20th Century Fox is starting to ramp up the promotional campaign for Rise of the Planet of the Apes as the movie’s August 5 release date fast approaches. Just recently the studio released a pair of television spots and new domestic and international trailers. If you’ve seen any of the previously released trailers, you won’t find much new in these videos. The international trailer probably contains some extra shots, but I’ve seen it all before. You can watch the new videos and trailers here below.

Still, I love the look of the film so far. The CGI motion-capture on the apes looks amazing to the point where even in their brief appearances you feel a great deal of sympathy for them, especially in the lead performance by Andy Serkis as Caesar. But with the exception of John Lithgow, the human actors don’t fare as well in these trailers. I hope it’s just a case of the promo materials holding back.

I know some will say that movies like Rise are pure spectacle and the acting doesn’t really matter; that’s fine if you’re talking about one of the Transformers movies because then I would have to agree. But the Planet of the Apes is the most spectacular and thought-provoking sci-fi adventure series in film and in these movies the human performances definitely matter even more than the visual effects. After all it wasn’t an ape that beat its fists upon the sands 43 years ago and screamed, “You maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you! God damn you all to Hell!”

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Andy Serkis, Tom Felton, Brian Cox, and David Oyelowo, opens on August 5, 2011.

Video

TV Spot # 1

TV Spot # 2

New Domestic Trailer

International Trailer