Planet of the Apes films on Super 8

[Barry Attwood]

I was putting together my new lists the other day and I added a copy of "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" 200' to the lists, and I wondered why Fox only brought these films out as a series of 200' reels, I could understand with the sequels being 200's, but surely the original Charlton Heston film deserved at least a 400' edition, strange decisions, as ever about what to release, and the format!

[Mark Williams]

I would imagine back then a 200ft only release was for contractual reasons with 20th Century Fox and of course the budget price 200ft releases where very popular back then.

Ken Films weren’t even allowed to use any original artwork.

[Edward Nicielnik]

In the 1970s 20th Century Fox had all Five Planet of The Apes for Hire they were on 600 feet Reels
The Day The Earth Stood Still and The Curse of the Fly were also brought out in 200 Feet Black And White
Planet of THE Apes would make a good 600 feet Film Digest if it was made today

[Carter Bradley]

Since the "Planet of the Apes" series was Ken Films' first releases in super 8 sound and color, I would imagine they were still testing the profitability of this format. I believe they were released in 1974.

[Douglas Meltzer]

I remember the excitement when Ken released the Apes films. As Carter said, perhaps these were to be the bridge for Ken's transition to the 400 footers.

[Gary Sayers]

It was those 'Apes' releases that finally got me into film collecting after years of drooling over cine ads in magazines and newspapers. Difficult for anyone now to appreciate the excitement of seeing these advertised for the first time back in the day.

[Osi Osgood]

I agree Barry! I've always hoped that I would find super 8 optical features of the first two films, but have had no luck.

[Tom Photiou]

as i said on the channel, I was always a bit surprised that this title never made it past the 200ft version, especially the first film.
Obviously rights have played a part in it.
I do have the excellent scope trailer to the first film which is a great souvenir of the feature.
I would like to get hold of the 200ft version of the original feature but finding one that isn't faded appears to be impossible.

[Dominique De Bast]

I've always hoped that I would find super 8 optical features of the first two films, but have had no luck.

Osi, why specifically an optical version ? I noticed you wished the same for the Grizzly. Wouldn't a magnetic copy be ok ?

[Winbert Hutahaean]

Osi, why specifically an optical version ? I noticed you wished the same for the Grizzly. Wouldn't a magnetic copy be ok ?

Yes, the optical sound will detoriate when the film get faded too. Not to mention the optical sound is less superior than the magnetic ones in all aspect.

[Osi Osgood]

There are too numerous to mention feature films that never made it onto super 8, that DID make it onto the optical sound feature film industry, as they were used as in flight movies. The image quality tended to be superior to that which you could get with magnetic sound films. Occasionally, the optical track will fade, but usually it is the other way around, and the optical soundtrack, while not quite as good as magnetic tracks at they're best, was pretty good. More often than not, the issue is with the optical sound projector, though you do have to keep optical sound films cleaner, as debris on the film can cause interference in the playback of the sound.

[Philip Hamilton]

I for one, would love to see a 400' SOUND Digest of PLANET OF THE APES. Love this film. Perhaps someone could produce a new Super 8 Sound release of this film.

[Douglas Meltzer]

As would I! A decent source print would be difficult to come by.