I love all of the late 60s/early 70s PoTA films BUT if forced to pick a least favourite - it would have to be THIS film.
The telepathic mutants were way too silly and seemed out of place in this series.
That said, I do admire how bleak this films is. In fact, how on earth did a film like this get a G rating? I originally watched this when I was nine and I had a lot of trouble sleeping.
Escape is the best sequel.
It's always been my favorite sequel. A welcome return to the 40th century.
shareI rewatched the original and Beneath this. Beneath definitely feels rushed and a cheap attempt to capitalize on the original. The original film takes it's time to show us the ape's world and culture. Beneath is super short, with poor character development and a fake Charlton Heston. The ending a least sets up Escape nicely, which in turn creates an interesting time paradox for the rest of the series.
Battle is the worst sequel due to its lazy acting, low budget, and forgettable plot, but Beneath is a close second.
Battle should've been the TV series.
shareI disagree-
Beneath was rushed and not even close to as good quality wise as the original... but the other sequels (70s / 80s) were just garbage
If i go crazy will you still call me Superman?
I disagree that the sequels were 'garbage'. They had much heart and social commentary.
shareWish I saw them in theaters, but I watched for the first time on their world television premieres.
shareI saw CONQUEST (10) and BATTLE (11) during their first run in the theater, and then I discovered PLANET and BENEATH and ESCAPE through their TV premieres. I was then fortunate to get to see the "GO APE!" promotion around 1975, where they played all five movies in the theaters. (I went twice to this marathon, but each time they showed the films out of sequence, and both times I only got to see CONQUEST, ESCAPE, and BENEATH ... we unaccompanied kids were ordered by the theater owner to leave the theater around 6pm when they started playing PLANET and BATTLE)...
shareWe lived in a small town with no way to get to a cinema without our parents, and they weren't interested.
shareBeaneath has its moments, but it is a weak sequel to the first film. Escape and Conquest have lower budgets, but are far better developed and written than Beneath was. Charleton Heston threw a wrench in the series by not wanting to make the sequel, but then agreeing to come back for such a small role. This lead to the retconning of the original mission so that a rescue party could be sent and thus introduce us to another human lead to carry the story, which led to a retread of the first film where space pilot has to discover the reality of a world dominated by apes. Been there, done that. Then we rush into the very silly mutant human underground world. Yes, the movie gets props for being so dark and bleak at the end, but overall it just doesn't tell an interesting story.
But worst film? No. This movie is better than Battle for the Planet of the Apes, which was just atrocious.
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Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
Do explain why Battle is "atrocious"
It's flawed BUT is a far more enjoyable film that Beneath.
Beneath has always been my favorite sequel. The world of Zaius' society was very much worth revisiting. And it was great watching the gorillas training for battle, then the invasion. The ruins of human society were well done.
shareWhy I agree with TheSolarSailor's critique, I like Beneath for the same reason as you. It is the only sequel that revisits the world of the first film.
shareIt's unfortunate the ancient ruins in the TV series were simply a disused backlot; it took away from the mystique.
shareMy favourite sequel the rest of the movies after this I lost interest in it, specially with the apes going back in time to the 70s it thought that was stupid. Beneath was at least set in the same world as the first which was interesting on its own, and had Taylor back in it also the movie had a dark creepy feel to it topping it off with the shocking ending.
shareI thought Escape was excellent, but it was quite a while before the final two sequels would air for the first time.
shareI loved BENEATH when I was a kid -- I still do, but less so today, and I can see its warts. I find the world of the first two Apes movies rather limited in terms of where you can go with stories, so these days I really enjoy the last three movies which have more flow and room to go as far as ideas.
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I thought the first half was a bit weak only because it was a rehash of the original with Taylor-clone and Nova running around hiding from apes, but the second half was pretty strong IMO.
Forbidden Zone, General Ursus, underground stuff, marching apes, Mutants, Bomb, Taylor's brief return, planetary destruction...Cool stuff.
The ape gathering was pretty cool, as was watching the gorillas training for the invasion.
shareI think Battle is the worst, followed by Beneath. Though I do love the addition of the mutants and the bomb. My favorite sequel is definitely Conquest, though I love Escape as well.
http://www.trespasser.nl/pta/pta.pdf -->> Planes, Trains and Automobiles script
I originally saw the first three on their World Television Premieres. I thought they were all great, but the first was the best of course. I missed Conquest's original showing. Battle wasn't shown until after the TV series had come and gone, but as much as I liked the TV show at the time, Battle was an improvement. I finally saw Conquest a year later but still thought the first three were better. You can't beat those original characters.
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Yeah it's just so awful. The timeworn political message is overboard and lame. "THE BOMB!!" The ape story in act 1 is forced and no Roddy. Just plain horrendous. One of the worst movies ever, ever made.
http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/01/copout-apes.html
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For me "Battle". I used to think Escape and Conquest were bad but it was just memory not serving me right. I just finished watching them all in BluRay and Battle is the only one that I'd rather not watch again.
shareThey were all great - it's just that Battle suffers a bit due to the studio giving them such a low budget to work with.
shareFor me, the unrated cut of Conquest is the ending of the series.
http://www.trespasser.nl/pta/pta.pdf -->> Planes, Trains and Automobiles script
Even though it's not truly uncut (the opening scene of a fugitive slave being tracked down at night, probably unrestored due to some of it being incorporated into the scene of Caesar going through the same thing after he discovers Armando has died), it would've ended the series a lot more logically (Lisa doesn't speak and Caesar is about to try and ravage the city).
shareAnd Breck doesn't survive. I know about the opening scene, but was that actually filmed or only scripted?
http://www.trespasser.nl/pta/pta.pdf -->> Planes, Trains and Automobiles script
It was filmed, but when they re-edited the movie (with the softer ending), they took parts of it and added to the scene where Caesar goes AWOL and is captured. That's probably why it wasn't restored on the blu-ray.
shareNo it wasn't restored to the blu-ray version because it was never included in any cut of the film. It was scripted and shot, but the scene never made it into any version of the film.
shareInteresting. I knew Escape had a filmed prologue that never made the movie, but I wonder why the one for Conquest didn't make it.
shareMaybe they deemed it enough just to mention the events of the scene when Armando is talking to Breck? Redundancy?
http://www.trespasser.nl/pta/pta.pdf -->> Planes, Trains and Automobiles script
If you want to see a reconstruction of the Escape scenes, go here: http://www.potamediaarchive.com/EPTR.htm
shareI've seen that. Cool bit.
sharePoint 1) Urko was in the TV series not this movie. Ursus was the gorilla in charge in this movie.
Point 2) He was played by James Gregory not Jeff Corey.
Have you actually seen this movie? If so, get your facts right before calling yourself a critic.
It wasnt me, it was the other three. Hang them!
Point 1) Urko was in the TV series not this movie. Ursus was the gorilla in charge in this movie.
Point 2) He was played by James Gregory not Jeff Corey.
Have you actually seen this movie? If so, get your facts right before calling yourself a critic.
It wasnt me, it was the other three. Hang them!
The complete movie is the work of the director, not the screenwriter.This is so not true. share
Not sure why you are telling me this.
It wasnt me, it was the other three. Hang them!
It would normally be up to the producer or director (and sometimes studio executives if they choose to interfere) who decide which scenes are to be included or left out of the theatrical version of a movie. Not the screenwriter.
shareIt would normally be up to the producer or director (and sometimes studio executives if they choose to interfere) who decide which scenes are to be included or left out of the theatrical version of a movie. Not the screenwriter.
Movie history is filled with movies where decisions were taken by not, screenwriters, not directors, and not even producers. Even some of the most famous ones. This is what I meant.
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