Planet of the Apes ultimate DVD collection

Got it!

The ape head package is quite large; maybe 3/4 lifesize. Look at the picture above, with the DVDs in front -- that gives you an idea of the scale. The head is well made, but to me it just doesn't look like Caesar; the likeness in the much, much smaller (6" body height) Medicom Caesar figure is a lot closer. Still, it's impressive. I bought this in Canada from a Canadian source [Costco, Canadian$149], and the packaging here says that 2,000 sets, with their own run of limited serial numbers, have been produced for the Canadian market -- on top of the 10,000 for the U.S., so this isn't quite as rare as Fox is making it out to be.

(Given that the population ratio of Canada to the US is 10:1, it's interesting that they chose to do a 5:1 ratio for runs of this product -- it implies that they think PLANET OF THE APES is twice as popular on a per capita basis in Canada as it is in the U.S.)

The set has the additional footage for BATTLE that's not been seen in a North American DVD release before, but it's still missing the prologue that was filmed but never shown from ESCAPE (Cornelius, Zira, and Milo in the cockpit of Taylor's ship). I emailed my friend Eric Greene, who included a still from that scene in the trade-paperback edition of his wonderful PLANET OF THE APES AS AMERICAN MYTH (Eric's text commentary also appears on the POTA DVD in this set) to see if that footage still exists; he says he's never seen any sign that it still does, sad to say -- the still may be the only thing that's survived.

Anyway, a cool collectible, and I'm glad I bought it.