# Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-ray Review



## Dale Rasco

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=7542[/img]*Title: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Starring: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton
Directed by: Rupert Wyatt
Written by: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 105 Minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: 12/12/2011* 
*Movie:* :4stars:
*Video:* :4.5stars:
*Audio:* :4.5stars: 
*Extras:* :4stars:
*HTS Overall Score:*87 

*Summary:* 
First off I want to say that as a kid I was a huge Planet of the Apes fan. I had the Mego action figures, the tree-house adventure set and the vinyl Halloween costumes. Yes, I know the original film inside and out. ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ is the second reboot of the franchise in the past ten years and while it will never replace my memories of the original from my childhood, it is, in my opinion, the best since the original and in a completely different league than the Tim Burton travesty from 2001.

Will Rodman (Franco), a scientist blinded by his own desperation to find a cure for his father’s Alzheimer’s disease, discovers the child of his prize subject after a terrible accident leaves the baby chimp orphaned. Rather than leaving the baby chimp to his doom at the research facility, Will decides to take him home and continue his research in private. After a couple of days, Will discovers that his new roommate, now named Caesar, has an accelerated learning ability that has been genetically handed down from his mother. Sometime later, Will decides that he can no longer wait for human trials of his new drug and decides to give the serum to his father in hopes of curing the degenerative disease that is slowly erasing his father’s mind. [img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=7547[/img]

Several years later, Caesar takes on the role of protector for the family which eventually leads to his incarceration at a primate facility that torments and abuses it's ape population. Now Caesar realizes his true destiny to lead his brothers and sisters to freedom from the tiranny that they have all been subject to for far too long.

I have to admit that 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' wasn’t at all what I expected. That being said, my expectations were quite low given the last attempt to reboot the franchise ended in such a mockery. I thought the story did it’s best to keep within most of the outline that was set forth by the original films. They did miss on a few things such as the name of the first ape that said ‘No’ was supposed to be ‘Aldo’, but I think Caesar works fine. There were some other minor inconsistencies as well as several campy scenes but I think that it really worked for the film as a whole.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=7548[/img]‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ is not what I would consider an action movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it is one of the most solid sci-fi films that I have seen in quite a while. Additionally the CGI is ridiculously good. The filmmakers were able to capture a level of emotions from Caesar that I have not seen in a CGI/stop motion character to date. In fact I would strongly suggest that parents think twice before letting younger children watch the movie because the CGI is so incredibly lifelike that the apes may cause nightmares. 

Overall I thought that Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a good movie. There are some inconsistencies and the dialogue is a bit cheesy in a couple of spots, but these things did little to deter my enjoyment of the film. Given that the film grossed almost $470 million worldwide I would say that a sequel is inevitable and given the state of things when the movie ended, I for one am really looking forward to seeing it.


*Rating:* 
Rated PG-13 for intense and frightening sequences of action and violence

*Video:* :4.5stars:
The 1080P AVC encode for ‘Rise’ looks fantastic! The level of detail can be almost overwhelming at times and the natural look of the film is outstanding. I couldn’t get over how realistic Caesar looks in this film. It’s almost impossible to differentiate him from the living actors on the screen. This is a ‘class A’ presentation and while it’s not reference quality, it is definitely worth a gander. Black levels are deep and inky with very slight crushing in a couple of spots. Color reproduction is brilliant but not overwhelming and fleshtones are equally impressive. The transfer has a very cinematic quality to it and doesn’t come off too polished as most blockbusters do these days.





























*Audio:* :4.5stars:
The 5.1 DTS-HD-MA is a bit of tricky one to grade as this is not a typical adrenaline fueled sonic bliss type of presentation that we are all used to getting these days. That being said, this is definitely a thoughtful and well-rounded presentation. Directionality is perfect and engaging as each channel has a life of its own. The score is masterful and gives just the right amount of emotion to each scene without being too intrusive. When the action finally does start up in the third act it isn’t explosive or overly processed but very realistic and balanced. Dialogue reproduction is outstanding and voices are thick with a lot of texture and LFE is proportionate and not invasive. I am not sure how this audio could have actually been any better for what the movie is. 

*Extras:* :4stars:


11 Deleted Scenes
The Genius of Andy Serkis 
Scene Breakdown 
A New Generation of Apes 
Breaking Motion Capture Boundaries 
The Great Apes 
Mythology of the Apes 
Composing the Score with Patrick Doyle 
Audio Commentaries 
Character Concept Art Gallery 
Theatrical Trailers



*Overall:* :4.5stars:
Overall I found 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' to be the best ‘Apes’ movie since the original. Yes, it does have some cheesy dialogue and there are some details that you have to overlook, but come on gang, we are talking about a science fiction movie in which apes become the dominant species on the planet. Are you really going to hold this film to such high standards? In the wake of an endless chain of franchise reboots I found ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ to be a fresh, original and satisfying ride. You know the drill; check your brain and you will be fine! Fans of the franchise or genre will not regret buying this one outright so go for it!



*Recommendation: Buy It!​*



Official Blu-Ray Reviews Scoring


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## Moonfly

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I have to say I thought this film was ace. I didnt catch the cheesy lines, in fact I thought they put a lot of effort into not being cheesey when compared to just about any other SF film out there. I must have missed the inconsistencies as well because again I thought they did a good job of avoiding the usual we see in this kind of film. Everything was explained in an actually very reasonable way, the pace of the film was just right, and it was refreshing to see a sci-fi film that didnt rely on good subwoofers to get you through it. Even the misses loved it, and she hates SF films generally speaking.

All in all, for me, probably the best Sci-Fi film this year, and maybe even for a good few years. I cant really fault anything in it aside from a couple times the chimp seemed a little to intelligent, but then that was kinda the whole point.


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## KalaniP

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I concur. Really solid film, excellent BR.

There were times that I thought the apes didn't look 100% natural... I caught some "CGI-ness" here and there. But it didn't detract from the film. The high resolution facial motion capture technology used to recreate Andy Serkis' performance (the same actor who played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) was stunning. I highly recommend watching some of the special features about how this was done, too... it was really fascinating to watch Andy Serkis doing some of his performances, before they digitally swapped him out.


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## Dale Rasco

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*



Moonfly said:


> I didnt catch the cheesy lines, in fact I thought they put a lot of effort into not being cheesey when compared to just about any other SF film out there.


When Dodge (Felton) says the famous "get your hands off me you dirty ape!" That's a bit cheesy. 



> I must have missed the inconsistencies as well because again I thought they did a good job of avoiding the usual we see in this kind of film. Everything was explained in an actually very reasonable way, the pace of the film was just right, and it was refreshing to see a sci-fi film that didnt rely on good subwoofers to get you through it. Even the misses loved it, and she hates SF films generally speaking.


In the original film series the first ape to say the word 'No' was called 'Aldo', Caesar was the son of Cornelius and Zira. The inconsistencies I mentioned are things like when the apes jump through the glass windows at Gen-Sys they are shown jumping out of 4 and 5 story windows however; when the camera pulls back the building is only two stories. Just little things like that. Barely noticable. 




> All in all, for me, probably the best Sci-Fi film this year, and maybe even for a good few years. I cant really fault anything in it aside from a couple times the chimp seemed a little to intelligent, but then that was kinda the whole point.


I agree, I loved it. I think you read too much into my comments.


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## Stitch

Great job,dale! I watched this bd last night and loved it..good background story and awesome effects..I,too am already looking forward to sequel..and freida pinto certainly doesn't hurt my eyes...just sayin..


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## JBrax

Great movie and Dale pretty much nails the review. Only thing I would change is the recommendation from rent to buy. It's firmly planted in my BD rack.


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## Moonfly

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*



Dale Rasco said:


> When Dodge (Felton) says the famous "get your hands off me you dirty ape!" That's a bit cheesy.


I guess, but I wrote that off as that simply being that kind of clean cut character. Ive heard such things muttered in real life :O



> In the original film series the first ape to say the word 'No' was called 'Aldo', Caesar was the son of Cornelius and Zira. The inconsistencies I mentioned are things like when the apes jump through the glass windows at Gen-Sys they are shown jumping out of 4 and 5 story windows however; when the camera pulls back the building is only two stories. Just little things like that. Barely noticable.


I must confess I did miss that one, though I know the scene of which you speak. After noticing the height from which they jumped, I was concentrating on looking for apes with limps etc lol. Ive never watched the original films, Ive only seen passing scenes here and there, but I guess it wouldnt be hard for the sequel to have Caesar change his own name, would that work? Things I did like though was how they brought in aspects like how they came about to ride horses, the origins of them using spears, and also how they sow the seeds for the demise of humans. I thing the demise of the humans is important because even with the intelligence, I kept thinking 'even so, they wouldnt take over', but an epidemic could explain that.

There was one inconsistency though. The 112 strain was rejected by human antibodies, which was the whole reason for the 113 super strain. I get why apes could withstand the super strain, but surely the original one should have been rejected by the apes immune system, and done so much more quickly that it was in humans. I had to kind of tell myself that the ape immune system didnt see the original strain as a virus, but given ape and human physiology being quite similar, I did find that one hard to digest, and had to simply write it off.




> I agree, I loved it. I think you read too much into my comments.


Yeah your probably right :T Although I will agree with JBrax, this should be a recommended buy, especially for sc-fi fans as I dont think they come much better produced than this.

I will also say this for this film, it has caused me to become interested in the entire series. I now want to catch the 2001 film even though Ive read its terrible, but thats mostly due to the space mission and lost in space hints dropped during the movie. And I am thinking of sourcing the original films as well.


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## Dale Rasco

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*



Moonfly said:


> I guess, but I wrote that off as that simply being that kind of clean cut character. Ive heard such things muttered in real life :O


The problem with the line for me was that the line was more of an ode' to the original movie in which Charlton Heston's character said the line. In the 2001 they did something similar and I just think the overall delivery was cheesy. 

You make some great points Dan that I did notice while watching but failed to mention in the review mainly for spoiler reasons. They have a really good impact when they happen.


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## Moonfly

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*



Dale Rasco said:


> The problem with the line for me was that the line was more of an ode' to the original movie in which Charlton Heston's character said the line. In the 2001 they did something similar and I just think the overall delivery was cheesy.
> 
> You make some great points Dan that I did notice while watching but failed to mention in the review mainly for spoiler reasons. They have a really good impact when they happen.


I guess I need to catch up with the originals as I was entirely unaware of that line connection to the earlier films. Like you say, those points do have great impact, and that was even for me with my very limited knowledge of the series, and I have a lot of time for movie producers that go to the effort of doing a good job like this. I have managed to borrow the original from a friend, but getting hold of the original films isnt going to be too easy. The originals never interested me, but this film has been good enough to get me interested enough to seek them out and complete what I know of the story, if nothing else, that has to be a sign of a great movie I think. 

All in all this is a bang on review though, so good work again. My only problem is how on earth Conan scored so highly when its such an apparently poor film, and the fact this review has to share the rental recommendation with that film. Go on Dale, you know this one is well worth adding to anyones collection :bigsmile:


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## Dale Rasco

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

What do you mean? :bigsmile:


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## Moonfly

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

Buy buy buy :neener:


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## Dale Rasco

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

Obviously you misread my recommendation...:dontknow:


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## smurphy522

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

This is one movie I would welcome under my Tree. Thank you for the review Dale!


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## Moonfly

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*



Dale Rasco said:


> Obviously you misread my recommendation...:dontknow:


Wow it looks like I did, although in my defence I wasnt the only one :bigsmile:



JBrax said:


> Great movie and Dale pretty much nails the review. Only thing I would change is the recommendation from rent to buy. It's firmly planted in my BD rack.


You sure you didnt edit it :whistling: :heehee:


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## Dale Rasco

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*



Moonfly said:


> You sure you didnt edit it :whistling: :heehee:


Not me; unless there is a screenshot proving otherwise..... :devil:


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## JBrax

Dale went rope a dope on us! Busted Dale


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## Dale Rasco

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

Well in my own defense, I was trying to be as obvious as possible.


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## phreak

Thanks for the review Dale. On your recommendation (edit) I intend to purchase this one. The comments indicate that it is far better than the reboot attempt 10 years ago. I watched that one with no prior influences, having seen nothing of the previous versions. Like all science fiction movies, I watch with the expectation of more fiction than science, and I don't get uptight about unrealistic space missions when watching a flick about talking chimps running the planet. I very much enjoyed that movie, so I have high expectations for this one.


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## d12d

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I liked this movie and would recommend it to others. However it was not quite what I expected based on all the previews. It was made out to be more of an action movie and while not dull there was not a lot of action. I would say a 8/10.


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## Jon Liu

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I watched this one and while I enjoyed it, it wasn't as good as people were making it out to be. That's just my opinion, of course. I thought Franco didn't do that great of a job and the star of the show definitely was Caesar, but something about him I just couldn't fully believe... I dunno.


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## Moonfly

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I guess that might boil down to whether or not your expecting to watch an action film or not. I think if they had tried to fit some more action in, it would have been for the sake of it and would have degraded it from what it is now.


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## d12d

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I completely agree regarding the amount of action that is in the movie. My point wasn't that there should be more but that from all of the previews I thought it would be more of an action movie. They made it seem like it would be more Apes vs Humans but I don't think that was necessarily the case with the movie. I thought this was good and worth watching.


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## Dale Rasco

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I think the one common thing I have heard from others is "It wasn't what I was expecting". When my wife puts down the iPad and actually watches the movie, that's saying something. I agree with both of you, it had just the right amount of action and outstanding character development.


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## typ44q

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*



Moonfly said:


> I guess that might boil down to whether or not your expecting to watch an action film or not. I think if they had tried to fit some more action in, it would have been for the sake of it and would have degraded it from what it is now.


I agree, it is more of a origins story (for which I am a sucker for) with just the right amount of action. 
This was one of my favorite movies of last year. I thought they did a great job of making the story as plausible as possible while remaining faithful to the original story. The CGI and motion capture were excellent, easily some of the best seen in any movie.


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## JBrax

I think sometimes we go into a movie with preconceived notions and expectations. Movies for myself are simply an escape from the daily grind of life. I like to sit back and veg out and enjoy the ride.


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## aLittletank

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I really enjoyed this movie and I thought my wife summed it up really well when I heard her describe it to a friend of hers. "I had every emotion a some point while watching this movie". I thought about and sure enough I ran the whole range at some point during this film.


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## bambino

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

My wife and i watched it the other night and we both thought it was a great movie. Not sure i'd buy it but i definatly enjoyed it.:T


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## Infrasonic

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

This is easily one of the best movies of the year. I spoke to some people who were just turned off by the title, maybe remembering the disastrous Marky-Mark remake a decade ago and not being Sci-Fi fans to begin with. After actually watching the movie everyone truly enjoyed it. If you haven’t seen it don’t even bother renting it, just buy it.


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## Thunderheader

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

After watching the first iteration, I am glad that it finally was made. The first leaves you hanging definitely wanting more, if you are a fan of sci-fi, cannot wait until the sequel. Awesome flick!


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## Todd Anderson

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I was skeptical that I would enjoy this one. I am pleased to report that I absolutely loved it. Great story. Great character development. Some good action... and it shook the HT.

Thanks for reviewing this one. If you haven't seen it, put it on your list!


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## kcnitro07

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I enjoyed this movie immensenly when I redboxed it. I watched it twice before returning it!


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## Mud_Bone

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

maybe I was thinking too much about the original series, but story wise I was not impressed, it felt to be to be carried along on the strengths of the CGI, which I found very good btw. I'm rather middle of the road on this one I suppose but, put it this way, I will not be taking time to watch it again.


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## tee111

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

Great Movie! something different to a everyday action/thriller movie..


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## TypeA

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

Really enjoyed this blu ray, story was great and the audio/video were top notch


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## Picture_Shooter

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

Watched this when it was released in my local theater. Enjoyed it and now glad I own it on bluray.

It gets more spins then Tron


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## dsully444

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

I watched this and thought it was a good movie. I always tend to like the prequils when they explain the origing of movies that have already been released. I thought the sound quality was excellent. I would definitely watch this one again. My wife would tend to disagree with me though.


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## KiddLawson

*Re: Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Blu-Ray Review*

My dad used to be huge Planets of the Apes fan, so I low expectations for this movie compared to the one that came out in 2001. But... I agree with everything you said, cheesy lines and all! It's about time we saw a somewhat intelligent approach to the sci-fi movie world. The picture and sound was definitely agreeable with my HT!


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## alaskagal

I've just added this movie to my "to-watch" list. I am a fan of the original Planet of the Apes. I also like Frieda Pinto.


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## ozar

alaskagal said:


> I've just added this movie to my "to-watch" list. I am a fan of the original Planet of the Apes. I also like Frieda Pinto.


It's very different from the original planet of the apes movies, but quite good nonetheless.


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## alaskagal

I finally watched this movie and quite enjoyed it. I've seen the original Charlton Heston, but not the 2001 remake. So, this particular movie is a REBOOT. If you discount the originals, and don't look for a continuity, then it is most enjoyable. I had to look up the word REBOOT.

- which according to wikipedia:
In serial fiction, to reboot means to discard much or even all previous continuity in the series and start anew with fresh ideas. Effectively, the writer(s) declare all established fictive history to be irrelevant to the new storyline, and start the series over as if brand-new.


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## kingnoob

Very good movie id say it gets a 70/100 monkeys or super monkeys are cool. But I expected superpower full X-men monkeys ! not super smart ones, I need to watch the older one.


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