Ape 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Ape 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

You look great in 3D you damn dirty ape!

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 21, 2018

“Building after building is being destroyed. People are dying!” is the urgent plea heard during Director Paul Leder's (I Dismember Mama) Ape. It sounds terrible. The creature must be stopped! Think of all those miniatures! Think of all those people in peril from oversized fluffy props! Bring that man in the suit down! Ape is a tongue-in-cheek, intentionally or not, take on the classic Monster movie, essentially King Kong and Godzilla on the humorously cheap. It's a low-budget cheese extravaganza that promises the moon (see Ape..."defy the jaws of a giant shark!" "demolish an ocean liner!" "vanquish monster reptile!") but delivers, instead, a hilarious 80-some minutes of the title creature on a casual "rampage," more bumping into rather than destroying crude miniatures, tossing (with the help of a wire guide) rather than hurtling rocks, and carrying a doll, all the while...nothing much else happens. It's overstuffed but very fun and well worth a watch if for no other reason than for the laughs, and certainly to enjoy its well designed, albeit gimmicky, 3D presentation.

Plot? Beyond "guy in ape suit breaks stuff?" There really isn't much more of a plot. The Ape comes ashore in Korea one day after escaping his confines on a boat and battling a limp rubber shark. Meanwhile, a famous American actress, Marilyn Baker (Joanna Kerns), has just landed in Korea to shoot a movie. She is met by her lover Tom Rose (Rod Arrants), a journalist. The ape moves about the countryside, on his way to the city, destroying everything in his path. Military brass wants the creature captured alive, but once it kidnaps Marilyn and inches closer to the city -- putting thousands in harm's way -- Korean armed forces take the battle to the ape in an effort to kill, not subdue, before it can destroy the country.

There's no plot at all. Ape is strictly about movement, about the title character doing its thing, which means he more often appear to be doing some form of half-drunken dance, not rampaging through Korea, crushing obvious miniatures, carrying around a doll standing in for the damsel in distress, and hurling rocks on wires at the camera for that 3D effect. The movie wants the audience to duck and dodge, not only away from Ape's projectiles but also from flinging arrows and rifle barrels and pool cues and large chunks of wood, anything the filmmakers decided to push towards the cameras in an effort to elicit a reaction. But even then the sense that the 3D elements are forced is unmistakable. Everything in the movie feels phony and manufactured, forced and frivolous. The ape costume is super cheap and routinely shows some part of the actor underneath. Movie structure is shaky and there's more padding than there is plotting. But it's a ton of fun nevertheless. It's truly one of the great "so bad it's good movies" out there. It's a joy to watch, and its shortcomings gradually become a strength. It never takes itself seriously, not in story, not in presentation, not in forced 3D gimmicks. Through all its faults, it's hard to find fault. Just sit back and smile. It's well worth the effort, and be sure to watch in 3D.

Ape 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: the 2D image was reviewed on an LG OLED65C7P while the 3D content was reviewed on a Sony XBR65Z9D.

Ape arrives on the Blu-ray format with two viewing options, a flat 2D canvas and a dynamic 3D presentation. First, the 2D image. The film begins at night, with deep, devouring blacks (except when there's black fade in various shots, here and elsewhere). Bright daytime exteriors and well-lit interiors see the image at it best. Some scene reveal mildly faded colors, but there are some undeniably rich and well saturated hues in play, too, like a red top and a blue sweater in the first scene following the film's nighttime open, after Ape walks ashore. Generally, colors are firm, and most of the fading appears in an early scene when Marilyn Baker first lands in Korea. Her red dress as she's filming a scene in chapter five appears very well saturated, offering a nice bit of pop against a white staircase she descends for her scene. Details are fairly good. While it's certainly not tight or razor-sharp, basic image integrity is very strong. Core textural qualities, not simply clothes and faces but also rocky terrain, the ape suit, and various concrete structures, hold fairly sharp and nicely crisp. Grain is a bit thick and clumpy. Skin tones appear accurate. Print wear -- speckles, stray vertical lines, some mild flicker in places (34:45, for example) -- is ever-obvious but rarely distracting. This is an ultra low-budget movie, reportedly made for $23,000, a pittance even in the 1970s. And considering the small budget allotted to its Blu-ray restoration, the results are very impressive, and even more so considering the high-yield 3D imagery.

3-D Film Archive's work on the 3D presentation is fantastic, as always. They continue to not only get the most out of what they have work with, but they goes the extra mile and give that extra TLC to make even a hilarious dud of a movie like this a masterpiece within the 3D realm. The 3D effect is a little weird at the beginning The camera is angled downward towards the water (somewhere around 45 degrees, as a guesstimate), with a boat back there somewhere, and the credits appearing above the off-kilter perspective makes for a slightly uneven presentation, but such is the result of dealing with the chosen shot construction. The title colors don't jive very well with the (lightly faded?) background water, either, but that's really the only major source of complaint in the presentation, so at least it's out of the way right off the bat. There's understandably not much of a sense of real depth in the earliest sequence featuring the two characters set against a pitch-black backdrop, but there's at least a sense of volume to their faces. Big explosions as Ape escapes illuminate the water, and the resultant sense of stretch and space becomes more obvious in the first great 3D look at the movie. At the airport, the image stretches far back into the terminal and, outside, the parking lot. There's a good sense of separation between characters and the environment, clearly offset from the background, which stretches to some distance. At the 17:20 mark there's a shot at ground level, panning around a scene of destruction, which offers substantial environmental depth, some of the finest 3D on the disc, or anywhere, for that matter. There's not enough time (or space in this review) to comment on every scene, but suffice it to say general shot construction allows for a firm, authentic sense of place and depth, with shapelessly characters and environments evident throughout.

The film offers plenty of pop-out effects. A plank crashes through a Jeep window early in the film. It's not quite as dramatic as one might think, but there are some other solid "gimmick" 3D shots in the film, including children at play in a playground at the 20-minute mark, Ape tossing a snake at the screen a few minutes later, bladed weapons poking into the screen in the 24-minute mark and arrows shooting towards the camera moments later, and a cue stick extending outward a little over an hour into the movie. Hands-down the best screen-extending 3D moment comes near the end when riflemen battle Ape, and the rifle barrels practically poke the viewer in the eye. Good thing they're not equipped with bayonets!

As far as essentials go within the 3D presentation, blacks are deep, textural efficiency is excellent, and colors are handled well. The basics play better in 3D than they do in 2D, and they play fairly well in 2D. Those who wish to see the film without 3D capabilities can enjoy a solid enough 2D watch, but the movie shines with this first-class 3D presentation from Kino and 3-D Film Archive.

Ape 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ape ambles onto Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack that presents the film's meager, budget-limited soundtrack with an acceptable presentation. Make no mistake, muddled and scratchy music is the norm. Essential definition is fine, but highs shriek and there is, of course, no dedicated low end channel to help carry the bottom. Spacing is adequate across the front end. Sound effects, like ringing phones, impacting kicks and punches during a fight in chapter three, and other, similar elements offer solid enough core detailing. Dialogue is efficient, itself a little scratchy but it pushes far enough to the center for a fairly well-imaged sensation. When one character speaks in the opening exchange on the boat, a small, underlying electronic hum accompanies his voice and drops out when he is done speaking, or when the other man speaks. Otherwise, dialogue is largely fine. This is certainly not a high-end, high-yield track, but for a small budget Monster movie that's more a Comedy than it is a serious picture, it's hard to find too much fault with the elements as they are.

Ape 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The highlight supplement on Ape is a commentary track with Hillary Hess and Delirium magazine's Chris Alexander. The former doesn't chime in until a bit later into the track. Both offer wonderful insight, Alexander's a little more inherently humorous. Both comment on the film's shortcomings and its so-bad-it's-good qualities. There is also some interesting insight into 3D film structure (listen to Hess around the 35-minute mark), talk of the film's director (father of contemporary filmmaker Mimi Leder) and much more. This is a first-rate track that balances humor with sincere insight into the movie; it's a must-listen. Additionally, trailers for Ape (1080p, 1:32) as well as The Bubble (1080p, 1:41), GOG (1080p, 1:51), The Mask (1080p, 2:47), and September Storm (1080p, 2:02) are included.

Ape 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ape is a terrible movie, but it engenders goodwill in its silliness and is certain to make the audience smile. It's well worth a watch for a chuckle or three and for its 3D visuals, too. Kino and 3-D Film Archive's Blu-ray 3D release is quite nice. The 2D video is flawed but fine under various constraints, the 3D is awesome, sound is passable, and the included commentary track is well worth a listen. Highly recommended.