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Mini Review #129: Planet of the Apes (1968)
🕑 Added 2024-04-05 00:58:43 +0000 UTCI came into this movie knowing the twist as it is pretty famous and as someone who loves film I was of course going to have heard about it even if I hadn't seen the movie. While knowing the twist obviously kept me from being as surprised and shocked as I would have been, it did help me see all of the little bread crumbs the film drops for the audience up until the big moment!
I had always thought, for most of my life, that this movie and the other older Apes movies were cheesy and boring. I used to think that the makeup looked bad (in still images) and that the whole film couldn't hole a dime to the newer trilogy which I love so much. Turns out younger Oliver was stupid because this was a fantastic movie. I was expecting a movie about Apes and Humans which I got, but I not expecting a movie that discusses scientific and religious beliefs. I was not expecting a movie that has something to say about race and class and I was not expecting a whole courtroom drama for 20 minutes. The movie explores a lot of themes really well and in ways that are both interesting and parallel to our little old human world. Jerry Goldsmith did the score for this one and it was so fantastic and haunting. It felt like a jumbled mess of a score at times and I think that was the point. It was different and unnerving which really gave the feeling of an unknown planet. The cinematography and camera work as well was actually really good. At the start especially when our three astronauts were walking endlessly though the desert looking for life, there were so many amazing wide shots of vast nothingness that it made my hands and mouth start to feel so dry. Everything else about the film was also so fun from the slow buildup in the ultimate mystery to the Apes slowly learning more about Taylor. Really enjoyed my time with this one! Not sure how the other films hold up but if there are any good ones let me know!!
Comments
David Wayne Fox
The first one is definitely the best. The second (Beneath) is okay... really love the score in that one, and the third one (Escape) is quite good and very entertaining.
WUStLBear82
Goldsmith's pioneering Avant Garde-style score is ranked 18 on AFI's top 25 list of film scores. The ape makeup and prosthetics were designed by the same guy who created Spock's ears for 'Star Trek'; he won an honorary Oscar for the movie because at that time there was no Best Makeup award. I saw all the movies in their original release, and I agree they get worse, but I think the first two sequels, Beneath... and Escape... are worth watching because they have some interesting ideas explored. The last two seemed directed at a younger audience, at least by 1970s standards.
