Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Mar 11, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Wes BallRelease Date(s)
2024 (August 27, 2024)Studio(s)
Oddball Entertainment/Jason T Reed Productions/20th Century Studios (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: A+
Review
Caesar is dead, long live Caesar!
Set three to four hundred years after the events of War of the Planet of the Apes (2017), Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes follows the journey of a young chimpanzee named Noa (Owen Teague), who’s the heir to his “Eagle” clan of intelligent apes that have mastered falconry. But when his village is attacked and his family and friends are either killed or taken captive by a rival clan of apes led by the ruthless Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), Noa sets out in pursuit, determined to track and save the ones he loves.
Along the way, he meets a young human woman named Mae (Freya Allan)—who somehow retains her wits and the ability to speak—as well as a wise orangutan called Raka (Peter Macon, The Orville). Mae (who the apes call Nova by tradition) seems willing to tag along with Noa but has an agenda of her own, while Raka (whose own partner was also killed by Proximus) agrees to help Noa on his quest. It’s not long before their search leads the trio to Proximus’ coastal enclave of apes, which lives in a shipwreck near an ancient human bunker that holds secrets untold.
The thing I most appreciate about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, compared to the earlier reboot trilogy, is that for the first time it feels like this franchise is building to something new. Rise was a very clever prequel to the original 1968 film, and both Dawn and War were necessarily about the deconstruction of human civilization. But Kingdom is the start of a new chapter and it’s fundamentally about world building—ape society, ape culture, even ape mythology (which is just as spotty and prone to convolution as our own)—while also preserving the idea that humanity is still trying hard to make a comeback.
Once you’ve seen this film, it feels like there are a hundred more stories to tell and many possible directions the franchise can take. What’s more, the characters here, again mostly ape, are compelling and surprisingly well developed and rendered, thanks to both fine acting performances and truly groundbreaking visual effects (which include motion capture and CG animation). It would be fair to say that animal characters have seldom been more realistically rendered and blended into actual practical environments (including water immersion) than they are here. And when you see how those effects were realized, the achievement becomes even more remarkable. (But more on that in a moment.) Points also for a brief turn by actor William H. Macy, as a human who’s managed to survive by making himself useful to Proximus.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was captured by digitally by cinematographer Gyula Pados (Predators, the Maze Runner films) in the ARRIRAW and Blackmagic RAW codecs (in 4.5K and 12K—for a few scenes) using Arri Alexa LF, Mini LF, and Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro cameras with Panavision Primo 70, C- and T-Series anamorphic lenses. (Note that a little bit of 65 mm footage from Ron Fricke’s Samsara was also licensed for use in this film’s opening scenes.) It was finished as a native 4K Digital Intermediate at the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. For its release on Ultra HD, the 4K master was graded for high dynamic range (available here in HDR10 only) and encoded for a 66 GB disc. The result is an image that offers impressive clarity and detail, moderately refined texturing, and a bold and highly-nuanced color palette. Shadows are deep yet retain good detail, while the highlights are bright and luminous. The 4K presentation exhibits lovely dimensionality, and really the only strike against it is that—had it been encoded for a 100 GB disc—it would probably look even better. As it is, the image here is pleasing but it falls a little shy of reference quality.
On the audio side of things, the 4K disc includes an excellent home theater port of the theatrical English Dolby Atmos experience. The mix isn’t aggressive or blustery, but overall dynamics are good and the surround and height channels are well utilized to generate atmospherics and environmental immersion. Subtle sound cues abound, including jungle and wildlife noises. Panning is smooth and fluid, and low frequency effects are firm when necessary. All in all, it’s a good sonic experience. Additional audio options include English 2.0 Descriptive Audio, French and Polish 5.1 Dolby Digital, and Spanish and Japanese 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus. Subtitles are available in English for the Hearing Impaired, French, Spanish, Polish, Japanese, and Czech.
20th Century Studios’ 4K release is a 2-disc set that includes the film on Ultra HD along with a Blu-ray bonus disc (a BD-50). The 4K disc has no extras, but the Blu-ray offers an extremely cool feature: Raw Cut version of the film in 1080p HD that features unfinished visual effects, so you can see the actors’ performances on set! The disc also includes additional special features—here’s a complete breakdown of the contents:
Inside the Lens: The Raw Cut (HD – 144:47)
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD MA, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; Subtitles: English for the Hearing Impaired, French, and Spanish
- Audio Commentary by Wes Ball, Dan Zimmerman, and Erik Winquist
- Inside the Forbidden Zone: Making Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (HD – 23:25)
- Deleted/Extended Scenes with Optional Commentary by Wes Ball (HD – 14 scenes – 32:15 in all)
- SC 003 – Noa, Soona, Anaya Climb First Ledge (HD – 2:07)
- SC 006 – Noa, Soona, Anaya Post-Egg Climb (HD – 1:04)
- SC 020 – Noa/Soona Hammock Talk (HD – 2:07)
- SC 033 – Lightning & Sylva on Hunt (HD – 1:00)
- SC 040 – Eagle Clan Prisoners (HD – 1:37)
- SC 046 – Noa Dreams of Father (HD – 1:13)
- SC 051A–A053 – Noa Meets Raka in Temple, Raka Shows Him Out (HD – 3:38)
- SC 057 – Lightning & Sylva at Noa’s Campfire (HD – 1:24)
- SC 058 – Noa & Raka Leave Airport (HD – 1:46)
- SC 062 – Noa Chases Down Mae, Encounters Marauders (HD – 7:54)
- SC 076 – Noa & Mae Talk About Dreams (HD – 3:16)
- SC A120 – Entering Silo (HD – 1:28)
- SC 122 – Anya Stumbles (HD – 1:08)
- SC 156 – Beach Walk – Ape Exodus (HD – 2:26)
Hands down, The Raw Cut is one of the best special features we’ve seen on a new theatrical special edition years. It offers a start-to-finish look at storyboards and the raw imagery filmed on set, which shows the actors performing in their “mo-cap” suits, in a split screen framing with the final version of the film. This allows you to see the way the actors’ emotions are preserved in their CG characters. You can also see how much of the film was shot practically, how the wild location footage was augmented by visual effects, and how the digital characters were incorporated into the final environments. As if that wasn’t cool enough, you can also watch The Raw Cut with audio commentary that features the director in conversation with the film’s editor and visual effects supervisor. And the package is completed by a “making of” featurette and a half-hour’s worth of deleted scenes (also with director’s commentary). Hats off to everyone at 20th Century Studios who made these features possible. This disc is a real treat for cinephiles.
Note that the 4K release is available in both Amaray and Steelbook packaging, with Blu-ray and DVD versions available separately. A Movies Anywhere Digital Code is also included on a paper insert.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is not only a worthy continuation of the reboot franchise launched by director Rupert Wyatt back in 2011, it represents an exciting new direction for the series too, even as it continues to honor Franklin J. Schaffner’s original 1968 film and its own sequels. One suspects that we haven’t seen the last of Noa, Raka, and “Nova,” and it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the story to come full circle with the classic Planet of the Apes. In the meantime, this 4K presentation is pleasing and the special features here are first-rate. Recommended!
- Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)