Planet of the Apes (1968) Restoration details. (1 Viewer)

The November issue of Post magazine has a feature on the restoration of Planet of the Apes (1968). I didn't even know this was being planned. As an Apes fan with multiple copies on DVD and a pretty decent copy on Blu-ray already, I'm looking forward to seeing what they've done with the film.

Here is what they say about the project -








An interesting magazine, the november issue of Post also has features on the restoration of The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Bridge on the River Kwai.

And their website is at -

http://www.postmagazine.com/

the news of this makes me happy i have held out on the blu ray, is there a future release pending?? only time and Fox knows

There was no mention of release date in the magazine, some time next year I'd guess. The 43rd Anniversary! ooh!

Probably will be released to tie in with the "reboot" of the franchise next Summer.

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing Steve.

I thought it might be of interest Adam, there was no mention of "auto-grain removal" in the article was there? [cue fist biting] No wait it's a "grain sampling tool" phew!

Originally Posted by Bradley-E
Probably will be released to tie in with the "reboot" of the franchise next Summer.

Click to expand...

Well that's it than, makes sense.

I recently bought the Blu-ray box set on a nice low price deal from FoxConnect, put the first movie in to sample, and was shocked by its appearance. My first thought was, "this must be what everyone has been talking about with regard to Patton, etc." It looked to me like pure video. I hadn't done my homework on this one beforehand. (Still haven't.) Between that and those horrible rubber (?) "buttons" in place of conventional plastic hubs, I came this close to saying the hell with it, returning the set, and getting the DVDs. Then I figured it just wasn't worth the trouble. So, was I seeing the picture quality right, or do I need to go back for a second look?

Did they find an additional 8 seconds of extra footage and will use that to anchor yet another re-release of the series? I always thought there should've been MUCH more that could have been added to the recent BD box set to make it a more attractive release. I don't know but it feels like each one of the films needs to be a fully-loaded SE. They "find" an extra bit or two of footage for ONE of the films but there's nothing for the other ones?

I'm interested, but I actually thought Fox did a pretty good job on the Blu-Ray that exists now. Not at all like the Patton and Predator UE DNR monstrosities.

Hmmm...I wonder why they would not have scanned at at least 4k if they were going to go through all that trouble.

I always thought the current Blu-ray of PLANET OF THE
APES looked fantastic.

Not especially keen on having to buy it yet again, though
if offered up as a single serving rather than another complete
set I suppose that I can't complain.

This one of my all-time favorite films and it's certainly in
very capable hands with Shawn Belston. Fox has certainly
shown they can do stunning work with their restorations and
digital cleanups. I have high hopes for PLANET OF THE APES.

Originally Posted by Scorpio
Hmmm...I wonder why they would not have scanned at at least 4k if they were going to go through all that trouble.

Click to expand...

This was my thought as well. I thought, in 2010, 4K workflow had become standard for digital restorations.

This restoration has been going on for a few years. I was able to see the partially restored print at an Eastman House screening.

Very odd, I think the current blu looks fantastic! What more could they do with this title?

One area that could be improved on is the 5.1 audio remix. The DVD's 35th Anniversary 5.1 remix had a great true stereo music score which had distinct separations and sounded very clean. In comparison, the BluRay 5.1 tracks (and the 1st letterboxed DVD release) both sound more like a mono track perhaps with some added processing to help spread it out over the six channels. Of course, the inclusion of the original mono track is still a must, but if you are a fan of Jerry Goldsmith and/or the Apes soundtrack, give the 35th Anniversary DVD another listen...

Well, of course. I JUST finally pulled the trigger on the 40th Anniversary set.

I thought the current Blu looked just about perfect for a late 60s film. I like the idea of this movie being preserved on a regular basis, but there are so many other movies where the effort would be better spent. At least it means we could be looking at a re-do of Predator in about 3 years.

Interesting article Steve but add me to the I'm happy with the current Blu-ray crowd. The current Blu set is the last time I'm buying these films.

One a side note, I didn't know about the reboot until now so I'm intrigued. Hope it turns out better than Tim Burton's remake.

Originally Posted by Chas in CT
I recently bought the Blu-ray box set on a nice low price deal from FoxConnect, put the first movie in to sample, and was shocked by its appearance. My first thought was, "this must be what everyone has been talking about with regard to Patton, etc." It looked to me like pure video. I hadn't done my homework on this one beforehand. (Still haven't.) Between that and those horrible rubber (?) "buttons" in place of conventional plastic hubs, I came this close to saying the hell with it, returning the set, and getting the DVDs. Then I figured it just wasn't worth the trouble. So, was I seeing the picture quality right, or do I need to go back for a second look?

Click to expand...

I got mine cheap from DD ages ago. And I hate those buttons too. Haven't even watched any of them since I'd planned to pick up a nice multi disc case for storing those. I jsut kind of forgot about it.

I won't rebuy if it looks half decent.

I watched parts of the first film last night, and I guess everyone's right, it really is okay -- even if I still have a bit of a strange reaction to it. I examined it up close as well as from my normal viewing distance, and found it much more satisfying up close (like, only inches away). FYI, I sit just barely within the standard recommended distance for the screen size, and I'm going to try to tighten that up a bit, but this doesn't seem like a typical too-far-to-appreciate-1080p deal. With this movie, from farther back I'm losing some sense of "film", and this is the only Blu-ray where I've had that happen. But I will make my peace with it. And I, too, hope to not feel the need to buy these again.

Good idea there about getting a multi-disc case. It's also the first time I really feel that's necessary.