APES, APES, AND MORE PLANET OF THE APES: A GUIDE

20th Century Fox’s latest attempt to resurrect the PLANET OF THE APES series, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, an origins story that mixes elements of the five-film series while creating a completely new continuity, closes out another summer that, for some, failed to meet expectations where big-budget blockbusters were concerned. RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, however, was no disappointment, as our review, the reviews of others, and, of course, opening weekend box-office numbers can all attest.

For many fans of the original five-film series and/or the subsequent television series, both short-lived, one live-action, the other animated, another attempt to resurrect a seemingly moribund franchise seemed doomed from the start, but their fears and anxieties were all, thankfully, misplaced. But we’re not here to praise RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (you can check out our review for that praise), but to revisit, however, briefly, the initial, five-film series that redefined pop culture for better or for worse (more the former than the latter).

1. PLANET OF THE APES: Rod Serling (THE TWILIGHT ZONE) and Michael Wilson (THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI) adapted Pierre Bouelle’s 1963 science-fiction novel for producer Arthur P. Jacobs and 20th Century Fox. Concerned, like the other movie studios that turned down Jacobs, that audiences would laugh at the simian makeup, 20th Century Fox commissioned a make-up test. Happy with the results, 20th Century Fox agreed to finance Jacobs’ adaptation, with a career-best Charlton Heston, still a major box-office draw, starring as George Taylor, the survivor of a doomed expedition to Mars. Taylor, a misanthrope by nature and disposition, descends into his worst nightmare when talking, sentient simians capture him. Wounded and initially unable to talk, he’s saved by two chimpanzees, Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowell). Zira takes an interest in the ugly human she describes as “Bright Eyes.” Taylor’s presence, however, threatens to upend everything apes know or think they know (or think they know) about their past. In a classic, TWILIGHT ZONE-inspired ending courtesy of Serling, Taylor discovers what many, if not most, moviegoers suspected in 1968: He’s always been on Earth, the result, per Cold War fears and anxieties of the time, of nuclear war. (4.5/5)

2. BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES: Heston refused to return for the obligatory sequel, but eventually agreed to appear in the first and last scenes, setting up a film-long mystery as to Taylor’s disappearance. 20th Century Fox hired TV actor James Franciscus to don the loincloth as Brent, the lone survivor of an ill-fated rescue mission. Brent essentially follows Taylor’s steps, learning the ins-and-outs of the ape-dominated world thanks to a coincidence-heavy script. He meets Zira (Hunter again) and Cornelius (David Watson stepping in for an unavailable McDowell) and obtains the company (and possibly more) of Taylor’s human mate, Nova (Linda Harrison). He also discovers what lies “beneath” the planet of the apes, radiation-scarred, telepathic mutants who worship an atomic bomb, the Alpha and Omega. Heston, eager to end the series, eagerly supported BENEATH’S downbeat ending: A bitter, defeated dying Taylor presses the bloodstained button that actives the atomic bomb, ending the planet of the apes. Box-office returns, however, led 20th Century Fox executives to conclude otherwise. (3/5)

3. ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES: Lighter and more humorous than PLANET or BENEATH, but ultimately just as tragic, ESCAPE centers on three, then two simian survivors from the previous entry’s events, Zira (Hunter), Cornelius (McDowell, back from a one-film hiatus), and a third chimp scientist, Milo (Sal Mineo). Audiences were expected to stretch their suspension of disbelief one step further and accept that the simian survivors from the world-ending cataclysm found Taylor’s drowned ship, repaired it, and launched it into outer space moments before Taylor ended or thought he ended the world. Expecting diminishing box-office returns, 20th Century Fox once again slashed the production budget, but the modern-day setting helped to hide the budget shortfall. With Zira and Cornelius now the protagonists, the series switches from human to simian heroes and remains there for the duration of the series (an element picked up by RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES). Initially feted as curiosities, then as celebrities (but always kept under armed guard), Zira and Cornelius become wanted fugitives when Zira unwittingly reveals the truth about the future (or lack thereof) of mankind. (3.5/5)

4. CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES: A direct sequel to ESCAPE, CONQUEST follows Cornelius and Zira’s adult son, Caesar (Roddy McDowell, again), now named Caesar, as he leads the ape revolution hinted at in the previous entries. Stretching the suspension of disbelief to the breaking point, CONQUEST posits a near future (1991 to be exact) wherein chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans have replaced newly extinct cat and dog populations, first as pets and later as ill-treated servants and slaves. At times brutal, always grim, and often preachy (ape mistreatment as an over-obvious metaphor for racism and the civil rights movements), CONQUEST succeeds where RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES succeeds, in making Caesar a compelling, complex character. It also places the blame and the responsibility for the ape revolution in the hands of non-sympathetic, shortsighted humans, well in keeping with the series negative view of human nature (that nuclear war thing, etc.). (4/5)

5. BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES: 20th Century Fox saved the least for last, once again slashing the budget to TV-series levels. Roddy McDowell returned for one last turn as Caesar, the leader of the ape revolution. Set 10 years after a nuclear war wiped out most of humanity and destroyed many, if not all, of the major cities (presumably as a last recourse against the apes), BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES sets Caesar’s benevolent dictator against an ape usurper, General Aldo (Claude Atkins), and radiation-scarred humans occupying the ruins of a nearby, irradiated city. Caesar also has to decide what to do with the humans under his control: treat them as slaves, second-class citizens, or as equals. Bookended by a scene featuring John Huston as the Lawgiver, BATTLE ends the APES series on a positive, if ambiguous note, suggesting that the future depicted in THE PLANET OF THE APES isn’t set, but dependent on choice, simian and human alike. (2.5/5)