I have always been a fan of the Planet of the Apes films since I saw them on TV as a child. At the time I enjoyed them on a very superficial level, where upon later viewing I became aware of their political and sociological subtext. I recently caught up with the alternative version of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes that is available on Blu-ray. Director J. Lee Thompson's original cut of the film was considered too bleak and was re-edited into the theatrical version that most viewers are familiar with. The differences were mainly substitutions hence both versions have the same running time.