Beneath the Planet of the Apes Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Synopsis
Astronaut Brent is sent to rescue Taylor but crash lands on the Planet of the Apes, just like Taylor did in the original film. Taylor has disappeared into the Forbidden Zone so Brent and Nova try to follow and find him. He discovers a cult of humans that fear the Apes' latest military movements and finds himself in the middle. Tension mounts to a climactic battle between ape and man deep in the bowels of the planet.
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You ask me to help you? Man is evil! Capable of nothing but destruction!
-Dr. ZaiusThe film opens up with the final scenes of the previous film, then the first act begins and it pretty much starts out as a retread of Planet of the Apes. Instead of Charlton Heston meeting the apes for the first time, we get James Franciscus meeting the apes for the first time. The social commentary is also quite reduced. It's a shell of the original.
With that said I still had a blast watching this film. It's nowhere near as good as the original, but it's campier, has more action and the pace is brisk. The final act is so bizarre that you…
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Seems to have been made under many of the same principles that would later produce the infamous sequel to The Exorcist: Remove almost everything that made the first movie good, and replace it with nonsense/batshit insanity. Unfortunately it works about as well here as it does there.
James Franciscus is especially lacking in the lead role - his character is a pale shade of Heston's character in the first movie (reduced to a glorified cameo here), and his performance matches that dynamic exactly.
I will say that the ending is pretty awesome in a way, particularly Paul Frees' searingly abrupt and bleak closing narration. But it seems like they were trying to one-up the first movie's humane cynicism with all-out misanthropy - it leaves a bad taste in my mouth but it might work for some people.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Great sequel
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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WHAT THE CUSS!?!
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startling and visionary, pure art, beauty
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long awaited sequel did not disappoint.
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Evidence that Hollywood has been running the same "sequel play" for 43 years is pretty much full-on with this entry.
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I am baffled by the ending.
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As bad as I know it is, at times I can't help but love it. That gruesome twist at the end? Far too cool to dismiss.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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The plot thickens... but with so many lousy sets. Still can't get that squashed (painted) bus out of my head :)
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While not as good overall as the first one, still a great movie. The apes are all great, again. James Franciscus is actually pretty good, I'd even go so far as to say he seems more comfortable than Heston did in the first one. The best part is that you get to see more of the ruined New York City, though I'm not sure if the Radio City Music Hall sign would still be in that good of shape, 2,000 years form now.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.