Happy to hear you'll be watching all the original franchise of Planet of the Apes! I think this series should be watched BEFORE watching the newer movies. I particularly LOVE the last scene of the last movie of the original franchise!!! Hope you love it too!
The female mutant was played by Natalie Trundy. She also appears in the next three movies playing two other roles. By an amazing coincidence she was also married to the producer.
The only OG Ape movie without Roddy McDowell. Roddy even did the tv series. The next one Escape is cool and a flip. You see something they would never do today in a movie. Plus it has Khan!!!
Kim Hunter, aka Dr. Zira, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire. James Gregory, aka General Ursus, played Sen. John Yerkes Iselin in the 1962 Cold War classic, The Manchurian Candidate, starring Frank Sinatra. James Franciscus, played rodeo stuntman Tuck Kirby in the 1969 fantasy Western, The Valley of Gwangi, a cowboys verses dinosaurs cult classic. And Charlton Heston, starred in dozens of films over a five decade career. He played Moses in the 1956 film, The Ten Commandments, won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Judah Ben-Hur in the 1959 film, Ben-Hur, played "Mike" Vargas in the 1958 Orson Welles classic, Touch of Evil, and he played Detective Robert Thorn in the 1973 sci-fi film, Soylent Green. Each of these films is a stand out film worthy of a reaction.
Roddy McDowell who played Cornelius in the first movie and will return was unavailable for Beneath the Planet of the Apes and was covered by another actor. Thankfully the ape makeup did its thing to make us believe it is him and he he even sounds somewhat like him.
@@WVRSpenceWestVirginiaRebel Roddy McDowall would soon land a supporting role in *The Poseidon Adventure* as the character of "Acres". When MAD magazine did its customary spoof of *Adventure,* they rechristened the character "Apers". ☺️
One thing that showed the budget was lower than in the original film is the crowd scenes of the apes. Instead of the full ape makeup pretty much everyone is just wearing bad ape masks.
Well, sir, in over three years of following reactors' shows, yours is the first I know of to proceed beyond the original movie, for which I heartily commend you. _Do_ proceed to the remaining three, and do _not_ be deterred by counsel to skip any, whatever they may have to complain about. _I,_ at least, will be paying attention. And I do wish we could meet in person and discuss this particular film at length, because for a long time I found it the most fascinating of the series. (I still haven't forgiven Heston for punking out of the series and forcing the ending that we got here. But then, more's the pity, I'm not him.) 😎
I remember seeing this as a kid when it aired on some random cable channel. It was my introduction to the whole series and that ending was... a lot to take in 😅
If I'm remembering right, these movies played a lot on "Encore" back in early 90s.. Not sure if that is where you saw them but just throwing it out there.
The crashed spaceship prop was recently discovered, being used as a post for a Hotel sign or something like that..😊 A fan noticed it as the prop has been missing for years.
Great review. Watching you react to these Ape movies reminds me of when my brother and I watched them for the first time back in the 1970's. Now onto Escape from The Planet of the Apes! Enjoy!
They couldn't get Roddy McDowall for this one, but the actor playing Cornelius tries to imitate his voice. McDowall will be back for the next one, which is one of the most interesting ones.
Heh, yes, Heston didn't want to do more Apes movies, hence why his character (literally) vanishes early on. Fine, but it's comical they cast a look alike as the lead.
To show how big a Planet of an Apes fan I am, I actually bought Behind the Planet of the Apes four times. It first came out as part of the DVD box set of the series. I then bought it separately as a special edition DVD with many extras including the uncut , 2 hour interview with Roddy McDowell. I then bought a special edition version of the first movie which included Behind... as an extra. And finally I bought the Blu Ray edition of the series which once again included Behind as an extra.
Charlton Heston was 6' 3". He also died in several of his movies. Next up for Heston movies should be The Omega Man (based on I am Legend) and Soylent Green if you haven't done either one yet.
@@mikemiller8975 Because wahlberg SUCKED as the lead. He doesn't speak with a high education as charlton Heston did in the original. You can tell the rapper in him just how he pronounced words. Bad actor in that part.Heston convinced us he was an educated astronaut.
I just re-watched these again. I really like the direction it takes during the 3rd film. Even if you only watch the original version of #4 (Conquest), try and catch the R-rated director's cut (with different ending) on the Blu-ray edition...
Thank for going thru my suggestions. In some time in the future I will write to you a full list of all must-watch movies (classics plus my choice, as much as I can remember; 100 at least) There was supposed to be another ending, but Heston didn't want to play more so they wrote Taylor destroying the Earth. It was supposed to be the end of the saga.
But Beneath The Planet Of The Apes was very successful at the box office so the studio & producers commissioned another sequel... thankfully 'Escape From The Planet Of The Apes' was a good movie with a good story (and not just poor rehashed cash grab as other sequels in other franchises tend to be).
Heston did NOT want to do another "monkey movie", but the product talked him into it on the condition that the Earth was destroyed at the end making another film impossible. But the movie made a nice profit and... well you'll have to watch the next one to see how they got around that little problem. 😊 Oh, and why did the undeground people wear masks? To reduce production costs with fewer long days in makeup.
Yes, for all that we'd made landfall on the Moon the previous year, it was a particularly dark time for America. (And we still had Watergate to look forward to.) But one good thing about 1970 was, that not only did this movie debut to the world in that year...so did I! 😃
This sequel movie and the original Planet of the Apes are for me the top two Planet of the Apes films ever. Because we have in this sequel again George Taylor played by Charlton Heston and Nova played by Linda Harrison. And I really like James franciscus. These two movies are very much linked together. Thanks for your reaction here.
Finally someone continues the series. You are right that they do get dark with each entry. However I love the lightness that Escape From POTA has. I kind of compare that to Star Trek IV The Voyage Home in regards to tone. Also, part of the deal for Charlton Heston to return, Taylor had to die in this movie.
Sooooo glad you're watching the original 5! The effects take a bit of a hit as it goes on, but still a very fascinating story! Where the current series and the classics caaaan loosely fit together, the Tim Burton one is its own thing, but also worth the watch, if for no other reason than to satisfy your curiosity.
If you ever see the Ralph Bakshi animated version of The Lord of the Rings, it was scored by the same composer. You can tell because the score in places is almost identical to this one, specifically in the Battle of Helm's Deep. (I think you might find it interesting -- it's certainly unique!) My story here -- I first saw this in the theater way back when. But I didn't realize I'd gotten the start time wrong and came in just when Brent and Nova were first going underground. Not having seen the first movie, and missing the beginning of this one, I never saw the "It's Earth!" reveal until much later (but I figured it out pretty quickly.)
3 cuts budget but it's really good. Think biff in back to the future creating the alternate timeline I don't think they elaborate so I don't think Im spoilering
Yay! Continuing the originals! It’s not uncommon in old sci fi for aliens and their planets to have impossible similarities to Earth like language, environment, species, etc with maybe small differences. Hence why so many indicators that this actually is Earth aren’t taken as such in this or the first movie A cult of humans lacking hair that have an anti ape mindset and identifying with the Alpha and Omega symbols. Now why does that sound familiar? 😏
Not a popular opinion but of the original 5 movies this one is my favorite. The next one, Escape, is a good story but very different than the first two. Movie 4 and 5 are enjoyable but definitely suffered from a B movie budget and not nearly as good writing. But they are still enjoyable and have a TON of social commentary which I know you enjoy.
Remember that one of the things that is different about this world is that the moon is gone, blasted out of orbit, and that shifted the Earth's rotational axis.
This movie was unfairly hated for it's time. I think if anything, the only minor issue is that the movie tries to keep topping the big twist of the first movie, by introducing FOUR twists in this one. But instead of any of them topping the first, they are quantity over quality. None of the four twists are inherently AWFUL or anything, but none of them really hit as hard as "It was earth all along." Most of them are like B-teir Twilight Zone episode twists, just one after another until it gets to be a tiny bit much. The reveal of the mutants were maybe the closest thing to a twist on PAR with the statue of liberty, but it still doesn't quite measure up. That having been said, I think reviews at the time were too hard on it. It's a decent followup.
It was the Earth all along....was really quite obvious. Zira in the trial saying 'sprang from our own' clearly signalled it. Everyone dying is surely a bigger surprise.
All I will say regarding the 3rd - 5th movie is to think of them as dominoes. The first film topples and all the rest fall creating a chain that explains the original question…how did this all come about.
This movie is necessary for the narrative but the next is also my favorite. The new franchise borrowed so much that I agree you should see the older ones first.
I like the next movie a lot more. It's good that you watched Star Trek first. You'll know it when you see it. Back when this movie was made, people were very aware that a few slip ups would mean the end of the world. But we had diplomats, behind the scenes, working to make sure that neither side pushed things too far. Nowadays.....good luck kids! Especially as you weren't taught the trick of ducking beneath your desk.
Watch Escape from Planet of the Apes and you'll finally get the 'bigger twist'. I wouldn't bother with the final two as they're just footnotes, Escape really ends it.
@@the-NightStar Escape's ending means watching beyond it, you know where the story is heading so there's not much point in sitting through the final two. They are probably the weakest stories and suffered from low budgets. It works better as a trilogy.
@@mark-nm4tc I, too, beg to differ. Weakest of the series though they may be, they still have much to tell about America at the time - and humanity in general - and therefore should deserve at least one viewing. 😕 🦍
Everyone thinks the sequels to Aliens and Planet are the worst films in the world and they are not. People need to let people make their own decisions and stop telling to not watch.
Granted, the second and fifth movie in this series are generally considered the weaker movies of the series, but I still like the underground "New New York" (as shown in Futurama) in this movie as a big leap in the world-building. I can't wait until you get to the third and fourth movies which I consider rather important for the contribution their narratives make to the canon of the franchise.
Too many Americans seem to particularly underrate this, hopefully you didnt. It's like they think there can't be a nihilistic ending to a world the US dominates.
In the 1959 version of *Ben-Hur,* Pontius Pilate admits to Judah, "Where there is greatness...great government or power...even great feeling or compassion... _error,_ also, is great. We progress and mature by fault." (This from a man who is very soon to commit one of the most grievous errors in human history.) Shall it be true of America, too? Almost certainly. But, just like Rome, I have the feeling that America will still be a source of wonder and animated conversation two thousand years from now. You think me premature, doubtless, in assuming that there will still be "humanity" then. But I have my reasons. 🤨
@@goldenager59 Having money for huge marketing helps the wonder and the writing of history for some and against others. And not everyone even looks on Rome with wonder.
@@joebloggs396 Quite so. Yet there are those who perceive and transmit the truth regardless of the force and volume of hype (just ask Euripides - and what he did for Athens, there are plenty of those who do same for Rome...or us). And, positive or negative, the one who is indifferent to one empire may (or may not) have strong feelings about another. Or so, anyway, it seems to me. But thank you for caring enough to reply. 🤔 🙂
It's true, *Battle* might as well have been a made-for-TV movie for all the care that went into it. But I say, the ending makes up for that... somewhat. 😎
The worst sequel. Rushed into production after the unexpected success of POTA. The next film is much much better and I have a soft spot for “Conquest of the apes” - it’s very grim. I recommend reading “Death of the planet of the apes” for a much better sequel to the first film. I’m a mega apes nerd obvs.
Thanks, Oliver! Thanks, Huxley! 🦧 This was my least favorite of the originals, but it's necessary, as things are. But the next one is one of my favorites; have tissues handy.
