Planet of the Apes

Long before Marky Mark and the monkey bunch, Charlton Heston starred in the original Planet of the Apes, Pierre Boulle's vintage science-fiction tale of gorillas gone wild. Back then, Heston played George Taylor, one of three American astronauts who miraculously survive a crash landing only to find themselves marooned on a strange and distant planet inhabited by intelligent simian creatures. As Taylor strives to make sense of this "upside-down civilisation," he encounters a few allies: sympathetic zoologists Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowall), as well as mute hottie Nova (Linda Harrison). Together, this motley team challenges the authority of defender of the faith Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) and the very foundations of the Ape race, only to discover the horrifying truth in an unforgettable Twilight Zone-esque twist ending. The Anniversary DVD includes an exhaustive bonus disc that answers everything you ever wanted to know about Planet of the Apes but were afraid to ask. The "Exploring the Apes" section does exactly that in extreme detail with eight featurettes, including three different "behind the scenes" documentaries of varying scope and length. Of the three, the two-hour "Behind the Planet of the Apes" documentary, hosted by Roddy McDowall and previously released as a feature-length DVD in its own right, is the most comprehensive, especially in terms of examining the groundbreaking make-up art. This is the definitive edition of the science-fiction classic that spawned four sequels, two television series and a fantastic musical starring Troy McClure. Plus: audio and text commentaries, trailers, outtakes, reviews, stills, DVD-ROM, more. (Fox)