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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes

    Featured In Issue 138, January/February 2009

    Picture2.5
    Sound2.5
    WSR Score3
    Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
    (Studio/Distributor):
    20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    2255152
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG
    (Rating Reason):
    NA
    (Retail Price):
    $159.98
    (Disc Type):
    Five-Disc Set: BD-50
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    87
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    1
    (Theatrical Year):
    1972
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    11/04/08
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    J. Lee Thompson
    (Screenplay/Written By):
    (Story):
    (Music):
    (Director Of Photography):
    (Production Designer):
    (Visual Effects):
    (Costume Designer):
    (Editor):
    (Supervising Sound Editors):
    (Re-Recording Mixers):
    (Executive Producers):
    (Co-Producers):
    (Producers):
    (Academy Awards):
    (Principal Photography):
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
    (Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
    (Disc Soundtrack):
    Dolby Digital 1.0, DTS HD Lossless 5.1
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
    (Subtitles):
    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
    (Japanese Language):
    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    In Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, all dogs and cats have been wiped out by disease, so people begin to keep monkeys as pets, eventually turning them into slaves. This stirs an uprising among the apes towards humans that is led by the offspring of Cornelius and Zira, who were the only evolved apes to escape the destruction of the ape world. Roddy McDowall, who played Cornelius, appears as his son Caesar (named Milo in the episode in which he was born). (Gary Reber)

    Special features include both unrated and
    theatrical versions of the film; three featurettes: Riots And Revolutions: Confronting The Times (HD 21 minutes), A Look Behind The Planet Of The Apes (1972), and J. Lee Thompson Directs Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes; the original theatrical trailer; a future news gallery; an interactive pressbook; an advertising gallery; a lobby card gallery; a behind-the-scenes gallery; and an isolated DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel music score (unrated version only).

    The 2.38:1 AVC-encoded picture quality is overly contrasty and plugged up, with saturated blacks and poor shadow delineation. Noise is noticeable throughout and mars the viewing experience. Colors are generally over-saturated, and resolution is soft. Details in textures and fabrics are not clearly discernable. Overall, this is a poorly produced visual presentation, though it still betters all previous releases. (Gary Reber)

    The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack has been repurposed from the original monaural soundtrack. Occasionally, the spatial aspects are enhanced with the repurposing, but overall the sound remains mono prominent. The D-BOX® Motion Code™ mastering is limited as well. The original monaural music is spread to the stereo channels, with subtle envelopment in the surrounds. However, sound quality is wanting, with poor fidelity overall and background hiss. Dialogue scenes often collapse to forward-sounding mono. Dialogue sounds strident, which is objectionable. Overall, the sound is harsh and distorted but still an improvement over the original monaural version. (Gary Reber)

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