One of the Best Movies of All Time - Equal to the original "Planet of the Apes," Better than the original "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

Rating: 10/10 (22 March 2014)

As a child, I was a huge fan of the original Planet of the Apes movies. They are EXACTLY what science fiction was meant to be. The original "Planet of the Apes" is a perfect 10 in my book. If memory serves, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was a little lame, but as a set, the original movies were amazing. I was lost pondering the way out of their looping-cause-and-effect world. These movies got us all thinking about animal rights, religion versus science, nuclear war and the fact that we COULD accidentally destroy the planet. The remake of "Planet of the Apes" was a disappointment, so I went to see the new "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" with low expectations and WAS COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY! This movie is a re-imagining of the original story, not a remake, so it is very fresh, incorporating current science and highlighting a new and different potential apocalypse for humanity to worry about. It is a completely new story that totally understands and and honors the first. The "echos" from the original were so perfect they caused the audience to gasp in unison--and yes, I probably cried. What may be less obvious to movie goers was that the writers also honored and lifted themes and scenes directly from real-life cases of Apes who lived with Humans for a time (as pets or for science). I am referring to the cases of Nim Chimpsky and of Lucy (two chimps raised in homes to see if they would learn language). Both made great strides in language learning, had strong friendship with their caretakers, eventually became too hard to control, and well . . . it didn't end well for either of these chimps. There is a movie called "Nim Chimpsky" and an NPR story on "Lucy." Check those out after you see this movie. So, I will leave it to other reviewers to tell you how great the action and cinematography was. I was too lost in the heart-rending story: Yes, you will be totally cheering for the Apes when they break out to wreak havoc on San Francisco!