Customer Reviews

Planet of the Apes movie novelization

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I purahased this book hoping to find something that would flesh out the background of the film more. More importantly, I purchased this because it was the only thing like science-fiction to be found on the rack.

The biggest problem is the writer's (and editors') lack of an idea of what an ape is! They don't even have a grasp of the idea that there are difference species of them: they think that calling a "chimp" a "gorilla" is OK: just like calling a "dog" a "canine". It is not just an occasional mistake; rather, it is mistakes on just about every page.

1) Apes are commonly called monkeys, even by Leo, who works with apes and should know that apes are not monkeys. 2) Limbo the slave trader is introduced as a properly-colored orangutan, and then is called a chimp in the next few paragraphs, and for just about all the book. 3) General Thade? Sometimes he is a gorilla, and sometimes he is a chimp. Only Attar and Ari seem to be immune from this sloppiness, staying the same species from page to page. 4) At one point, even howler monkeys are called apes.

Imagine the Lion King, in which Simba turns into a tiger and back into a lion with no explanation. Imagine reading "Jaws", and having the oceonographer character call the great white shark a "whale" most of the time. Chewbacca the Hutt? Worf, the stoic Ferengi member of the Enterprise crew? It's about like that, an overwhelming annoyance that is in your face all the time in this book, and never consistent.

Despite this, I found it readable, especially compared to certain torturously boring film adaptations I have read. This is due to its brevity. It did lack any sort of explanation or background that would have shored up the film story.

Seems to me that the publishing house called William T. Quick and asked him to do the novelization of Tim Burton's film, and probably they also told him to do it "quick"!. Anyway, the result we get is a poorly written book, made without passion for the Planet of Apes theme and full of errors.

A proof that the author doesn't have much respect for the concepts behind "Planet of the Apes" is the fact that he continually names the Apes as "monks", "chimps", and -yes, beleive it-, "men" (as when he mentions "Attar's men" referring to Attar's troops).

Even worst is the fact that after introducing the Limbo character as an Orangutang (as it should be), for the rest of the story Quick calls him a "Chimp". Probably this author thinks that there is not much difference...

You won't find here much more insight into some characters that the film left underdeveloped (like Daena, Attar, Karubi). The landscapes are described without any life and the action is told in a confusingly and uninteresting manner.

In brief, I will only recommend this book for those Planet of the Apes fans (yes, I am one of those) that want to complete their collections.

I really don't understand why anyone would want to read a movie tie-in version of this story. A movie tie-in book is created when someone throws the script at an author and says "Turn that into a book so we can make some more cash." Absolutely nothing new is added, no background, nothing...and it is true here. If you want background on how the story came about, go read the original book on which this movie and the original movie is based: Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle which can be found right here on Amazon. It was written in the 50s (or 60s), and is COMPLETELY different than Tim Burton's movie or this tie-in novel. But that's not a bad thing because it is infinately more cerebral...and it's simply a better story.

In Planet of the Apes, Captain Leo Davidson crashlands on an unknown planet where apes rule and humans are slaves. After being captured, Davidson escapes and leads a rebellion against the feared ape leaders. After a devastating battle, the ape's army crumbles. In the end, humans and apes learn to get along and Davidson is left flying into the electromagnetic storm that origanally sent him to the weird planet.
I thought Planet of the Apes was a great story; it was exciting right until the very end. If you like science fiction stories, you should definitely read this book.

The reason I bought this book, is I wanted them to describe the ending better than what I saw in the movie. Well in this book they leave off with Davidson leaving the planet of the apes and mentions nothing of his making it back to earth like it shows in the movie. So that is the only reason I would not reccomend this book, otherwise I really enjoyed it as it not only depicts the movie accurately, it goes beyond by describing the characters emotions and the thoughts. Oh well....you be the judge.

I cannot believe the 2 bad reviews I just read of this book. I loved PLANET OF THE APES, this new book based on the world of Tim Burton. It was SO much better than the movie. William Quick did a fantastic job of bringing the new world of Apes to life, and it really makes me want to read even more stories. Apes are not dead!

Planet of the Apes Movie-tie book is the best book ever