Has anyone read the book?
Sometimes I think I could buy it.
shareYes
It's very different
MovieChat Forums > Planet of the Apes (1968) Discussion > Has anyone read the book?
So, I have read the book.
I have enjoyed it. It ´s a pity that it is not a long one!!.
I think, anyway, that the book could have been adapted just as it is in the first movie in 1968, obviously without showing at the beginning the identity of the two "space tourists". Having said that, I must recognise that to see Charlon Heston at the end of the movie on his knees in front of the Statue of Liberty ist almost "unbeatable".
The trouble with adapting the novel was the apes had a modern society with cars, helicopters and TV. This would have been far too expensive on the budget that AP Jacops had. It cost almost $1m dollars just for the apes make up.
shareHi Wearsalan,
I am not sure if these factors, to recreate a society with cars, helicopters and TV (e.g.), would have been so expensive taking account that we are speaking about standard subjects which can be seen in almost every movie.
However, I like also a lot the stating of the Planet of the Apes as it is.
Yeah, and wasn't impressed. Maybe it's because the first movie was actually better than the book, a rare occurrence, or maybe because I had a crappy translation from the French.
Because yeah, the original book by Pierre Boulle was written in French.
You can recognize that the book was written by a french at: " Nova was extremely beautiful and she was totally nude" :-)
I often wondered if the ending for Beneath the Planet of the Apes was inspired by the ending of the movie adaption of Boulles novel Bridge on the River Kwai.
shareYou keep asking this question. It had nothing to do with Bridge on River Kwai. It was Hestons idea to destroy the planet because he didn't want to be pressured into doing another sequel. As it stood, he was barely in this for that reason
shareA dying man practically falling on the detonation mechanism..very similar. Plus Heston had read the book as well after reading Boulles Planet of the Apes novel.
shareIts been well documented that Taylor was talked into doing a sequel but asked if his charater could be killed off in the beginning. He agreed to be killed off at the end and because he wanted to stop the sequels, it was his idea to blow up the planet after seeing the script with the bomb at the end. The original draft never had that bomb going off. I guess its possible he was inspired by Bridge on River Kwai but I doubt it
shareI guess its possible he was inspired by Bridge on River Kwai but I doubt it
But it's possible
He was indeed. He even mentioned that movie when he pushed the idea to blow up the world at the end of Beneath. I can't cite a source, but it was either in a Heston biography or a magazine article on Planet of the Apes.
shareNah, books are boring.
shareA good book is never boring 😉
shareReading a book requires using your imagination. I rather watch the movie and see it thru the directors vision
shareWhile I love movies and enjoy seeing how a script comes together from a director, experiencing a book through your own imagination is far more rewarding. It helps your own mental acuity and flexibility. A book can also delve far more deeply into its characters, locations, and plot than any film can. That isn't a criticism of film; it is just a limitation to a product that is necessarily limited by time and budget.
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I've read it.
Pretty good but not as good as Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake. If you've only got the time to read one book, out of the two I'd certainly choose that one.
I read it. Decent read. Much different than the film.
shareThe film retains some of the social critique and satire of the book. I think it's no coincidence that the story is similar to the section of Gulliver's Travels, in which the Houyhnhnms, a race of talking horses, are the rulers while the deformed creatures that resemble human beings are called Yahoos.
shareYeah, i did. Back in the day ... I forget most of it.
shareI read the book back around 1967...before the movie came out. Then I saw the movie.
A big deal was made at the time that the book was written by the same author(French) of The Bridge on the River Kwai. The Bridge on the River Kwai was shown on ABC TV in 1967 and got the highest ratings of any movie broadcast on TV til that time.
So -- oddly enough -- Planet of the Apes was promoted very much in connection with the Kwai movie.
All I remember of the book is that it did NOT have the "Statue of Liberty" twist at the end. It had a different twist which, I believe, Tim Burton put on his remake at the end.
In the Boulle book, somehow the Heston character manages to take a spacecraft BACK to earth -- but time has passed -- and: the military jeep that comes out to meet him is driven by an ape.
Sounds familiar. For the kid that I was back then I preferred the movie. After all for silly shock value the book was a bit of an effort.
shareI don’t think so, I’m a bit nerdy so I read lots of stuff but I don’t recall this one. Very good movie though!
share