The Planet of the Apes Cycle

[Mofo Rising]

So I just watched all of the original Planet of the Apes movies. Netflix had them available to watch instantly, and then said they were taking that away, so I took the opportunity.

Here's what I thought (All descriptions have SPOILERS):

PLANET OF THE APES: A true classic. I don't think it's all too dated these days. Plus, it is entertaining as all get out. Charleston Heston's character (Really Firefox? You have Heston's name in your "correct spelling" databank?) is such a cynical, nihilistic character, I couldn't help but like him. I knew the ending was coming, but come on, how can you not like this movie? 5 of 5.

BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES: A direct sequel to the original. Seems another astronaut, who looks as much like Heston as possible, lands in the future. Chases Heston's character to a sublevel of the planet which is populated by telepathic mutants who worship the bomb. Pretty silly when you look at it, but just as (if not moreso) irreverent than the original. The ending is fantastically cynical. Boom! Everybody is dead. I found this one very entertaining. 4 of 5.

ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES: Oh, how I hated this movie. It takes it upon itself to explain the rise of the apes in the stupidest manner you could think of. It's at this point I realized how much I hated the character of Zira. It may not be her fault, the filmmakers were trying to address '70s concerns such as woman's lib, but that's counteracted by having Zira ask for "grape juice plus" while pregnant! Awful. Awful. 1 of 5.

BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES: Surprisingly good, even though it builds off the stupidity of the last movie. Apes in this film are absolute slaves of the moneyed elite. Caesar, the son of Cornelius and Zira slowly comes to realize his role in freeing his people from tyranny. Where this movie succeeds is in the moral gray of who is right. There's no getting around the fact that Caesar promotes acts of terrorism, but he has to do so to free the apes from what is outright slavery. The villains (us humans) would be contemptible, but they are right. The ascension of the apes means the downfall of humanity. (Of course, this could have been averted if the humans weren't such dicks to the apes.) Not a great movie, but probably the one that is still applicable today. 3 of 5.

CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES: Clearly a cash-in, trying to keep the franchise alive. Really just not very good. There's nothing really very bad about this movie, but there's nothing really good either. Who cares about this? Please tell me that you don't. 2 of 5.

I'll probably never watch the TV series. At least not if I can help it.

[Andrew]

You and I have about the same reaction to the films. 

The first is a classic that is full of wild scenes (Heston being sprayed with a firehouse by a gorilla that calls him a "freak"). 

The second amuses me because they did do their best to find the most Hestonish actor they could, then they still included Heston in the end.  It's obvious why Nova was so freaked.  She couldn't tell the difference between real Heston and faux Heston.

I don't have quite the same hate for the third as you.  Maybe Ricardo Montalban saved it for me somehow.  Of course, I could never quite figure out how a pair of Victorian scientists (who were evolved chimpanzees) could manage to repair and launch a spaceship before the Doomsday bomb destroyed the world at the end of the second movie.

The fourth was slightly better than the third.  Maybe it was some of the comedic touches, like Caesar dealing with useless items brought in for the revolution by his fellow (not quite as intelligent) apes.  What perplexed me about this film was that humans would breed a huge servant caste of apes when they knew that someday apes took over the world.  Also, the ending is bizarrely abrupt.  One minute the victorious apes are reveling in their victory, then a female ape says "No" to the bloodshed, and suddenly Caesar changes from violent revolutionary to Gandhi.

The fifth was always my least favorite.  It's a post-apocalyptic war movie with apes.

Remember everyone, counterintuitively (for the 4th and 5th), the movies go in this order:

Planet of the Apes
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Battle for the Planet of the Apes

[Mr. DS]

Planet is a perfect thinking man's film.  

Beneath I've seen bits and pieces of and like Mofo pointed out, I often get confused who is Heston and who isn't.

Escape I sort of liked at times.  Although it kind of became a parody of the first two films unintentionally probably.  For me what made it kind of interesting is the parallel of how the apes are treated compared to the humans in the first two.

Fourth was a good film.  It made you feel for the apes and why they ended up hating humans.

The last one was painful.  No point, no big deal, the costumes looked like the were hauled out of a musty closet.  Complete boredom gallore.  

[The Burgomaster]

I bought the boxed set a few years ago.  It includes all 5 movies, plus a "behind the scenes" DVD that runs a full two hours, I believe and is extremely interesting.  In fact, the behind the scenes DVD is better than parts 3, 4, and 5.

[JaseSF]

I reviewed the entire film series for Scifilm.org. Unfortunately you cannot find those reviews on-line anywheres now. I still have the reviews stashed away on my computer though.

Anyways here's what I generally felt about the films:

Planet of the Apes (1968) - classic, spellbinding, engrossing, action-packed, thought-provoking, Rod Serling and Michael Wilson scripted - an excerpt from my old review: "the film is full of suprises, is a thrill-ride and a piece of modern day science fiction that actually does tackle serious human issues"

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) - bizarre, symbolic of the Vietnam war protests, great acting but constrained by low budget - an excerpt from my old review: "BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES must have had tremendous potential on paper but given realistic budget constraints, it was hardly possible to translate as effectively on film and ultimately is a terribly disappointing followup to PLANET OF THE APES. But when viewed away from the rest of the APES fims, the film does have some entertainment value due to its overall bizarreness."

Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971) - inventive, clever, McDowall is back, Eric Braedan,  lacks true credibility, somewhat formulaic at times - an excerpt from my old review: "ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES should be credited for its inventiveness above all else--that they were able to find a way to revive the series following the events of BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES is truly remarkable.While one does have to use their suspension of disbelief, the film does succeed in linking the films in the series and laying the roots for the following two sequels while still giving the viewer an entertaining experience and an unforgettable ending."

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) - Parallels with real life Watts Riots, Roddy McDowall chewing the scenery, great makeup, sometimes seems to be just going through the paces - an excerpt from my old review: "I personally feel this is the best of the Ape sequels. It's inventive in finding ways around its budget and has a good antislavery oppression theme (No wonder it was mentioned in BEHIND THE PLANET OF THE APES that this film is typically popular with African American moviegoers). It makes good use of  makeup, music and the immense acting ability of Roddy McDowall."

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) - low budget, character driven, could have been better given the funds, welcome familiar faces - an excerpt from my old review: "The film ends in such a way that it combines all the films into a true series..as the roots are laid in this film for BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES in particular. The ending is very memorable and entertaining as well and could be interpreted as cementing what happens in BENEATH or it could be viewed as leaving it open to question."

Planet of the Apes TV Series (1974) - character driven, low budget, great acting (McDowall, Mark Lenard, Booth Colman), the ethics lesson in every episode got a bit tired as did Virdon's impossible dream of escape - an excerpt from my old review: ": Roddy McDowall, Mark Lenard and Booth Colman are fantastic in their respective ape roles as Galen, Urko and Zaius. It's amazing how much life and energy they put into their characters under all that makeup. McDowall being no stranger to the ape makeup as always truly shines underneath it. Galen, Urko and Zaius all feel like fully fleshed out characters with identity and  clear motivations. Ron Harper and James Naughton are not always as memorable in their roles but are certainly competent enough. Guest stars include such notables as Marc Singer, Beverly Garland,  Roscoe Lee Browne, John Hoyt and  Sandra Locke."