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Planet of the Apes ★★★, Beneath the Planet of the Apes ★★★, Escape from the Planet of the Apes ★★, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes ★★, Battle for the Planet of the Apes ★

This is a series that started poorly, and should have ended after the second episode. The plots are as follows, Planet of the Apes – Charleton Heston is stranded on a strange planet after traveling into the distant future from his rocket ship sent from earth, only discover that the planet is now ruled by apes. He is taken captive, and eventually escapes with the help of two chimpanzees, only to discover that the strange planet is planet earth. Beneath the Planet of the Apes, a second rocket ship crashes, and the sole survivor meets up with Heston in underground caverns, which are clearly the ruins of NY City. The human inhabitants here are invaded by the apes, who decide on mutual destruction of all by setting off an atomic bomb which destroys the world. Escape… two the chimpanzees who helped Heston land in a rocket ship on the shores of Los Angeles, going back in time, and are discovered as talking apes. They reveal the scenario of the future so it is decided to kill the apes and save the future. A sole newborn chimpanzee survives. Conquest… it is now 1991 and all pets have been killed by man, so monkeys are now the predominant other species, used as pets, slaves, etc. The talking chimpanzee baby leads an ape revolt which takes over mankind. Battle… it is now many years later, and the first chimpanzee baby (Caesar) is now old, and there are battles between chimpanzees and gorillas and humans for control of civilization.

The films are rather benign, though there is much unnecessary obscenities and language used. There is a lot of ridicule of organized religion, and evolution is considered a given. The story plot is quite lame. It’s hard to criticize acting, when most of the actors are wearing monkey suits and acting like apes. My only wonder is how they made so many sequels until somebody got the idea that it was a stupid series.

  Star Trek-The Original Series, Seasons 1-3 ★★★★

This series is a set of three boxes that take one through the original Star Trek series. Since then, multiple spin-offs have occurred, but the original series endures. The films are well preserved, and for those who enjoyed Star Trek, it is a delight to once again view many of the episodes again. I have several complaints about this series as it is offered. The packaging is worthless, and was immediately discarded. The episodes were not presented in order, I’m not sure how they decided on the order of presentation of episodes. I remember episodes that did not seem to be included in any of these three seasons, and wonder if they were intentionally left out. Finally, in regard to the film content itself, the series seemed to diminish in quality over time. By the second and third season, many ideas were repeated, such as placing several of the Enterprise crew member into a historical earth scene. The series transformed from being a simple science fiction film to being a socio-political statement. I became nauseous every time I heard Captain Kirk comment “We come in peace!”. I’ll never be a trekkie, but these films are quite enjoyable to watch, especially if never seen before.

Star Trek Feature Films including

The Motion Picture ★★★ This film is very slow moving, playing on mostly special effects. The plot is simple. A massive energy cloud approaches earth, and Kirk/Spock eventually discover that this is a massively advanced configuration of the original Voyager 6 “V-ger” space probe.

The Wrath of Khan ★★★★ This was the most suspenseful film. Khan returns from a tv episode in an attempt to pay retribution on Captain Kirk. Spock dies.

The Search for Spock ★★★ Spock just sort of died, and the intention of this film is to get Spock’s thoughts, which were transferred to McCoy, back to Spock, wherever in the universe he might be. Kirk steals his Enterprise spaceship to accomplish that and Spock is rescued, though the Enterprise is destroyed.

The Voyage Home ★★★ Kirk and Spock are now federation bad boys, but a space probe has approached earth and trying to destroy it. Spock and Kirk figure out that it is calling out for extinct whales, and they must journey back two centuries to earth to pick up several whales and save the earth. In the process, Kirk and crew are redeemed.

The Final Frontier ★★ The Enterprise is called on to rescue several ambassadors from a remote planet, only to have the space ship taken over by a bunch of hippies. The resolution of the conflict involves Kirk proving to the hippies that there is no Nirvana or Heaven to go to.

The Undiscovered Country ★★★ The Klingons have gone bankrupt and sue for peace. Kirk must escort the Klingon ambassador to the peace meeting, when things are sabotaged and the ambassador is murdered in a strange fashion. Eventually, it is discovered that junior officers working in conjunction with Klingons sought to dismantle the peace process, but only after many unusual adventures and last moment rescues.

The Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon ???

A recent conversation with Jeff Banker during a hike/climb of Flattop Peak in Anchorage, AK led to the issue of free will and providence. This movie came up in the discussion. It is suggested that there is a bureau of people who have enough insight in the makeup of all people in order to ultimately have plans for their fates, as well as the fate of the world. It is as though they are god, yet, unlike the Christian God of the Bible, is constantly changing his plans, not totally aware of the future, has no actual control over anything, can be worked around, has no prevailing moral code of operation, and is limited in his insights, judgement, and power to actually determine the fate of events. Damon is not his best in acting, and was much better in the Bourne series. I am quite sure this movie reflects a sense of providence/predestination equivalent with most people’s thinking, including Christians of the Arminian persuasion. This movie is an excellent argument that such a god is no god at all, but rather just a little more powerful version of the human being.

The Three Stooges (8 volumes) ????

This series of the Three Stooges as presented on television goes from the earliest episodes in 1934 up to the final episodes with Joe Besser in 1959. The Three Stooges offer their own commentary of wit and humor. Many people who watch the Stooges in action feel that they are too violent, and I’m sure Leonard Maltin or Woopie Goldberg would not approve for the violence, but as they also tend to make fun of racial and ethnic stereotypes. The greatest disappointment with this series is that the last few years offered mostly remakes of previous episodes, often with only minor alterations in order to make it a new episode. In addition, Joe Besser simply cannot compete with Curly or Shemp. I remember watching the Three Stooges on television when I was 5 or 6 years old, and they were transfixing then. When I let the grandchildren watch them, they find them still amusing. Much of the wordplay is missed by kids, but makes the Three Stooges equally humorous for children and adults alike.

The Stoning of Soraya, directed by Cyrus Nowrosteh ?????

This is a bad movie to watch late at night, as it will haunt you. It is the story of a young wife in a small village in Iran, as told through the voice of a journalist who was passing through the village. Apparently, it was based on a true story, as this story mirrors what happens many times throughout strict Muslim countries. Soraya is mother of two young boys and two young girls, but whose husband has found her to be less than satisfactory, in spite of her hard work and virtue. He decides to get rid of her and marry another girl in a neighbor village. She takes up the job of helping to care for the children of a neighbor widower, encouraged by the town officials and holy man. Through this, the town officials and holy man assist in devising a false trumped charge of adultery. The widower is threatened with his life if he fails to assist in this plot, and so contributes to the deception of the charge of adultery, attesting that she was found lying on his bed. The final verdict was the death penalty, and all men in the village, including Soraya’s sons throw stones. Justice is finally served when Soraya’s husband discovers that the other girl is not available to him and he is left without a wife, and that the journalist brings the story to the rest of the world.

The intention of this movie is to alert the western world as to the mistreatment of women in Muslim countries. The film inadvertently portrays a much deeper evil that lurks throughout the Muslim mindset, which is unfortunately turned into a virtue by the Muslim faith. In the Judeo-Christian ethic, a person that leads to the death of another in a trial by bearing false witness is also condemned to death (Deut. 19:15-20). Integrity and truth are considered integral to religion and worship of God. In the Muslim faith, the worship of Allah is divorced from the ethical environment. A hierarchy of values are generated whereby one evil may justify the performance of another evil.Thus, suicidal terrorist acts, the organized mistreatment of women, the debauchery that occurs in all Muslim countries are all condoned since the ends justify the means. My experience of having spent time in several Muslim countries (Bangladesh and Northern Africa) confirm this through observations of women essentially having the same social status as animals. This is not superficially observable as many Muslim men treated their wives with respect, even though they still remain second class citizens in the society. Attempts have been made to accuse Western society for demeaning women, yet, the difference is such that females are considered equal but different, contrary to feminist ideology that considers females not only equal but not different. Either is a far cry from the Muslim world, where a female might be imprisoned for driving a car, or speaking out in public.

The director of this movie did a brilliant job of character development, scene portrayal, and plot flow. It will hold you by the seat of your pants, in spite of the fact that I have just given away the plot of the movie. I highly encourage you to watch this film at your first chance.