Planet of the Apes (2001)

An Air Force astronaut crash lands on a mysterious planet where evolved, talking apes dominant a race of primitive humans.

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

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

Stars:

Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 9 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Commander Karl Vasich

Storyline

It is the year 2029: Astronaut Leo Davidson boards a pod cruiser on a Space Station for a "routine" reconnaissance mission. But an abrupt detour through a space time wormhole lands him on a strange planet where talking apes rule over the human race. With the help of a sympathetic chimpanzee activist named Ari and a small band of human rebels, Leo leads the effort to evade the advancing Gorilla Army led by General Thade and his most trusted warrior Attar. Now the race is on to reach a sacred temple within the planet's Forbidden Zone to discover the shocking secrets of mankind's past - and the key to its future.

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Plot Keywords:

planet | astronaut | chimpanzee | wormhole | cage | 

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Taglines:

Rule the planet.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sequences of action/violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 July 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Return of the Apes

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,753,679 (Italy) (14 September 2001)

Gross:

$180,011,740 (USA) (25 January 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Zanuck Company, The, Tim Burton Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (uncredited)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Different versions of this film were in development since 1988. Directors involved in pre-production over the years include Alan Rifkin, Sam Raimi, Oliver Stone, Phillip Noyce, Chuck Russell, Chris Columbus, Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, and Albert Hughes & Allen Hughes. In 1993, Oliver Stone wanted Terry Hayes as writer and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role. James Cameron dropped out in 1997 after the success of Titanic.

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Goofs

During the final battle, studio lights are reflected on Thade's helmet.

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Quotes

Limbo: [emerging from his hiding place] Oh! It's over already? I was *just* about to make my move...

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Crazy Credits

Anne Ramsay's character Grace Alexander is referred to as "Anderson" in the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Introducing the Incredible Nightcrawler! (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Rule The Planet Remix"
A Paul Oakenfold Mix
Additional Production by: Paul Oakenfold and Povi
Additional Guitars: Emerson Swinford

User Reviews

"Apes Lite"

Tim Burton's new "Planet of the Apes" is actually a remake--excuse me, a "re-imagining"--of the first TWO movies of the old series. Its occasional paraphrasing of lines from the original movie (devoid of any meaningful context), and its cameos by members of the original cast (Charlton Heston and Linda Harrison), only underscore that this new version isn't what the original was, i.e., an original. Mark Wahlberg, as Our Hero, has none of the cynical, edgy complexity of Heston's Taylor, and is in fact the sort of can-do flyboy Taylor found laughable. Much as I adore Helena Bonham Carter, her turn as Ari, a sultry, sexy, meddling, annoying human-rights activist, is ultimately tiresome, and absolutely incomparable to Kim Hunter's brave, brilliant, impish Zira of the old series. The role is also a criminal waste of Bonham Carter's beauty, hidden as it is behind a bizarre makeup that looks neither ape nor human. Rick Baker's highly-touted ape makeups (which I've enjoyed since the days of "Schlock" and "Kentucky Fried Movie") are highly uneven here. Tim Roth's villainous Thade has the best, with most of the rest being just adequate and no particular improvement over John Chambers' work in the original. And the socko ending (keep reading; I won't spoil it for you) is simply tacked on: unlike the jolting end of the original, it neither ties together nor arises from the movie's earlier action in a way that Explains Everything. Instead, it begs so many questions (mainly "How the heck did THAT happen?") that it seems engineered (or contrived) solely to set the stage for more sequels. All told, this is "Apes Lite," a comic-bookish caricature of the original, made for the short-attention-span crowd. It made me want to do something I hadn't done in ages: fire up the VCR and roll the original again. It's typical of the 1968 movie's gritty, clever irony that the first word of dialogue uttered by an ape--his entire line, in fact--is "Smile."