Customer Reviews

Planet Of The Apes: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Also Featuring Music From Escape From The Planet Of The Apes

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of Hollywood's most prolific and innovative composers, Jerry Goldsmith truly surpassed anything that he had previously done with the score to the 1968 film. A groundbreakingly exciting composition, the music exudes mystery, danger, and otherworldly "terror" with its piercing strings, thunderous percussion, and simulated "ape" sounds. The music is a listener's treat to the magnificence of Goldsmith at his best. It would be several years later before he bested "Planet" with the Academy Award-winning "Omen" score and "Star Trek: the Motion Picture," both which should be included in any Goldsmith fan's audio library! The "extra" is a suite from "Escape to the Planet of the Apes," a relatively bland composition due to the setting of the film in contemporary America. But, the original's score is well worth the purchase. Besides, one doesn't have to bother with the latter score. That's the advantage of programmable CD players!

An absolutely brilliant and completely original score by Jerry Goldsmith. The music must have been a shock for Hollywood in the 60's and probably still is!. It is an alien , atonal score that uses creatively many percussive sounds. In some moments the music recalls Stravinsky's "Sacre du Printemps" in its primitive drive. A must for music lovers and of course for Planet of the Apes fans!.

I'm sure other reviews will discuss instrumentation, so I'll pass on that one. I will just tell you that I this score was so impressive that I loved it EVEN when the only version I'd ever known of was the trebly Project 3 release which only featured about 25 minutes of music. Acquiring this full-length release is absolute confirmation.
Who could've ever thought that experimental "cacophony" and melody could be cross-bred to create something so appealing and instantly memorable? You'll find after listening to it once that, upon the next listening, you remember the themes.
A Goldsmith classic, and truly THE turning point in film score history!

I received my Planet of the Apes soundtrack today. It's a great soundtrack from a socially-relevant (even today) film.

Additionally, the only film with so great an ending was The Sixth Sense.Anyway...

The first part of this Varese Sarabande realease includes music from the first film.

The second part includes music from Escape from the POA.

The cover on this one is like a movie poster illustration, and the overall release is better than the one that was released with a cover that was largely white in its background and pictured a bamboo cage. (I have that previous release on cassette. You don't want it. The one I just got includes the entire score and replaces 8 cues and/or full orchestrations missing from my earlier version. This newer one is much better.)

The only bad things are:

The 1953 Fox fanfare music (it sounds bad); and

Half of the music from Escape from the POA (the first part is too sixties-ish - it just doesn't fit in with the origianl score - the rest of Escape is good Goldsmith).

The liner notes are good, provided one understands musical terms like pizzicato. If not, the stills from the films are pretty cool.

The score is certainly modernist. If you like lush scores with recognizable melodies and classical-like orchestrations, this is not one for you. It's jungle-like and chaotic.

On the other hand, if you like film music that helps you recall the actions and emotions in the film - well, then this one is a keeper. I couldn't imagine going camping or rafting in the wilds without it.

Finally, having only recently learned that Charleton Heston has Ahlzheimner's Disease somehow makes this recording that much more precious.

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The year was 1968. The five Oscar nominated films for Best Score were "The Thomas Crown Affair" by Michel Legrand, "The Fox" by Lalo Schifrin, "The Shoes of the Fisherman" by Alex North, "Planet of the Apes" by Jerry Goldsmith, and "The Lion in Winter" by John Barry. Legrand was nominated thirteen times, won a total of three Oscars, but not in 1968. Schifrin was nominated six times, but never won the Oscar. Alex North, Jerry Goldsmith great mentor and friend, was nominated fifteen times without ever winning the little gold statuette. He was finally awarded a unique special Oscar in 1985 "in recognition of his brilliant artistry in the creation of memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures." Jerry Goldsmith was nominated eighteen times and won just once, for "The Omen". The winner for 1968 was John Barry for "The Lion in Winter". Out of seven career nominations, he won four Oscars.

So why did I decide to bore you with all this minutia? My way of pointing out that there was a time, not so terribly long ago, that film scoring as an art form offered, year in and year out, an embarrassment of riches.

While there are still fine composers in film today, the emphasis is much different now. We won't see a year like 1968 again, and I, for one, think we are the lesser for it.

This score to the landmark 1968 SF film "Planet of the Apes" is a landmark itself. This is one of the most avant-garde scores ever produced for a mainstream Hollywood movie. It creates excellently just the right mood and sense of the eerie that the film requires. Rarely has a score so fit a film like hand-in-glove. This is Jerry Goldsmith at his innovative best. The CD does a very good job of reproducing the vintage recordings from the 35mm session tapes. One track, "Crash Landing," includes music not heard in the released print. The score can very much be listened to without ever having seen the film, every track a beautiful example of seemingly atonal composition that will remind you of modernist composers such as Bartok and Stravinsky.
The CD also includes a suite from Goldsmith's score to the second APES sequel, "Escape from the Planet of the Apes." While this music didn't have the same job to accomplish that the previous score did, it remains an enjoyable listen for anyone who loves the film music of Jerry Goldsmith

also in response to a review that this is a bad score, sorry you missed the mark.This is one of Jerry Goldsmiths Best scores.Jerry uses many different styles of music and incorperates them into a very original score.He is a pioneer in the music score industry . Listen to this again and Listen to it.This is why I love the music of Jerry Goldsmith and he is my favorite.A +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ all the way.

I must be frank about it up front. I've never listened to this particular cd, but I do have, and have listened to, the original soundtrack when it first came out. It is great because it dose not follow the even flow that most soundtracks follow. With this one you never know what note or instrament is going to be played next. It's not your typical soundtrack. And I must add that with 'Escape From The Planet Of The Apes' on it, you are getting a two for the price of one deal. $13.99 was how much it origanaly cost and it only has 10 tracks on it. If you are wanting something different than your average music, then this is the soundtrack to buy.

Jerry Goldsmith's musical accompaniment to The Planet of the Apes is so magnificent it is almost other-worldly. If you like the music in this movie you must check out director Akira Kurosawa's two movies: Yojimbo and Sanjuro. The music is similar and the same jarring, but beautiful percussion is woven throughout. When I first watched those movies I thought that they shamefully copied Goldsmith, but then I realized that Planet of the Apes came after, so it is very possible he was in fact inspired by them.

Jerry Goldsmith has a lot of credits in his movie music, but this is one of his finest works. It is so original and unique, but seems to fit the movie like one is no good without the other. Listening to the first few numbers give you goose bumps,especially the way he uses the instruments to project the mood. It is a triumphant piece of work,and I recommend this CD for all to discover. Thank You R.F.