Planet of the Apes (2001 movie) - Definition and Overview

Film poster for Planet of the Apes (2001)

Planet of the Apes is a 2001 science fiction film in which an astronaut finds himself on a planet where humans are enslaved by apes. It stars Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, Estella Warren, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, David Warner and Kris Kristofferson and is releasd on Friday, July 27, 2001. Charlton Heston, star of the 1968 version, also has a small role.

The movie was adapted by William Broyles Jr., Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal from the novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle and the earlier film adaptation. It was directed by Tim Burton. It was panned by critics and attracted much derision from many fans of the older Ape films. In particular, the film attempted to imitate its earlier namesake by revealing a plot twist at the end. This twist resembles the one featured at the end of the original Boulle novel, and also is similar to the types of twists Rod Serling (writer of the original film) liked to use to end episodes of his famous TV series The Twilight Zone. However, this remained largely obscure and was considered by many to be a (perhaps deliberate) non-sequitur.

Prior to the film's release, Tim Burton indicated his desire to "reimagine" the other films in the Apes movie series.

External links

• Planet of the Apes (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133152/) at the Internet Movie Database