Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 8, 2017 | 1 comment

13th Dimension Goes Ape!

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UPDATED 2/4/18: Hey, the 50th anniversary of the original Planet of the Apes is this week — Feb. 8 to be precise. It premiered that date in 1968 in New York City. It was followed up by a wide release in April. The upshot? It’s time for another APES WEEK! We’ve done a number of these over the years, so this will be a sort of Greatest Hits on the Planet of the Apes. Check out the links below — and keep checking back all week! — Dan

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Somewhere in the universe there must be something better than man.

Maybe, but there’s no movie series that better ponders the question than the original, accept no substitutes, Planet of the Apes. So here we are again with … APES WEEK!

SPOILER ALERT!

It’s worth noting that anytime we do a theme week here at 13th Dimension, the roots extend back to The 4:30 Movie, a staple of afternoon television from the late ’60s to the early ’80s in New York City.

The 4:30 Movie was driven by theme weeks: Monster Week, Gidget Week, Matt Helm Week, Superhero Week — which featured the 1966 Batman movie — and so on.

But the highlight hands down was Apes Week. 

The breakdown was usually Planet of the Apes across Monday and Tuesday; Beneath on Wednesday, Escape on Thursday and Conquest on Friday. (They usually didn’t get around to Battle, which seemed to pop up on late-night TV elsewhere. I think it’s part of the reason I remember and like it the least. That and it really kinda sucks.)

This was appointment TV for Young Dan. I’d break out the Megos and spend the week with Taylor, Cornelius, Zira and Dr. Zaius. So it’s in that spirit that we bring you a week’s worth of Apes features and reviews.

“The Forbidden Zone was once a paradise!”

Joining us for much of it is columnist Rob Kelly, who’s produced five, count ’em, five, of his REEL RETRO CINEMA columns, comparing the original movies with some of their comics adaptations.

The links to everything can be found below, so keep coming back all week because we’ll be updating as we go — or should I say, GO APE!

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— LOVE AFFAIR ON THE PLANET OF THE APES: Megos! Marvel! Topps! All the Stuff From a POTA Childhood. Click here.

— THE NEW YORK TIMES’ Original POTA Review Was Wildly Off Base. Click here.

— TOP 13 PLANET OF THE APES QUOTES — RANKED. Click here.

— REEL RETRO CINEMA: 1968’s PLANET OF THE APES. Click here.

— REEL RETRO CINEMA: 1970’s BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES. Click here.

— REEL RETRO CINEMA: 1971’s ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES. Click here.

— REEL RETRO CINEMA: 1972’s CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Click here.

— REEL RETRO CINEMA: 1973’s BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. Click here.