Planet of the Apes (1968)

An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet in the distant future where intelligent talking apes are the dominant species, and humans are the oppressed and enslaved.

Director:

Franklin J. Schaffner

Writers:

Michael Wilson (screenplay), Rod Serling (screenplay)

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlton Heston	...	George Taylor
Roddy McDowall	...	Cornelius
Kim Hunter	...	Zira
Maurice Evans	...	Dr. Zaius
James Whitmore	...	President of the Assembly
James Daly	...	Honorious
Linda Harrison	...	Nova
Robert Gunner	...	Landon
Lou Wagner	...	Lucius
Woodrow Parfrey	...	Maximus
Jeff Burton	...	Dodge
Buck Kartalian	...	Julius
Norman Burton	...	Hunt Leader
Wright King	...	Dr. Galen
Paul Lambert	...	Minister

Storyline

Taylor and two other astronauts come out of deep hibernation to find that their ship has crashed. Escaping with little more than clothes they find that they have landed on a planet where men are pre-lingual and uncivilized while apes have learned speech and technology. Taylor is captured and taken to the city of the apes after damaging his throat so that he is silent and cannot communicate with the apes.

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Plot Keywords:

astronaut | lobotomy | trial | future | writing in sand | 

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Taglines:

This is Commander Taylor, Astronaut. He has landed in a world where Apes are the rulers and Man the beast. Now he is caged, tortured, risks mutilation. Because no human can remain human on the Planet of the Apes.

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Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Planet of the Apes

Filming Locations:

Kayenta, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,800,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$32,589,624

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$32,595,984

Company Credits

Production Co:

APJAC Productions, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Color by Deluxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

All the ape actors and extras were required to wear their masks even during breaks and in between shots because it took so much time to make them up. Because of this, meals were liquified and drunk through straws.

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Goofs

When the crew first encounter the primitive humans they are all dressed in skins and have no tools or technology. When they start running from the apes a man is holding a small girl over his shoulder with her rear pointed toward the camera and you can plainly see she is wearing modern panties, something these creatures would be incapable of making.

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Quotes

[first lines]
George Taylor: And that completes my final report until we reach touchdown. We're now on full automatic, in the hands of the computers. I have tucked my crew in for the long sleep and I'll be joining them soon. In less than an hour, we'll finish our sixth month out of Cape Kennedy. Six months in deep space - by our time, that is. According to Dr. Haslein's theory of time, in a vehicle travelling nearly the speed of light, the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it, while we've aged ...

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Connections

Referenced in Cop Out (2010)

User Reviews

Much better than the remake

The original 'Planet of the Apes' is better than the 2001 remake on almost every level. May be Tim Burton's version looks better, no wonder with Burton as the director, but the direction itself, the cinematography, the story and the performances in Franklin J. Schaffner's original are much better and more interesting.

Heston is Taylor, who crashes with his spaceship on what seems to be a deserted planet. He and two other survivors start searching for life. They run into other human beings, and at that time they are all attacked by apes. The apes speak English, the human beings are mute. In this society a human being is what apes are in our society. Animals, nothing more. The humans are taken for research, Taylor as well, and since he is shot in the neck he is not able to talk at first. One of his fellow survivors is dead, what happened to the other is unsure. A female ape who is a scientist discovers that Taylor understands her, and even thinks he can talk. Of course this is not what the high people in this society want to hear.

The movie has some very interesting elements. Worlds are upside down, as Taylor says, and in a way the movie puts a mirror in front of us. The human beings are humiliated in exactly the way we treat animals. What would we do if another mammal suddenly knew how to speak our language? We would probably react the same as the apes do in this movie and therefore it is even more interesting.

In liked the movie very much, and some very nice moments in particular. Early in the movie Taylor gets a woman in his cage. He calls her Nova (Linda Harrison). We know what the apes want, and it is funny because it is exactly how we do this kind of stuff to our animals. The apes are even surprised when Taylor wants to keep his woman, and therefore seems monogamous.

With some nice touches, a great and famous ending, some quotes that will sound very familiar, Charlton Heston as a pretty good leading man, a score from Jerry Goldsmith that is perfect for a movie like this, nice direction and a fine cinematography by Leon Shamroy this movie is a very good classic.