August 5th, 2011, 11:59 AM
Not a very long article but Indiana University has asked a couple of its faculty members to comment on the "Planet of the Apes" franchise. It's worth a read. Here is an excerpt:[indent]Is Planet of the Apes "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and therefore worthy of placement in the National Film Registry?
Hughes: "It most certainly is. The original film spawned four sequels, a television series, comic books along with the remake and this reboot of the franchise. An entire generation of science fiction fans grew up watching all of these Planet of the Apes movies at from dusk-till-dawn drive in theaters . . . It would be hard to list all the television, film and science fiction stories with references to the Planet of the Apes franchise."
Mullins: "What the last Tim Burton movie showed is that just a beautiful looking movie with apes in clothes is not enough to make a movie popular; somehow those themes of racial and cultural apocalypse need to resonate to make the film anything more than a momentary entertainment, and the original had that pertinence so it is often hailed as being a landmark because it speaks to its moment so well."[/indent]
They talk about Rod Serling's script in the article. The movie was based on the book by the same name, a French novel written by Pierre Boulle. The book has a surprise ending that is very different from what any of the movies use.
Hughes: "It most certainly is. The original film spawned four sequels, a television series, comic books along with the remake and this reboot of the franchise. An entire generation of science fiction fans grew up watching all of these Planet of the Apes movies at from dusk-till-dawn drive in theaters . . . It would be hard to list all the television, film and science fiction stories with references to the Planet of the Apes franchise."
Mullins: "What the last Tim Burton movie showed is that just a beautiful looking movie with apes in clothes is not enough to make a movie popular; somehow those themes of racial and cultural apocalypse need to resonate to make the film anything more than a momentary entertainment, and the original had that pertinence so it is often hailed as being a landmark because it speaks to its moment so well."[/indent]
They talk about Rod Serling's script in the article. The movie was based on the book by the same name, a French novel written by Pierre Boulle. The book has a surprise ending that is very different from what any of the movies use.