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Title: Planet of the Apes (1968)
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| 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 | |
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. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
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In recent years sci-fi have been filled with flashing lights, high-budget CGI effects and ridiculous stunts like in THE MATRIX and I, ROBOT. If you don't like one sci-fi film you're unlikely to like any as they're all the same. However, my dad took down PLANET OF THE APES from our video shelf. Unlike most sci-fi films it was made in a time that had to deal without CGI and relied completely on the break through movie make-up as well as providing what people have voted time and time again "The Greatest Film Ending". PLANET OF THE APES has a memorable cast, simple plot and it keeps your attention even as the credits are rolling at the end. Based on Pierre Boulle's lesser novel (La Planète des singes AKA Monkey Planet) tells of an astronaut landing on a distant planet and discovering that man's role as the superior life form has been reversed with the apes. The film has many needed changes to it to make it more watch-able and tap into the true fears at the time the film was made. In 1968, everyone lived in fear of an atomic bomb attack and PLANET OF THE APES truly taps into that fear, for reasons I will not reveal but it is understandable why the story was so popular at the time and why it shocked everyone.
PLANET OF THE APES tells the story of George Taylor (Charlton Heston), when he and his doomed astronaut friends find themselves stranded on a distant planet. It seems to be inhospitable with no life. However, after travelling throughout the place, which is famously referred to as "The Forbidden Zone", discover plenty of life including ape like humans and human like apes. Taylor is shot in the neck rendering him unable to speak. Treated as a wounded animal he is taken to a human-ape study lab where he meets Zira (Kim Hunter), a sympathetic and friendly chimpanzee. She almost straight away notices that Taylor's intelligence goes far beyond that of any other human, and she encourages him to speak. However, orangutan leader Dr Zaius sneers on Zira's and her fiancé Cornelius' (Roddy McDowall) belief in any human intelligence, and won't listen to reason. Despite Cornelius' skeptical feelings towards Taylor, he agrees to help prove his intelligence which is proved once he finally says his famous line: "Take your stinking paws of me you damn dirty ape!"
Heston is anything other then a likable character. Unlike Ulysse Merou in the novel Taylor is slightly moody, but a likable character who values his friendship with Zira and Cornelius. He represents what humans truly are that is self-centered, violent and dangerous. Though on stage he is reportedly (according to Laurence Olivier) truly a talented actor, on screen and in PLANET OF THE APES, Heston basically turned up and played himself. Nonetheless the character of Taylor works as you either love him or you hate him. The rebel Taylor is no different from the other pushy characters Heston has played over the years. With his tough, physical god-like body you suppose that in a film where the apes are pushing us humans about because we're basically behaving like apes he is just what the doctor ordered.
Of course we all know that it's the two lovable chimps Zira and Cornelius that we remember the most in the PLANET OF THE APES films for their charm and humor they bring to the story. Hunter's portrayal of Zira was a masterpiece on its own, giving one of the most powerful performances. It's fair to say that Zira is the strongest and most developed character in the film. Indeed she is the only ape that Taylor actually likes! With her wit and admirable sense of humor it's not surprising that most people asked who their favorite character is reply "Zira". Hunter manages to make Zira what she was meant to be, more human then ape. In fact, she's more human than most of the beautiful female actresses of the 60's films. Despite the fact she looks as ugly as hell in her ape make-up the charm still shines through.
Of course, if you don't love the intelligent and cool Zira, you always have intelligent and nerdy Cornelius. McDowell, next to Heston, is the most celebrated male actor in the films as he comes over as the nerd of the rebel gang that you just want to hug. In the film, Taylor seems to have a love-hate rivalry with Cornelius as they constantly challenge each other like full-blooded males do no matter how civilized. A good example of this is when Zira allows Taylor to kiss her on the lips as a goodbye and Cornelius makes his jealousy clear. However Taylor sticks up for him against Zaius, which shows not as much friendship as understanding. McDowell is an irreplaceable member of the cast who is near impossible to live up to.
PLANET OF THE APES is a mark in cinema history, famous for these talented artists, gripping story and an amazing ending that shocks you, scares you, breaks you and brings you to tears with the realization that you'll never truly experience a film like this again. Anyone who is anyone owes it to himself or herself to watch this film and experience the feeling. Even people who dislike sci-fi are likely to enjoy this. A film that truly did break STAR WARS and challenged it like no other film ever could. PLANET OF THE APES will live on in all of us. It will go on forever, find its way to younger audiences and will win them over just it won over us.