RUMOR: Galactica 1980 MIGHT get a DVD release...

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-09-07 11:47am

I think the second film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is very close in quality to the first, and just as heady and high concept. The only one of the four sequels that's a misfire is the last, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and that's mainly because the final drafts of the screenplay were handled by a husband/wife team who didn't really "get" what the property was about (they saw the apes as sort of an analogy to children).

The live-action TV series was alright; mostly your average 70s "fugitives on the run" type of show, but it had a lot of good character stuff, as well as some episodes of genuine quality near the end, when it was unfortunately canceled. The show just took way too long to get into its stride.

The animated series, Return to the Planet of the Apes, is simply a total waste of time and a squandered opportunity. Your typical mid-70s Hanna Barbara/Filmation-type cartoon, with underdeveloped lighting-speed plots, robotic voice acting, and super-limited animation that's mostly talking heads or lingers on non-action.

The 2001 remake (which is based more on the original book) doesn't really work, mainly because Tim Burton isn't any fun when he's forced outside of his element. But as I've said before, a lot of treatments and drafts from the various attempts in the 90s were much worse...

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2007-09-07 04:00pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:I think the second film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is very close in quality to the first, and just as heady and high concept. The only one of the four sequels that's a misfire is the last, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and that's mainly because the final drafts of the screenplay were handled by a husband/wife team who didn't really "get" what the property was about (they saw the apes as sort of an analogy to children).

The live-action TV series was alright; mostly your average 70s "fugitives on the run" type of show, but it had a lot of good character stuff, as well as some episodes of genuine quality near the end, when it was unfortunately canceled. The show just took way too long to get into its stride.

The animated series, Return to the Planet of the Apes, is simply a total waste of time and a squandered opportunity. Your typical mid-70s Hanna Barbara/Filmation-type cartoon, with underdeveloped lighting-speed plots, robotic voice acting, and super-limited animation that's mostly talking heads or lingers on non-action.

The 2001 remake (which is based more on the original book) doesn't really work, mainly because Tim Burton isn't any fun when he's forced outside of his element. But as I've said before, a lot of treatments and drafts from the various attempts in the 90s were much worse...

I remembered Beneath being pretty good at the time I saw it on tv. I never saw all of Conquest. I liked Escape even if there weren't many apes and it was set in the present day. It was a good set up for Conquest. Battle wasn't that great and at the time confused me a bit because it took place before the first two movies and after the third and fourth. It didn't help that they always got Roddy McDowell to play an ape in each film. He wasn't always the same character but all of his characters were related in some way or another.

What you say about the TV show makes sense. I remember that I liked to watch it when it was on but didn't make a point of having to see it. I was only 8 when it aired.

I only vaguely remember the cartoon and it sounds like I didn't miss anything.

As for Tim Burton's movie. It was entertaining, and I found what he did with the concept interesting but the ending blew. If he wanted to match the ending of the book then having Marky Mark's character end up on another planet controlled by apes would have been fine. It just didn't make any sense that Tim Roth's character, who was killed earlier, would all of a sudden be "Lincoln" on an ape version of Earth.

Whatever cool ideas he thought he had Burton shouldn't have touched the movie if he couldn't top the Statue of Liberty in the first film.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2007-09-10 12:31pm

If Burton would have simply ended the movie with the discovery of Marky Mark's spacelab creating the PotA, it would have been a great movie.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-09-14 10:27am

A bit of a bump.

It's official:

Galactica 1980 - Universal Officially Announces Galactica 1980 - The Complete Series

The Rag-Tag, Fugitive Fleet Finds Earth the day after Christmas
Posted by David Lambert
9/14/2007

A week and a half ago we broke the news - well, rumors at the time - that Universal would be bringing out a DVD release of Galactica 1980, the original spin-off of the original show starring Lorne Greene. This morning the studio has formally announced that, for a Boxing Day treat on December 26th! Here is the studio description:

Galactica 1980 lands on DVD for the first time ever! With all ten thrilling episodes on two discs, see what happens when the original Battlestar Galactica crew finally makes the long-anticipated descent to Earth. With time running out and the Cylons closing in on their trail, Commander Adama and the Galactica must work harder than ever before to help Earth create the technology necessary for battle. Along for the action-packed fight are such stellar guest stars as Dirk Benedict, Brion James, Dennis Haysbert and more! It's an epic adventure unlike any other, and an absolute must-have for any Battlestar Galactica collection!

The 2-DVD set clocks in at around 8 hours, and rings up for an affordable $29.98 SRP. Video will be the original full-frame, and audio the original English Mono. There will be English subtitles as well. Stay tuned for box art; we'll bring you that just as soon as we can!

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2007-09-14 12:23pm

*twitchtwitch*

BURN IT WITH FIRE!

Post by **Steve** » 2007-09-14 01:30pm

Dear God.......

They'll put anything on DVD these days won't they?

But, hrmm.... Tevar's statement gives me an idea for a gag in "Girl in the Metal Suit".

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2007-09-14 01:54pm

Heh, the fact that its coming out the day AFTER Christmas indicates they know its not going to sell well (if at all).

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-09-14 02:05pm

SNAP!! BOX ART!!

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-09-14 02:23pm

oBSG's "final season"

Considering the changes from oBSG proper, sin't it more of a sequel? How badly do they think this is going to sell when they're hyping it as part of something that inspired a popular show?

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2007-09-14 02:53pm

When it plummets in price, I'd actually consider buying it if "The Return Of Starbuck" had a commentary by Dirk Benedict.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-09-14 03:00pm

Bounty wrote:oBSG's "final season"

Considering the changes from oBSG proper, sin't it more of a sequel? How badly do they think this is going to sell when they're hyping it as part of something that inspired a popular show?

I think the "final season" tag is maybe a way of tying into the final season of the new show, which follows a few weeks afterward in January 2008. Universal probably figures it's an easy way to dump out a property they've been sitting on and might not have bothered to release otherwise.

I figure this'll probably preorder on Amazon for about $20, so it'll be worth it for a laugh.

Poe: I think the release is completely bare-bones.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2007-09-14 03:14pm

WTF are they doing featuring space battles on the box? Were there even any in G-80?

frogcurry · Post by **frogcurry** » 2007-09-14 05:26pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:SNAP!! BOX ART!!

OK, now how many people do you think will get tricked into buying this thinking its part of the new series when they see it in the shops?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-09-14 06:16pm

I could only see that happening in a case of somebody buying it for somebody else, and the purchaser knowing absolutely nothing about the current series, only seeing the name of the show.

But then again, the fact that the title includes "1980," and that the cover features Lorne Greene, who's been dead for twenty years, should give off a warning bell...

Thag · Post by **Thag** » 2007-09-14 06:20pm

Darth Servo wrote:WTF are they doing featuring space battles on the box? Were there even any in G-80?

I think there was one or two, in the very beginning. Maybe 1 minute of actual gunfire, tops.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2007-09-14 11:04pm

Well, at least I now know what to get my idiot asshole brother for Christmas (even if its one day late).