I'm a big fan of all things Planet of The Apes... the movies, the tv series (the ultimate), the Saturday morning cartoon, the Mego "dolls", the later action figure line.

Did you GO APE in the 70s? Did you witness Ape Mania first hand? Likes / dislikes?

http://www.hadleyburg.demon.co.uk/patv/pimg/pifcfl.jpg

http://www.foreignmego.com/images/palitoyapes.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr2sCLLrHU0

I have never seen a full Planet of the Apes (original) movie, but I did see the remake with Mark Wahlberg, and despite what all the critics said, I really enjoyed it, which made me want to see the originals.  Something I still need to do

I enjoyed all the original movies, and did have a couple of the action figures. I didn't like the series though, it was too much like the Dukes of Hazzard with monkeys. The new movie with Markie Mark was... interesting.

... it was too much like the Dukes of Hazzard with monkeys.

;D ;D ;D

As for the new 2001 remake, I can't say I wasn't disappointed. I know they were going for a more realistic ape, but I preferred my apes more human-like. I also wished they'd stuck to the original clothe stylings as the originals. The storyline was okay though.

Whistle, you really must have a look at the original movies if you're into your sci-fi. They're all great so you can't go too wrong.

I love Planet of the Apes.  I've seen all of the movies and watched the series.  I never had any of the action figures but the boys next door did and I got to play with them when I went over their house.

I thought the first film and the third were the best. Actually the third, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, was my favorite because it took place in 'modern' day LA. 

The second one always puts me to sleep.

I liked the one that depicted the great Ape Revolt of 1986, I think it was Conquest (I always get Conquest and Battle confused) because it was fun to see what they thought the world would look like then.

The Mark Wahlberg remake was alright for what it was but can never compare to the classic. I really liked the ending with the Ape Cops at the Capitol. 

The TV series was fun.

I loved the Planet of the Apes.
As a kid this was our "Star Wars" or "Harry Potter".

Its a wonder how so many note that Star Wars brought about the first real impact of merchandising to modern movie success, when as I remember it we were awash in POTA merchandise. Around '70-'73 as a 7-12 year old POTA was everywhere, TV, movies, toys, lunchboxes, Halloween costumes.
I remember almost getting heat stroke from wearing a POTA rubber mask that year! ;D
I look back now and realize that the success of this franchise paved the way for blockbuster films like Star Wars and the like.

I loved the Planet of the Apes.
As a kid this was our "Star Wars" or "Harry Potter".

Its a wonder how so many note that Star Wars brought about the first real impact of merchandising to modern movie success, when as I remember it we were awash in POTA merchandise. Around '70-'73 as a 7-12 year old POTA was everywhere, TV, movies, toys, lunchboxes, Halloween costumes.
I remember almost getting heat stroke from wearing a POTA rubber mask that year! ;D
I look back now and realize that the success of this franchise paved the way for blockbuster films like Star Wars and the like.


Very good points, especially with the whole Star Wars paving the way for modern sci-fi.

;D @ the POTA mask! Good times they must've been!

I remember seeing POTA Mego figures in toy shops as a very young kid and being too afraid to ask my Mum if I could have them as the boxes they were in were all scuffed for some reason and she'd think they were old and not worth the money.  :-\\  :)

Those Planet of the Apes movies were based on the book "La Planète des singes" by Pierre Boulle. He also wrote "The Bridge over the River Kwai".

How the apes manage to take over Earth is a little different in the book. I never heard it mentioned until recently as to the difference between the movie and the book. An entry in wikipedia sums up the book's version:

"Evidence is uncovered which fills in the missing history of the apes. In the distant past, the planet was ruled by human beings, who built a technological society, and enslaved apes to perform their manual labor. Over time the humans became more and more dependent upon the apes, until eventually they became so lazy and degenerate that they were overthrown by their ape servants and fell into the primitive state in which our protagonist found them".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes

Pretty funny how the movie took a different route.

Those Planet of the Apes movies were based on the book "La Planète des singes" by Pierre Boulle. He also wrote "The Bridge over the River Kwai".

How the apes manage to take over Earth is a little different in the book. I never heard it mentioned until recently as to the difference between the movie and the book. An entry in wikipedia sums up the book's version:

"Evidence is uncovered which fills in the missing history of the apes. In the distant past, the planet was ruled by human beings, who built a technological society, and enslaved apes to perform their manual labor. Over time the humans became more and more dependent upon the apes, until eventually they became so lazy and degenerate that they were overthrown by their ape servants and fell into the primitive state in which our protagonist found them".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes

Pretty funny how the movie took a different route.


Hmm, this is different than I knew or surmised.

I thought (wrongly) that someway or somehow, that the Planet of the Apes and its basic storyline was associated with some failed storyline from Rod Serling AKA "Twilight Zone".

No, I'm too lazy to do the search or background online to support or discredit my statements, its just something that I had in my head since I was a kid.

I knew the actual original story was by a French writer, but, as I thought the movie storyline originated, it was never put to an actual script until Serling and others tried (unsuccessfully) to get it on the air for the original series, then was used for the movie sometime later.

Gotta admit the ending is very "Twilight Zone"ish...no?

Now that you mention it, I can see some similarities between Planet and Twilight Zone.

I thought the first film and the third were the best. Actually the third, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, was my favorite because it took place in 'modern' day LA. 

The second one always puts me to sleep.

I liked the one that depicted the great Ape Revolt of 1986, I think it was Conquest (I always get Conquest and Battle confused) because it was fun to see what they thought the world would look like then.

The Mark Wahlberg remake was alright for what it was but can never compare to the classic. I really liked the ending with the Ape Cops at the Capitol. 

The TV series was fun.


I finally looked it up, the year of the great ape revolt wasn't 1986 but 1991.  I love the concept of Ape Slavery:  apes learning from Ceasar in secret because they are not supposed to know how to read/speak. The separation between orangutans and chimps/gorillas.  Its the house slave versus the field slave all over again.  The ape/slave rebellion/revolution.  Ceaser is the Nat Turner of the apes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner

People often write this film off too soon.  I think I will sit down and watch it again along with 1 and 3. I'm gonna skip 2 and 5 tho cause they really bore me.

I thought (wrongly) that someway or somehow, that the Planet of the Apes and its basic storyline was associated with some failed storyline from Rod Serling AKA "Twilight Zone".


Rod was actually one of the people involved in trying to make a screenplay of this movie.  There were many rewrites over the years in the attempt to make this movie.  The main reason it never died is that Charlton Heston was the driving force behind it, and he really believed in the project.

The main reason that the movie was changed was budget.  20th Century Fox simply did not give them the budget needed to make the apes "Futurastic", so they made them more primitave.  And although the original ending is classic, the remake was more in tune with the original story.

I also was (and still am) a POTA fan.  I have all of the movies on DVD, as well as the TV series and cartoon series.  And I still remember the tv series and cartoon when they ran on TV.  We 70's kids absolutely loved them.  And even Arnold Horshack was a fan, since he carried a POTA lunchbox.

I'm glad you mentioned the animated series. I was going to, but wasn't really sure if it was real, or just another one of those figments.