Reviews

Let's be honest, this is a terrible movie. What an odd mix of veteran actors (Susan Sarandon, Leah Thompson etc.) quite literally smashing up against terrible novices like the lead character's sidekick, Myles Massey. I continue to be amazed that people are actually paid to cast movies and they come up with bad actors all the time. The sidekick role is crucial here, yet they choose a kid who can't act. Go figure. Watching Sarandon, John Hannah and Leah Thompson attempt to add some flow to the movie while working with terrible actors reminds me of Natalie Portman struggling with Robot Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels. I guess it has something to do with movie budget; perhaps they ran out of money after paying Sarandon, Hannah and Thompson.

Every once it awhile we see some promise, as when Rad and his family visit his Aunt and her husband. Amy Sedaris and Robert Longstreet show how it's done and provide a hint of what the movie might have been. Also Rad's sister was more than adequate in her role.

All this aside, the movie does well with costumes and general 1980s era eastern shore vibe, that's about it. The pacing is excruciating as we wait for lead character Rad to meet up with Susan Sarandon and when he finally does, it's almost a throwaway scene and before you know it we're (mercifully) at the finish line.

If the director was attempting some sort of filmmaking homage, I missed it completely. So much more could have been done for the eastern shore/Ocean City in a movie like this. I'm being brutally honest when I say that all during the movie I kept thinking how I could have rounded up some buddies and a mini HD camera and done a much better job. I kid you not. It's that bad.

I was in the third row in Largo, MD for the 1977 KISS concert -- my first rock concert ever.

Those of us who lived KISS will understand this movie. There's a lot here that reminds us of what we went through as kids: defending the band, loving the music, feeling like outsiders much of the time but loving every minute of it.

This is a fantastic movie for the KISS fan. I felt like I relived a part of my life while I watched it (in 9 parts on youtube! -- god bless the internet).

The IMDb ratings scale needs to go to 11 for masterpieces like this. Fantastic acting, great camera work, wonderful soundtrack, and most importantly, a real feel for what actually happened during this time in America. Cheers

Whether Frederic is on the train, at home with his wife, or trying to figure out how he'll handle the ravishing Chloe from his past life, he seems to truly appreciate the beauty that surrounds him and he wrestles with how to respond.

I was particularly taken with the scene on the train when Frederic begins to explain how he is able to remain under control in the presence of so many beautiful women in the world. Simply acknowledging such beautiful creatures seems to be enough for this man, yet when Chloe arrives on the scene we begin to wonder if Frederic will fold under pressure.

I can surely identify with what Frederic feels on the train. It happens to all of us -- we are faced with beauty, and we must respond. How we respond is what makes life worth living.

All the confusion over the ending is understandable if you have not read the original Pierre Boulle novel on which Planet 2001 (and its predecessor, to a much lesser degree) is based.

Boulle spends a lot of time on evolutionary theories and we learn as the story develops that Cornelius, a very bright chimp scientist, is on the verge of a discovery that will destroy the foundations of the apes' beliefs concerning their evolutionary superiority.

In Boulle's Ape world, the apes believe they have always been the intelligent ones and the humans have always been incapable of rational thought. Cornelius discovers the opposite to be true during his archeological dig in the forbidden zone -- he finds among the ruins a human doll with a voice mechanism, which hints at the previous existence of a hi-tech society. (a similar scene occurred in Planet 1968).

The real shocker comes towards the end of the novel, when Cornelius, desperate to show that apes are not just skillful imitators (he is afraid that this truth may explain their progress up to this point -- they have simply copied what humans have already done throughout history), demonstrates via shock therapy on human subjects that he and his colleagues can actually tap into HISTORICAL human memory and shock subjects into babbling about events that took place hundreds of years ago.

Some of the snatches of vocalized historical memory reveal that humans rested on their technological laurels, became lazy, and, before they knew it, apes had taken over their world. Snatches of these ancient memories reveal that apes were hungry for knowledge while humans were hungry for leisure (what, humans hungry for leisure?! never!) The takeover was violent and humans were enslaved. Fast forward to Boulle's planet Soror and you have apes in control and mute humans with brains turned to mush.

When Boulle's hero Ulysse Merou heads back to earth, he too is shocked to discover that apes now rule his home turf. Yet, how hard is this to believe when we've already seen what has happened on Soror? The formula is well-understood by now. Superior species accomplishes much and then loses its edge. Formerly inferior species, long discriminated against, tortured, etc., takes advantage of human sloth and eventually assumes control.

In Planet 2001 we have seen the same thing. Leo returns to earth naively expecting it to be similar to the way it was when he left. Thade is worshipped here for the same reasons he was feared/worshipped on his planet -- he is the alpha-warrior and leader of the apes. What happens on Earth is similar to what happened on Boulle's Soror. Human minds melted after too much television, pornography, and sports/entertainment. Though Leo eventually went back in time to return to earth, he still had to make the trip back to earth and that means hundreds of years have passed while he's been in space. Thade's legend is well-known throughout the cosmos at this point and we should not be surprised to see him worshipped on earth as well, where he's obviously been the inspiration for the ape takeover.

One last note: during the feast at the senator's home early in the movie, we hear one of the table guests exclaim (paraphrase): "We're getting lazy, we should be careful lest the humans take over." This is a nice homage to Boulle, who works the reverse angle in his novel when the human electroshock subjects reveal through historical memory that it was the human race that dropped the ball the first time around.

The lesson is clear: let your mind melt and you will perish. I think the homage just mentioned actually telegraphs the plot of the sequel, in which the apes will be corrupted by the same mindless entertainments that corrupt us today. Leo will lead a revolt and a new breed of humans -- men and women hungry for literature and learning -- will rise up and reclaim their planet.