So after two short films on the bounce I now have a Sci-Fi classic to review in the first of the ‘Apes’ original outings. Released in 1968 and starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison. It was produced on a budget of $5.8m it went on to return a very tidy $33.4m from the box-office. I am staying in the 80% with this one and I have to mention that…Yeah! I get to talk about the Tri-Critic Sync Challenge again and in this movie we have one of the outliers for the target. This is because of the outer limit being reached with 7 points between the three of us. IMDb agrees with me exactly with a 8/10. The mob of Rotten Tomatoes liked it much more than us giving this movie a 87% score. I can see why as this is seen as a classic but for me I agree with IMDb with its assessment of this classic that has stayed the test of time (although a little jaded around the edges). Onto the plot shall we?
The story here is about four astronauts who have been sent out from earth and are in a deep sleep in stasis when their spaceship crashes into a lake on an unknown planet after it’s a light-speed journey. One of the crew died and the other three abandon their ship when it starts sinking into the lake but one of them ‘Taylor’ manages to notice the date logged on the system of 25th November 3978 which is 2006 years after they departed earth. The three set out across a desolate wasteland and discover an oasis in the desert with some scary looking scarecrows dotted about on the top of clifftops on either side of them. They chase some thieves who have taken their clothes whilst they stop for a swim (as you do). The thieves are primitive humans, that are chased into a corn field. Taylor is shot in the throat when a group of armed gorilla’s arrive to stop the humans from looting the corn and are rounded up. In the chaos one of his companions is killed and the other knocked unconscious. Taylor is taken to Ape City where he is saved after a blood transfusion processed by two chimpanzees, but with his throat injury Taylor is unable to speak. Taylor is placed with a half-naked woman (Nova) and he observes the society of the apes with the chimps being medical and scientists, gorillas are the military force and labourers with orangutans in charge of governance and religion. The Ape community see’s humans as vermin and a pain to their society. Taylor escapes before being recaptured he utters the famous words of “Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!” which blows his cover of not being the typical vermin and he is in fact an intelligent human in this Ape world. I won’t go any further as I will be going into spoiler territory and I am stopping.
This is a classic sci-fi movie coming out of the sixties and giving birth to a following four direct movies and a television series before the remake or is it classed as a reboot which has followed many of the later movies stories and I like this one. It became political and really did not shirk away from subjects that was attempted to be swept under carpets. It said what it felt, it started debate and asked more than one question about humanity and if you think about this film and the following sequels in any form of detail then you have to see the depth they dug into. This is a really thought provoking movie and can still be enjoyed on a “let the story wash over me” type way where you don’t have to concentrate but just enjoyed. I think what I am saying is this movie works on multiple levels you can just watch this as a sci-fi movie of four well one man lands on a planet and investigates a way home. That is enough but if you scratch the surface you can see humanities own desire to screw itself up and then there is the look of seeing an intelligent human placed into a world of apes who treat humans as vermin and use them as test creatures to experiment on. What is different with them with humans as us current humans treat animals of today, it turns so many things on its head and asked the audience don’t just accept it ask yourself that question. Your choice but if you have been happy for this movie to just wash over you then go back and watch it again and ask yourself some questions about todays society let alone society in the late sixties - seriously go think about it. I have said all this and not mentioned plastic ape masks and the slow decline of budgets as the movies continued and the masks got worse with each one but this one stands alone as a classic. This should not be swallowed up but the impressive new digital age of the new movies where this is the one that started humanity asking those questions. I will get off my high horse now and start working on the next review which will be ‘very’ and I mean very different to this one.
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