Assignment 17- Fister

Planet of the Apes (1968) and Planet of the Apes (2001). One received an honorary Academy Award, was nominated for two more, and concludes with one of the most shocking and well known twist endings in film history. The other was directed by Tim Burton and holds a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. Obligatory spoiler warning for both movies, although the original is over 50 years old and the remake's ending doesn't even make sense within context of the movie anyway (on purpose!)

Both films feature the same basic premise: astronaut(s) lands on a supposedly alien world inhabited by advanced apes, while humans behave like animals. Both stories are based on the original french novel, titled La Planète de singes, although the 2001 remake follows it more closely. The original begins with Charlton Heston as George Taylor, sharing his deepest thoughts about mankind aboard a spacecraft before joining his sleeping crew in their space pods/bunk beds. After their vessel lands on an unidentified planet in the year 3978, the crew encounters a tribe of mute animalistic humans. During an ensuing pursuit by gorilla hunters, Taylor is captured and taken to the ape city where he is studied by the sympathetic chimpanzee Zira, but is deplored by the villainous orangutan Dr. Zaius. After a failed escape attempt, his ability to speak is revealed, and Zira's fiancé Cornelius takes them to an archeological site which proves man's existence on the planet before apes. Taylor is allowed to leave with his female "mate," Nova, but comes across the remnants of the Statue of Liberty, revealing the planet is Earth following a nuclear fallout that allowed apes to become the dominant species.

The remake begins similarly with a much larger crew of astronauts aboard a space station, but opts for using a worm hole as its time jump mechanic instead of hyper sleep. Mark Wahlberg plays the lead, an astronaut once again on a mysterious planet ruled by apes. However, a difference is that the humans he encounters are intelligent and able to speak, which muddles the reason they are even deemed inferior by the apes. After being captured, Marky Mark and a small group of humans escape ape town with the help of Ari, a clear equivalent of Zira from the original. After they walk around for about 45 minutes while being pursued by General Thade, the chimpanzee villain, they come across an ape camp and exploit the apes' fear of water to escape again. Eventually discovering his crew's crashed space station, Mark Wahlberg learns through the underwhelming plot device of a video recording that his crew went through the wormhole but arrived on the planet before him, and the on board test apes eventually revolted against them. All of the apes and humans on the planet are revealed to be descended from those onboard the space station. A battle ensues between the ape and human armies, General Thade eventually being defeated and Mark Wahlberg returning to modern day Earth. He lands in Washington, D.C. only to discover the Lincoln Memorial altered to depict and memorialize Thade. He stares in disbelief as he is surrounded by gorilla officers (fade to black.)

This ending was based around the idea that it would be explained in a sequel, which was never made. Despite it making no sense, I actually really like the remake's ending. Although it was a clear attempt to recreate the shock from the original's ending, this was an impossible feat, as the stature of liberty reveal is just too iconic and well done. The remake's ending is closer to the book's, where the ape planet is not Earth all along, but somehow Earth has succumb to the same simian fate. It is a genuine surprise to see Lincoln's face replaced with that of Thade, and who doesn't like gorillas in cop cars? It also mimics the original's feeling of inescapable doom due to man's failure, even if not as well executed.

The original has a tight plot with subtle hints throughout as to the planet's true origin. The remake has a strange pacing where everything is set up in an enjoyable first 20 minutes, then it feels like time stands still (despite going forward 3000 years) for the next 80 minutes, and everything is explained in an underwhelming final 20 minutes. With a gradual drip of information and a more compelling method of revealing it, the remake's original and interesting backstory could have not only kept the audience engaged throughout the entire 2 hour runtime but also allowed for a smoother flow of a movie. There are some strange implications however, as the crew crash landed, then just decided to all reproduce in order to populate a random planet. The original has a much cleaner and simpler backstory of man destroying himself, thus paving the way for "something better than man" to take its place. I can however respect the remake for being different and not directly copying the original, as Tim Burton referred to it as a "reimagining" rather than a "remake."

One of the most well-known aspects of Tim Burton's film direction is his development of a distinct style. This is prevalent in Planet of the Apes, and the style developed is remarkably different from that of the original. The 1968 version has a reflective, thoughtful voice throughout, examining man's weaknesses as a species and earning its recognition as a "science fiction morality tale." The remake is instead a more "science fictiony" movie, focusing less on deep reflection of man's destiny and more on confusing time travel and gloomy ape dinner parties. There are also several choices that were made to clearly differentiate itself from its far superior predecessor, such as the apes maintaining ape-like behavior (yelping, running on all fours) and the humans not being reduced to an animal state. These work against the movie however, as it brings to question why the humans are enslaved in the first place. In the original, the apes are clearly the more advanced species, when in the remake there is no logical reason for the humans to be looked down upon. The ape town is also in a jungle reminiscent of Avatar, instead of the original's desert setting. Burton's ape town has a distinct natural feel to it, the set/production design being one aspect I believe was done well. The apes armor and costumes are also really well designed, contributing to the film's unique feel that sets it apart from the original. Also the apes use swords which is something I never knew I wanted in a Planet of the Apes movie.

Another aspect of the remake done well is the makeup. John Chambers' makeup on the original film was revolutionary, earning him an honorary Academy Award before the category for hair and makeup was created. The remake goes for a more realistic style, still utilizing practical makeup instead of CGI. Certain characters like Thade straight up look like talking chimps, which is great. But Ari, the chimp who helps the humans, is purposefully made to appear more human like, with a reduced snout and brow. This is a clear attempt to connect her with the human characters and make audiences sympathize with her, although it is unnecessary and distracting, making her look like a weird hybrid instead of an ape. An ape character doesn't need to appear human-like to garner sympathy and support from the audience, as demonstrated with the original's Zira. Both films use of makeup also doesn't hinder the actors from having strong performances. All the ape actors do a remarkable job of developing their roles beneath their ape masks, with the worst acting ironically coming from the very human appearing Mark Wahlberg.

Many homages are also respectfully made to the original throughout the 2001 film. Charlton Heston and Linda Harrison (who played Nova) both make cameo appearances. Heston plays an elderly ape, named "Zaius" after the original's villain, and repeats his line from the original, "Damn them all to hell!" The most famous line from the original, "get your stinkin' paws off me you damn dirty ape," is also retooled and spoken by a gorilla as "get your stinkin' hands of me you damn dirty human," which I appreciate as a major fan of the original film. I was very disappointed, however, that they didn't find a way to include the greatest line ever spoken in a film, "You cut up his brain you bloody baboon!"

If you are still reading this I hope you enjoyed my analysis/comparison of the two versions of Planet of the Apes. In my 8 paragraphs you may have picked up on the fact that I prefer "Planet of the Apes" to "Planet of the Apes". While the original still stands today as a sci-fi masterpiece, the remake introduced new and intriguing ideas that ultimately fell flat, despite a strong cast, good production design, makeup, and Mark Wahlberg's sub-par acting.