Planet of the Apes

Finally, I managed to track down the classic sci-fi pentology: Planet of the Apes. I’m not going to bore you with details about each movie. I have assigned the following ratings for the movies: Planet of the Apes (5*), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (3*), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (4*), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (3*), Battle for the Planet of the Apes (3.5*).





Here are the most important points about the movies which I thought would make the series a must-watch for all movie fanatics.

• I don’t want a spoiler here—The first movie’s ending is dramatic and depressing!
• Time dilation, a phenomenon of the theory of relativity, is put majestically to use in this movie series.
• The religious/scientific views of the ape society mirror the views of conservative theists.
• The ethical/moral treatment of humans by apes (and by humans to the apes in the sequels) is classic commentary on what’s wrong with scientific research.

Here are my negative points about the series.

• The social structure of the apes as assigned by different colors of clothing is boring.
• The incredible way in which the apes evolved to learn language but not improve posture is disturbing.

I’m not even starting to mention about the plotholes, but there are many. But watch this series if you are sci-fi fan. Watch at the least the first movie!

The Terminator Series

When I watched Terminator Salvation, I realized what I had missed by not watching the first three installments of this wonderful movie franchise. Many of my friends have insisted that The Terminator, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (T2) are movies that defined the genre of sci-fi movie-making. I, had somehow managed to evade these classics.



Not anymore! I watched the two James Cameron-directed classic Terminator of movies and Terminator: Rise of the Machines last week. And I must say, they are movies that I should have watched a long long time back. But there are a few points on which I differ from the usual public opinion about the Terminator franchise.

I'm giving The Terminator (T1) 4.5*, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (T2) 4*, and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (T3) 3*.

• First of all, Terminator is the best movie of the lot. The action and the concept gets predictable as the franchise wears on.
• Some people believe that alterations of the timeline and future by time travel-related complications in movies/television were first showcased in Terminator. That’s obviously not true. At the very least, X-men (in comics) and Planet of the Apes in movies have had it before Terminator. The one is X-men is so much more plausible and acceptable and without plot holes.
• Terminator Salvation isn’t such a bad movie. Conceptually, it is better than T3 at the very least. The idea of a Cyberdyne reverse reverse-engineered (sic) android played by Sam Worthington is brilliant.

After watching the series, I have some puzzling timeline-related questions.

• In Terminator, it is claimed that the time-traveling machine has been destroyed. How come Terminators are sent back in time for the second and third installments?
• Also, in Terminator, it’s mentioned that nothing other than living tissue can be sent through the machine. The Terminators are far from just living tissue. In fact the model T-X is pure metal alloy? So how does that work?

This is why I still love my flawless time-travel storylines from X-men!