The Good: Good concept, Clever, Decent acting, Engaging philosophy
The Bad: Some of the special effects, Pacing,
The Basics: An engaging story, Planet Of The Apes holds up as a story of religious oppression, more than just a novelty science fiction film with an oft-quoted reversal ending!
Last night, I decided to watch the original 1968 film Planet Of The Apes and it was the first time since I was a young teenager that I had actually endeavored to watch the movie. Ironically, in the intervening years, I enjoyed Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (reviewed here!) and avoided the Tim Burton remake of the classic film. For all the times I have seen works that allude to the final moments of Planet Of The Apes, I was actually surprised that I had never before noted that Planet Of The Apes was co-written by Rod Serling. With its classic reversal at the end of the film, I suppose it should not have surprised me.
With Serling involved, it is almost no surprise that Planet Of The Apes is far less a make-up oriented novelty action-adventure film and far more a philosophical film with a strong moral. A play on classic evolution theory, Planet Of The Apes evolves from a classic science fiction premise into a rousing treatise on the conflict between science and faith before reverting into a novelty science fiction ending that is entirely familiar to fans of Serling’s The Twilight Zone!
In 2673, a NASA ship commanded by George Taylor, completes its mission and heads for Earth. Its four-person crew in suspended animation, the ship crashes in the water of a planet in Earth year 3978. The lone female on the ship, Stewart, is dead, her suspended animation chamber having cracked and the body desiccated. Taylor, Landon, and Dodge, flee their sinking craft and begin to explore the arid world they find themselves on. In search of food and water, before their three days worth of food is exhausted, the trio of astronauts finds small plants, then trees, then a waterfall. While swimming, the astronaut’s clothes are stolen and the men follow the thieves to a small agrarian settlement. There, they are captured by horse-riding apes. Taylor is shot in the neck and is rendered temporarily mute.
While being looked over by the doctor apes and with the sociologist Zira speaking near him, Taylor struggles to communicate. When his throat heals and he is able to talk, Taylor confounds Zira and he sparks a religious schism in simian society. Under the orthodox religious views of Dr. Zaius, who runs the Ministry Of Science, Zira and her fiancé, Cornelius, are put on trial for heresy for promoting the belief that Taylor is sentient and the equal of the simians. As the war between the religious views and hard science progresses, Taylor and his simian allies flee to an archaeological dig that may contain the proof they need to illustrate that the humans on the planet are not simply mute animals!
Planet Of The Apes is a classic science fiction movie in many ways, by which I mean that it is slow as dirt for a good portion of the movie. For a film called Planet Of The Apes, the actors in ape costumes take their sweet ass time to appear (32 minutes into the film is when the first clearly-visible ape makes their appearance). But on the positive side, after establishing a clear sense of place and mood, Planet Of The Apes evolves into something smart and appropriately cerebral. Like most of the best science fiction, and certainly like the science fiction from the era this was produced – most notably Star Trek (reviewed here!), Planet Of The Apes is not at all about gun battles, special effects or even a surreal setting. The fantastic setting of the world with the talking apes is only a backdrop for a expose on the way religion hijacks science.
Dr. Zaius is a compelling villain because he is the voice for orthodoxy and conformity. With a realistic motivation like that, he seems a lot less manic and desperate than George Taylor. Planet Of The Apes is a dressed up argument for evolution, progress, and the importance of promoting freedom as opposed to supporting the elements of power and control.
But, it is dressed up and the dressing and mood is dated. Opening with Taylor’s musings on what Earth might be like, given that 700 years have passed while he and his crew have been in space, Planet Of The Apes is dated in its fears and cultural ideologies. Released in 1968, Planet Of The Apes reflects a strong fear of nuclear war (much like Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes explored a fear of biological and genetic warfare/manipulation) and a contempt for the older generation (Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes had an anti-corporate thread in it). The ideas are interesting, though the vehemence that Taylor uses when expressing the themes is a bit dated.
Also dated are the ape and chimpanzee costumes that populate most of Planet Of The Apes. The apes look good, but when they speak, it is painfully obvious that the viewer is watching humans in latex masks. The sets look good, though, and the costumes are also noteworthy for how well they help create the time and place the film is set. The other special effect, the music, is painfully obvious and very much a product of the times.
Charlton Heston and Maurice Evans dominate the performances in Planet Of The Apes as Taylor and Dr. Zaius. Heston is manic and Evans plays Zaius very cool, making the pair classic foils and they play off one another exceptionally well.
For other classic science fiction films/film franchises, please check out my reviews of:
The Star Wars Saga
The Alien Quadrilogy
The Terminator
7/10
Check out how this film stacks up against others I have reviewed by visiting my Movie Review Index Page for a listing of films from best to worst!
© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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