1968 Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
An U.S. Spaceship lands on a desolate planet, stranding astronaut Taylor in a world dominated by apes, 2000 years into the future, who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist.
Charlton Heston Roddy McDowall Kim Hunter Maurice Evans James Whitmore James Daly Linda Harrison Robert Gunner Lou Wagner Woodrow Parfrey Jeff Burton Buck Kartalian Norman Burton Wright King Paul Lambert Martin Abrahams Army Archerd James Bacon Erlynn Mary Botelho Priscilla Boyd Eldon Burke David Chow Billy Curtis Frank Delfino Buddy Douglas Chuck Fisher William Graeff Jr. Lars Hensen Irvin 'Zabo' Koszewski Show All…
Roy N. Sickner Glenn Randall Jr. Gene LeBell Terry Leonard George P. Wilbur Fritz Ford Nick Dimitri Eddie Hice Tony Epper Whitey Hughes Ted White Kim Kahana Joe Canutt Bennie E. Dobbins Loren Janes Lars Lundgren William Graeff Jr. Regis Parton Louie Elias Frank Orsatti Lightning Bear Eldon Burke Kent Hays Tap Canutt John Quijada Jack Tyree Alex Sharp Ernest Robinson Dave Rodgers Robert Renegade Renneke
Planet of the Apes 1968, 浩劫余生, El planeta dels simis, 猿の惑星, Planet der Affen 1, El planeta de los simios, Planet der Affen, Планета мавп, La Planète des singes, O Homem Que Veio do Futuro, Il pianeta delle scimmie, Maymunlar Cehennemi, Планета обезьян, 人猿星球, Planeta Małp, Apornas planet, A majmok bolygója, Planeta opic, Ο Πλανήτης των Πιθήκων, 혹성탈출, כוכב הקופים, Planeta maimuțelor, Abernes planet, O Planeta dos Macacos, Apinoiden planeetta, Планетата на маймуните, 浩劫餘生, Planéta opíc, Hành Tinh Khỉ, Apeplaneten, บุกพิภพมนุษย์วานร, Beždžionių Planeta
Brazil12
USAG
Argentina
FinlandK-16
ItalyT
Japan
UKPG
FranceTP
Germany12
PortugalM/12
Sweden15
Iran
IrelandG
Denmark11
SpainAPTA
Turkey
South Korea
Hungary12
France12
Netherlands12
USAG
Sweden15
Netherlands12
Netherlands12
Argentina
Brazil
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Iran
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
Portugal
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
UK
USA
83
The initial sequel series and modern prequel trilogy could never even prepare the uninitiated viewer for how quiet this film is, and how careful it is at revealing its hand - constructing a series of loaded, aggressive images for the shock of the american public. That famous Gif of Heston's Taylor laughing maniacally is, in context, one of the strangest moments in science-fiction history, following an image of a small american flag being planted in the desolate earth, a quiet reminder of the commitment to the system and the disaster it can cause. The United States doesn't matter. Unless, of course, the cycle repeats.
Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!
-George Taylor
The most remarkable thing here is that a 1960s film about talking apes still holds up almost 45 years later. Some people might scoff that the makeup isn't THAT good, but it IS good enough that the movie has no problem sucking you in and you no longer think about the actor under the makeup, you only see the characters on the screen.
What really makes this film work though is that it can be enjoyed on many different levels. You can turn your brain off and just enjoy it for it's campy fun obviously. You have humans treated like animals being hunted down by talking apes, what's…
In my brain, I always knew this was good but not this good?
Guess I’ll binge the franchise now.
Not perfect, but great in all the ways that count. On this viewing I was particularly impressed by the courtroom scenes, which are some of the most interesting and revealing of ape society -- and critical of the human society they're meant to satirize -- and by Heston, whose Taylor is a deeply flawed hero, which is to say an enormously human one.
[Ape 1]
Help! The human's about to escape.
[Troy McClure]
Get your paws off me, you dirty ape!
[Ape 2]
(gasp) He can talk!
[Ape]
He can talk! He can talk! He can talk!
He can talk! He can talk! He can talk!
[Troy]
And I can siiiiiiiiiiing!
[Ape Nurse]
Oooh! Help me, Dr. Zaius!
[Ape Chorus]
Dr. Zaius! Dr. Zaius!
Dr. Zaius! Dr. Zaius!
Dr. Zaius! Dr. Zaius!
O, Dr. Zaius!
[Ape 1]
Dr. Zaius! Dr. Zaius!
[Troy]
What's wrong with me?
[Dr. Zaius]
I think you're crazy.
[Troy]
Want a second opinion.
[Dr. Zaius]
You're also lazy
[Ape Chorus]
Dr. Zaius! Dr. Zaius!
Dr. Zaius! Dr. Zaius!
Dr. Zaius! Dr. Zaius!
O, Dr. Zaius!
[Orangutan 1]
Dr. Zaius!…
Hitting theaters the same day as 2001: A Space Odyssey and only a few months before Rosemary’s Baby and Night of the Living Dead; Planet of the Apes is another thought provoking and mentally clobbering bullet in the chamber of 1968’s pointed right at you .44 magnum.
To be honest I don’t know what to say about this movie that hasn’t been said before… it’s a longtime favorite and does a remarkable job of linking that very specific Roddenberry/Serling style sci-fi of the 60’s with the more adventure elements the genre would latch on to by the end of the 70’s, but my favorite thing about a movie with such a LOUD ending is I always seem to forget how quietly it starts…
“Planet of the Apes” - one of the grimmest science fiction films to come out of Hollywood - is also one of the most notably bleak entries in all camp cinema.
Non-speaking female extras originally intended to be topless… most of the running time spent in cages… allusions to inter species romance….
There is little in the elements of Franklin J. Shaffner’s “Apes” that would imply it was meant to be anything but a particularly niche kink flick. But movies made from similar oddities of elements - never had Rod Serling to assemble them together.
One of the few feature-length films penned by the “Twilight Zone” scribe and host - the work, well, apes the best parts of its tv…
PLANET OF THE APES is one of those movies whose popular representation is only tangentially related to the film itself. In popular memory, this is sci-fi farce, bordering on camp. In reality, PLANET OF THE APES is a nasty, cynical little movie, anchored by an almost nihilistic performance from Charlton Heston. It’s also beautiful, with wide desert vistas and bright blue skies. When the titular apes finally appear, about halfway through the film, it is as shocking for you, the audience, as it is for the characters.
Smarter people than me have written extensively about the politics of this film, so I’ll end here by saying that the nihilism and cynicism of this film — the concluding vision of destruction wrought by man — feels as relevant today in the face of climate catastrophe as I’m sure it did 54 years ago in the face of nuclear apocalypse.
