Please see the release calendar for releases from countries outside the US.
Nearly 30 years after the Planet of the Apes saga was completed with the release Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Fox decided to revisit the legendary series (ignoring the 2001 remake) to explore the origins of how the apes came to rule over us all. Rise of the Planet of the Apes tells that story so successfully, that follow-on films – including a possible reboot of the original – are surely in the works.
I am a fan of the martial arts style commonly known as Kung Fu. And I am a fan of animated children's films. But for whatever reason, I can't sit through Kung Fu Panda. That film, regardless of my personal judgment, was successful enough to warrant a sequel, and today Dreamworks is releasing Kung Fu Panda 2 on Blu-ray. As you will see below, staff reviewer Martin Liebman is a bigger fan of the series than I. Maybe it's just me?
For the Kung Fu Panda 2 Blu-ray review , staff reviewer Martin Liebman commented, "Its runaway success that's just as entertaining as the original but, more importantly, far more adept at character development." He continues, "DreamWorks' Blu-ray release of Kung Fu Panda 2 features breathtaking video and audio presentations, and this package is rounded into form by a host of good supplemental content."
Likely to be the most popular catalog Blu-ray release today, Disney's The Rocketeer. Before making comic book based films was the "in" thing to do (and something Hollywood has now done to excess), Disney took a huge gamble and created one of the best comic book based films in history. Of course, this film doesn't feature the jaw-dropping special effects of the more recent superhero films, but it nonetheless represents an important step in film history that will never be forgotten.
Staff reviewer Kenneth Brown commented in his The Rocketeer Blu-ray review , "Don't let twenty years of rust scare you off. The Rocketeer may not be as thrilling as it once was, but it remains one of the best comicbook adaptations of the '90s and a high-flying suerphero adventure sure to rope in plenty of fans, new and old. Disney's Blu-ray release isn't too shabby either."
Busy day for me, let's see. Branded to Kill, Tokyo Drifter, The Rocketeer, Stars and Stripes Forever, Meet Me in St. Louis, Heavenly Creatures, Rise of the Planet of Apes, Kind Fu Panda 2, Seven Chances, Sherlock Holmes, Rapture, City of God, and Fright Night (Original).
This week's titles due today from my preorders are two films I have long wanted in my collection: City of God and Velvet Goldmine. I'm pleased to add both these films to my library for the very first time. Also preordered and due to arrive within a few days is the UK steelbook edition of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (which should look nice next to my big box set of the original Apes series).
Down the line, and with fairly modest price drops, I'll definitely buy two films I very much have my eye on: Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter. With a sizeable price drop I'll likely also buy the regular US package of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
This week's candidates for consideration include Buster Keaton's Seven Chances and Meet Me in St Louis.
Nothing for me that I have to rush right out for but eventually I will pick up The Rocketeer, Stars And Stripes Forever, Meet Me in St. Louis and Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Rise of the Planet of The Apes. Just picked it up, and was tempted to get Kung Fu Panda 2, as well. I am going to watch for a lower price point on KFP2, since Dreamworks movies usually have great animation and a fun plot, but they are not on par with Pixar.
Is "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" a prequel to "Space Chimps?" Because that was what the cgi looked like. The main ape looks so bad. I can't take this movie serious. Did the Syfy channel produce it ? Knock the Tim Burton "Apes" all you want, but at least the make-up looked better than these cgi cartoon apes.
I'll probably just Redbox Fright Night and Kung Fu Panda 2. So I don't know whether to get Rise of the Planet of the Apes or Detective Dee. Either will be a blind buy.
Buying = Fright Night (waiting for my order from Screen Archives)
Later buying = Kung Fu Panda 2 - The Rocketeer - The Expendables (dir cut) with Christmas coming I have to spend money on other things, so movies for myself have to wait.
Rental = Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, very curious to see it but I have to agree with some people, the apes in CGI in the preview look very bad and fake.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was terrible. I'm a huge "Apes" movie fan. I have all the originals, I even didn't mind the re-boot that Tim Burton made. But this new movie was severely disappointing. The lead up to the action was slow and boring, and the action happened in the last 20 minutes of the movie. I did like the ending so if they made a sequel continuing from the this one ends, it might be okay. Just my opinion.
I am honestly flabbergasted that not one but two posters here claim to enjoy Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes over RotPotA. I hope I'm never in a position where either of you have to choose a movie for me to watch.
I'm very negative about most popular movies, but I thought that ROTPOTA was extremely well done. And I don't know what the complaints are about the CGI because I thought the CGI was amazing. Those complaints sound to me like the bit in "Bachelor Party" (I think) where the girl in the theatre says about the 3D: "I've seen better" (but then gets punched in the mouth by rioters in the theatre and exclaims, "wowwww!")
It didn't bother me at all that most of the action was at the end because up until then the movie developed character and context. But I can definitely see that if you're some hyperactive video-game freak who only wants to see movies with boobs, martial-arts fighting, wise-ass kids who talk like 30-year-olds, men behaving badly, women behaving badly, unrealistic relationships where people sleep with each other who they met five minutes before, robots causing destruction, guys who you wouldn't trust to drive you across the street piloting military aircraft that cost $500 million, gangbangers or the 2000th movie of wild teens camping or invading someone's home who get picked off one at a time by a crazed killer, then you certainly wouldn't like this movie.
As far as I'm concerned, they already made the first sequel to ROTPOTA: it's called "Contagion". Kidding aside, I'm looking forward to a sequel that futher explains how the human race gets wiped out and how the apes evolve and form a society. I'd rather see that than a reboot of POTA. I think that should be the third film.
Actually ROTPOTA was already done. It was called "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" which was much better in my opinion. And I'm not someone who has to watch a $300 million dollar movie. As a matter of fact the big budget action movies, in a lot of cases, bore me now. As I said I loved the Apes movies but this latest one just didn't do anything for me. I found it very slow and boring. And this from someone who liked "The Conspirator" which was also not an action packed movie but very well done. And with regards to the Tim Burton version, I liked it in that it was closer to the book than the original Heston version, although nothing beats the original Heston version.
