In defense of »laughably primitive« special effects

NYT’s Terrence Rafferty on »Rise of the Planet of the Apes«, starting in European movie theaters tomorrow:

The apes will look, and move, better than they ever have. But it has to be said that the movie science fiction of the original Apes era, with its now laughably primitive effects, in some ways benefited from its technical crudeness: the spectacle rarely got in the way of the ideas, and when the ideas are engaging, as they are in the first »Planet of the Apes« and »Escape,« the simple effects function like sketches, indications of some greater, not fully realized, narrative and intellectual architecture.

Here’s more. To get an idea what Rafferty’s talking about, here’s the original trailer of »Planet of the Apes« (1968).

And on a slightly different note: The Six Best »Planet of the Apes« Parodies Ever.