Four astronauts enter sleep chambers in their spaceship, allowing them to travel through space for long distances. When the spaceship crash lands on an Earth-like planet, three of the astronauts awaken to explore the planet. The fourth, a woman named Stewart, has died in transit. Her sleep chamber didn’t seal properly.
As they explore the planet, the astronauts find themselves hunted down by apes with the ability to talk, ride horses, shoot guns and dominate the primitive humans that inhabit the jungle. Only Taylor (Charlton Heston) survives the hunt with his wits intact. He is caged and studied by an ape animal psychologist named Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter). She finds her new subject interestingly intelligent for a human and soon finds that he is much more than she bargained for.
When it is discovered that Taylor isn’t from their planet, his mere existence can topple the “truths” put forth by Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) and his committee of Ape Law, who argue that apes could not have evolved from men. Man is inferior to apes in every way, according to Ape Law. Zaius can not allow an obvious mutation like Taylor to live and expect to stay in power, and so he orders Taylor’s execution.
Planet of the Apes is almost a dialogue-heavy version of The Naked Prey, the 1966 Cornel Wilde adventure movie that pit a white hunter against a tribe of African warriors. Of course, that film didn’t allow the warriors to explain their side of things, nor did it attempt to take on the topics of racism and religious fanaticism. It did, however, convey a similar feel of one man against seemingly insurmountable odds to gain his freedom and, truthfully, was much better at it.
Still, Planet of the Apes, as talky as it is, has a charm about it that survives the 40 year gap between its release and the present day. The political agenda of the film still rings true today. As the religious right attempts to assert control over the media and so forth, the ape’s religious fervor is instantly recognizable. The dialogue is fun to listen to as the apes comment on man’s “uncleanliness” and so on. It’s interesting to note that the one aspect of the movie that one would assume would show the most age after 40 years — the ape makeup — remains fairly respectable in terms of what’s currently possible.
Unfortunately, the campiness of the film remains more evident now than when it was released. Heston’s performance is so over-the-top that it transcends simply being bad to become an icon of what has changed in movie action heroes since 1968. Nova (Linda Harrison), Taylor’s female companion, or “mate,” as Dr. Zira likes to call her, doesn’t utter a word, nor does she seem to mind being treated like an object of sexual gratification. This, along with Heston’s “I am manliness personified” performance, is enough to send feminists into an uproar.
Viewed as a piece of nostalgia that has inspired many science fiction fans’ initial interest in the genre, Planet of the Apes remains a must see film. Taken at face value, the film’s nagging flaws and dated sexual roles might actually offend today’s movie-goer. Its four sequels each expand on various parts of the original’s action and political agenda to varying degrees of success. Some seem unnecessary (Battle for the Planet of the Apes), while others are extremely entertaining (Escape from the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes).
3.5 out of 5.0 stars
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