Marneen and I had lots of fun going bananas at the Astor's PLANET OF THE APES marathon las weekend. Despite being a lifelong APES fanatic the only one of the original films which I had seen on the big screen was CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (1972), which I saw at the long gone Astrojet Cinema at Tullamarine Airport when I was a kid. I also saw a 16mm print of BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES (1970) at primary school, but that was it. So finally getting to see them on a huge... screen was a real treat.
Highlights for me were that first 30 minutes or so of the original PLANET OF THE APES (1968), with all that spectacular and beautifully stark desert footage, and seeing the incredibly dark and sombre, often very hallucinogenic and just downright crazy BENEATH on the big screen was awe-inspiring. Winning an APES graphic novel (i.e. comic book) and a $30 gift voucher thanks to Minotaur was also a nice bonus.
Was also cool to see some fun vintage clips before each movie, including a segment featuring the APES and Jim Nabors on an episode of THE SONNY & CHER SHOW, Paul Williams in full ape make-up signing on THE TONIGHT SHOW, and TV commercials for the classic PLANET OF THE APES action figures by Mego.
Only real disappointment for me was they screened the original theatrical cut of CONQUEST, and not the more violent and bloody version with the bleaker ending which finally became available a few years back. All in all though a fantastic day, and not as bum-numbing as I thought it might be!
