Product Review

The entire Planet of the Apes saga eventually spanned five films and a short-lived TV series. But the original is still the best, even if it's hard to decide what's more memorable, Jerry Goldsmith's inventively modern score or the sight of Charlton Heston in a loincloth. We're sticking with Goldsmith, if only for the bold resourcefulness he showed in creating a new musical idiom--ethnic Ape. Rife with complex percussive flourishes and tinged with haunting instrumental moans, Goldsmith's score remains a singular science-fiction classic. --Jerry McCulley