Planet of the Apes (1968) - 4 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1968 and running 112 minutes,its worth a review in light of the new series of films of which I have only seen the first and reviewed,”Rise of the planet of the apes”.The original in a bit dated but highly watchable and has a great cast headed by Charlton Heston and state of the art makeup for its  day.It can be seen as both  good sci-fi tale or a parable of mans folly during the cold war.Highly recommend as reference point against the newer versions.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary is below.

Taylor and two other astronauts come out of deep hibernation to find that their ship has crashed. Escaping with little more than clothes they find that they have landed on a planet where men are pre-lingual and uncivilized while apes have learned speech and technology. Taylor is captured and taken to the city of the apes after damaging his throat so that he is silent and cannot communicate with the apes. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3430940953/

Pacific Rim 2013 - 3 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 2013 and running long at 132 minutes,I have 2 problems with this film.First it is FX CGI driven and second,its too comic bookish while trying to be serious.I love the plot and the idea of deep underwater knowledge or lack thereof,implied if not actuality stated.I also like the transformer-like yet human controlled machines of early Japanese cartoons updated to this film,to bad the lack of real characterizations and a viable plot were missing.All in all,little more that a teasing idea of what could have been a much better film.
Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary below.Maybe a bit too intense for the little ones and more than a bit silly for me.

When monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity's resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes - a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) - who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind's last hope against the mounting apocalypse. Written by Del Torro

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi513124633/