 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
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 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
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Planet of the Apes
- Review Date: May 19, 2003
- PG-13
- Genre: Science Fiction
- 2001
Common Sense Media says
Decent re-imagining of the classic.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie features intense and prolonged peril, a great deal of violence, and many deaths, including characters we care about. Characters are beaten and branded. There is a brief mild sexual situation and some strong language.
What's the story?
In this update of the sci-fi classic, Mark Wahlberg plays Leo, an officer in the United States Air Force, working on a space station in 2029. An exploratory aircraft piloted by a monkey disappears into a mysterious electrical field. Against the orders of his commanding officer, Leo follows it to find out what happened. The storm hurtles him through time and space until he crashes on a planet where apes rule and humans are slaves. Ari (Helena Bonham Carter) helps Leo and some of the others escape to a forbidden city that will reveal some of the planet's history. But General Thade (Tim Roth) and his army are in pursuit with orders to destroy them. As Burton promised in interviews, this version does not use the now-famous ending in the first film that showed them the planet they had landed on was Earth. This one ends with a twist that may even top it.
Is it any good?
Tim Burton's PLANET OF THE APES is less a remake than a re-imagining of the classic staring Charlton Heston. This version has no loincloth and no Statue of Liberty, and no Roddy McDowell, but Heston does show up for a surprisingly effective cameo -- as one of the apes. As in all of Burton's movies, the art direction is intricate, meticulous, and strangely beautiful. Every detail is a work of art, from the texture of the ape armor to the outline of the spaceship.
Wahlberg makes an appealing, all-American hero, though he is not up to the task of delivering a brief pep talk to the assembled humans. But he is fine in the action scenes and he handles the challenge of kissing females of two different species with reasonable finesse. Overall, the simian performers are better and more believable than the humans. Bonham Carter makes a remarkably fetching ape, using her eyes and body language to deliver a real performance. Roth is a seething presence as the bad guy, Michael Clarke Duncan gives physical and emotional weight to the role of the loyal officer, and Paul Giamatti is hilarious as a slave trader held hostage.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the way that Burton makes unabashedly clear the parallels between the views of the apes toward humans and the views of racists and other bigots on Earth. Like those who have argued for segregation, apartheid, genocide, and "ethnic cleansing," the apes find justification for their oppression of humans by insisting that humans are inferior creatures who have no souls or by demonizing them. The apes seem to have no problem with sub-species distinctions, and different kinds of apes work and socialize without any distinctions.
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Kid, 10 years old
August 13, 2011
AGE
THIS IS THE WORST MOVIE OF ALL TIME
Not for people under 20! This is horrible I watched this when I was 8 and I still have bad dreams about it. DO NOT SEE THIS ITS PURE SCARY AND EVIL!
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AGE
scary
this movie is very scary and very vilont. do NOT let any child under the age of 11 see it. andonly let kids that are 11 see it if they are VERY MATURE VIEWERS. but if there not i would save the movie till there ALMOST 13.
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AGE
STU -PID!!!
This movie was a pointless attempt at remaking a classic! Their hopeless attempt at not only humor, but references to the old movie and a battle scene that never happened were pathetic! I bought this movie for five dollars and was still ripped off!
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AGE
Remake is fun and action packed, but may be too brutal for younger audiences
The 2001remake of Planet of the Apes is much better than the reviews will have you believe, but unfortunately, it is not a competent remake since it replaces the original movies brain and self aware plot with special effects and action, not that special effects and action can always be all that bad, though, since it is also quiet fun. The only real problem for some younger audiences may be the violence, which is at once harsh and brutal against the humans and orchestrated by the apes, and may deeply disturb some of the very young audience members, even though it isn't really for them. Most tween's should be fine and almost every teen should probably have seen something far worse than this by now.
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AGE
an awsome movie
i really really liked this movie. There was a lot of vilonce but no blood was shown and some characters were killed on screen. But the vilonce wasnt pointless like it was in 10,000 B.C.. the vilonce actually added some excitment and some fun and some scare into the movie. so bottom line i really liked it and teens 13 and up should go see it!
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Kid, 12 years old
August 7, 2010
AGE
0 star movie!!! :( :( :(
I hated the movie!!!!! The worst movie ever!!! It was really violent, a lot of bad language and stuff like that!!!!!
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AGE
ok for older tweens due to language
very awesome and intresting film, i was only dissappointed at the end when apes start ruiling al over again.
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AGE
Iffy for ages 12-13.
I saw this movie awhile ago, and I don't remember it being too bad. It had action violence, and a scene where a topless ape (no nipples were shown) was jumping up and down next to her husband on a bed. There is, of course, some language. Iffy for ages 12-13.
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Kid, 11 years old
August 6, 2011
AGE
weird
i saw some of it on the TV.I thought some of the stuff was weird (i watch a few parts.)
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| Studio: | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Director: | Tim Burton |
| Cast: | Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti |
| Genre: | Science Fiction |
| Run time: | 119 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | July 27, 2001 |
| DVD release date: | November 20, 2001 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | some sequences of action/violence |
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