Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, Caesar, the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira, surfaces after almost twenty years of hiding out from the authorities, and prepares for a slave revolt against humanity.

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Paul Dehn, Pierre Boulle (characters)

Stars:

Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Natalie Trundy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roddy McDowall	...	Caesar
Don Murray	...	Breck
Natalie Trundy	...	Lisa
Hari Rhodes	...	MacDonald
Severn Darden	...	Kolp
Lou Wagner	...	Busboy
John Randolph	...	Commission Chairman
Asa Maynor	...	Mrs. Riley
H.M. Wynant	...	Hoskyns
David Chow	...	Aldo
Buck Kartalian	...	Frank - Gorilla
John Dennis	...	Policeman
Paul Comi	...	2nd Policeman
Gordon Jump	...	Auctioneer
Dick Spangler	...	Announcer

Storyline

Cornelius and Zira's son Caesar leads apes to revolution in this installment of the apes saga. Dogs and cats have been wiped out by a plague and now apes are household pets that are treated like slaves. Caesar has the intelligence to fight this oppression.

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Plot Keywords:

ape | future | intelligence | slave revolt | slavery | 

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Taglines:

All new! The revolt of the apes. The most awesome spectacle in the annals of science fiction!

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Conquista do Planeta dos Macacos

Filming Locations:

Avenue of the Stars, Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, APJAC Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The fourth of five Planet of the Apes movies.

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Goofs

When Caesar gets an M-16 during the riot from the armory, he's running along firing. As he's shooting, two riot police with shotguns are firing back at Caesar. The officer on the right of the screen has his shield down, but in the very next shot as he's being killed, his shield is raised.

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Quotes

Woman: [referring to cigarettes] Funny, now that I know these things won't kill me, I don't enjoy them.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: In Marge We Trust (1997)

User Reviews

The most gore-filled action packed 'Apes' films of all!!

By 1972 Planet of the Apes was one of the most successful film series in the world. The franchise was huge and 20th Century Fox kept making on newer adventures. I tend not to call them sequels unless they copy the first film in a certain way. It is no doubt that Conquest is the most violent of the 'Apes' films and is the only one to bear a PG rating..... CUT! Yes, that is right the chances are that you yourself have viewed the US cut version which contains less violence and gore. When the film was released the previous 'Apes' films were all rated G, so in order not to pull away too much of the family audience for the series it was cut to avoid getting an R rating (there was no PG-13 in 1972). However, in Japan it was released uncut. The uncut first made its debut in the US on the 20th Century Fox movie channel when the ran an 'Apes' marathon in tribute to the 40th anniversary to the first film. This was right when the films were released on Blu-Ray discs. You can only find the uncut version of 'Conquest' on the Blu-Ray disc where it also gives you the cut version as well. Any DVD release of this is cut. But, looking back at all the 'Apes' films and their ratings, I'd say that they would all be rated PG today (excluding 'Conquest' even cut would likely get a PG-13). Back then the MPAA was either real 'loose' at rating films or real strict.

'Conquest' follows the story of Corneilius and Zira's son, Caesear who is the only ape on earth with ability of speech and high intelligence. Cats and Dogs have been wiped out by a previous plague and the apes replace them as household pets which they later turn into slaves. After Caesear's owner from the circus, Armando (Richardo Montalban) commits suicide in fear of the powerful government finding him being responsible for Caesear (a talking ape for the governors stands a threat to civilization). Caesear then goes on a rampage of gathering fellow apes and weapons to organize a revolution or riot to overthrow the humans responsible for their slavery. This leads to tons of entertaining action that keeps on the edge of your seat for the remainder of the film. This one is probably the more mature 'Apes' films next to Escape From The Planet of the Apes (1971).

A lot of people really don't get this films and consider it to be just a bombardment of mindless violence and a meaningless story line. It's not. This is a real good introduction to the character of Caesear and shows how he develops into the apes future leader. It really is a powerful story in which it echoes to the past of our country's slavery, except here it takes place in the future. It's also interesting to see how much the future of humanity has changed from the previous film's adventure. In a special way the Planet of the Apes films are like time travel films, in where the future and past is changed. The first 'Apes' films I ever saw was this one, while looking back it probably wasn't a good idea because I didn't understand anything and the only I liked was the violence (I was a kid when I saw it). So I encourage you to see this incredible series of films and think to yourself could this really ever happen.......