Original Conquest of the Planet of the Apes screening at Fantastic Fest in HD

Fantastic Fest is one of the premiere genre film festivals on the U.S. Each year, it continues to outdo itself, with inventive film selection and an ever-increasing list of classics brought back to the big screen. This year’s festival includes great retrospectives, including a look at Aussie Exploitation films, which will include Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Dark Age and Razor Back.

The festival will have a rare screening J. Lee Thompson’s Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the toughest, most violent and political of the entire series of films, and one of the best science fiction films of its time. Test audiences in 1972 were shocked by the film’s violence and call for revolution, so much so that the film was cut by over 9 minutes for fears of earning an R rating from the MPAA. For over 35 years this version of Conquest languished in the Fox vault, unseen by human eyes, and now, the original, uncut version will be receiving its world premiere at this year’s edition of Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., running from September 18 – 25, 2008 at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas.

This one-time only screening will be free and open to the general public on Saturday, September 20, at 12pm. Following this, Fox Home Entertainment will make this version available exclusively in the Planet of the Apes 40 Year Evolution Blu-Ray Collection available in stores on November 4th. The Fantastic Fest Conquest screening will be in 1080p HD, making this the first public high def screening of any of the Apes films, and will preceded by Fox DVD giveaways and previews.

The screening is sponsored by Fox Home Entertainment.

Important dates have been announced for the 4th Annual Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

Sunday, September 14, 2008: Fantastic Fest online begins
Thursday, September 18, 2008: Fantastic Fest begins
Saturday, September 20, 2008: 2009 Festival Badges go on sale
Monday, September 22, 2008: 2008 Fantastic Fest Awards Ceremony

For more information about Fantastic Fest, please visit www.fantasticfest.com.

Check out the trailer for Conquest of the Planet of the Apes below.