTA kinda sucked.

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I hated it because the plot was a piece of crap (and a thirty-year-old piece of crap at that), there was absolutely no character development, and the acting sucked. I will, however, say that the special effects (and there were special effects, for those of you that slept through it and didn't seem to notice that the apes weren't real) were phenomenal. Stan Winston strikes again, and makes us all remember why he kicks butt.

So no, PotA is not underrated. If anything, it's overrated, and I see it most clearly in the way they're now hyping the DVD. If you need to give viewers the option of rearranging the entire movie (choosing different camera angles and other such crap) just to sell a movie, it says something about the quality of the movie itself.

 

It's not thought provoking. If you want thought provoking, go read the book. It's worth it.

This movie would have been perfect for MST3K.

 

I also thought POTA was a bit overrated, but just a bit. I thought there was not as much tension as in the original. The special effects were truly exceptional. My biggest problem was the ending, in fact. As a sci-fi nut (aren't we all), I have been subjected to numerous time-travel scenarios, and most stories are able to pull off some exotic results, but with some reasonable measure of explanation. I have tried to figure out POTA's ending, and just cannot do it. If you're gonna use time-travel to throw in some kind of 'shock' ending, you still have to make it work!

I love Tim Burton's work in general, by the way. This is no slam to him. I don't know if he just directed the ending, or wrote it also, but I do enjoy his stuff usually.

 

I have tried to figure out POTA's ending, and just cannot do it. If you're gonna use time-travel to throw in some kind of 'shock' ending, you still have to make it work!

The only explanation I have heard goes something like this:

At the beginning of the movie, the chimp disappears into the storm first, followed shortly by Mark Wahlberg, then sometime later by the main spacecraft.

The spacecraft lands on the planet first, with enough time after its landing for the apes to evolve siginificantly by the time Mark W. shows up. The chimp finally shows up several days after Marky Mark's crash-landing. So, they arrived in reverse order.

So since Thade would have escaped the planet after Mark left, he would have arrived on Earth much earlier.

That's the only way it makes any kind of sense...

 

PO(T)A was a POS

 

If the general consensus was that PotA was the worst movie of all time, it still wouldn't be the most underrated film of 2001.

 

2001 POTA =

Original =

 

I Own the DVD, and the remix song was


Even though the movie was just Ok, POTA have one of the BEST DVDs ever, a Worthy buy...

Especially if you have a NUON player like I have... it has cool features.

 

I want those 2+ hours of my life back!!!

 

Agreed MetallicPea.

IMHO, the only films that should be remade are films that were originally bad, not classics that couldn't possibly be improved upon.

 

"I can't speak for anyone else, but I hated it because the plot was a piece of crap (and a thirty-year-old piece of crap at that), there was absolutely no character development, and the acting sucked. I will, however, say that the special effects (and there were special effects, for those of you that slept through it and didn't seem to notice that the apes weren't real) were phenomenal. Stan Winston strikes again, and makes us all remember why he kicks butt. "

Just a few corrections:
No character development? Let's see. Ari (the female chimp) realised her true calling as a champion of human rights, and fell in love with a human (unrequited). Thade (the villain) realised that apes aren't as superior as he thought, and ended the film a nervous wreck. Limbo (the slave trader) realised the error of his way and started trading WITH humans. Attar (the bad gorilla) realised that his whole life was a lie, and redeemed himself. Krull (the good gorilla) died fighting for the humans who he once despised.
Sounds like more character development than most films to me (even a certain Phantom Menace).
Acting sucked? Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Clarke Duncan are all Oscar-nominated actors, and they gave some of their best performances in this film.
Finally, the make-up was by Rick Baker, not Stan Winston.
Thanks for your comments, anyway

BTW, the ending is not stupid, it just requires a little thought.
After viewing the movie 42 times, I realised that the answer is simple.

After Marky Mark leaves, the apes and humans work together and invent new technologies. Hundreds of years pass, and they develop space travel. At that point, a renegade group of apes steal a spaceship and travel back through the time wormhole. They arrive on Earth before our hero, and take over the world with their advanced intellect and technology. They also remodel Lincoln's statue to pay tribute to the historical ape who inspired them, one General Thade.
So, by the time Mark arrives back, Earth has been completely assimilated by the apes.

Now, aren't you all glad I explained to you how great this film is?

 

Hundreds of years pass, and they develop space travel.

I would buy this for a second if they didn't go out of the way to explain that how un-savvy they were in regards to technology.

Also they ripped the ending off of Kevin Smith's "Chasing Dogma" comic book.

 

Apes going back through the time wormhole end up way back in our past? Alright. I guess I can accept that, but still say that the ending is stretching it lots. Still like the film overall.

 

"I would buy this for a second if they didn't go out of the way to explain that how un-savvy they were in regards to technology. "

That's why I said apes and humans working TOGETHER. Remember they were at peace at the end of the film.

 

An ending that can't be understood by 99.9% of the people who see the film is an ending that sucks.

If you want to do a shock ending then do one that the average viewer can easily understand - for example look at The Sixth Sense.

If the ending is one that only a select few will understand (or think they understand) then sorry, but your movie sucks.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble but Burton himself said that the ending was a joke and made no real sense. The remake sucked compared to the original.

 

The Sixth Sense - now that was a stupid twist ending.
Planet of the Apes = pure genius

 

I think that after audiences wanted to lap up Pearl Harbour, Tomb Raider and Jurassic Park III, but found those films to be horrible, they were desperatly hoping that PotA would be the one good film of the summer.

It wasn't even close.

There's a difference between what I would call the worst films of 2001 (Corky Romano, Joe Dirt, Swordfish) and the most disappointing films of 2001 (Jurassic Park III, Mummy Returns, The Majestic).

However, Planet Of The Apes was the one movie I would call a disappointment AND one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

(For me, the jury is still out on AI. I missed the beginning and drifted in and out of sleep at the end.)

 

Hehe, good form old boy as always Duckman.

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So you say that AI and the Ape movie will be the only two films from the summer of 2001 that people will watch several years from now?

I can name one other film from the summer of 2001 that many people will still be watching many years from now long after AI and POTA have been forgotten, and that film is SHREK.

 

the ending of POTA was stupid, its like the movie didn't really end....the graphics were pretty cool though, i'll give it that

 

"However, Planet Of The Apes was the one movie I would call a disappointment AND one of the worst movies I've ever seen. "

Don't get out much, do you?

 

Well *I* liked it. And its one of my abolute favs. Yes the origional had a better plot, but everything else from the effects to character personality in the new movie, totally outranks the origional by FAR!
I think I would say that the new and the origional, are pretty most equeal. The other 4, is not among my favorit movies, but I still own them, just to have a complete collection

EDIT: btw, the most underated movie of 2001: Snatch!

EDIT EDIT: Uhm... Snacth is from 2001 right ?