Spoiler Warning - This post contains damn dirty spoilers. You've been warned.
What can I say about 'Planet of the Apes' that hasn't already been said? It's a masterpiece of allegorical science-fiction, combining ideas of author Pierre Boulle with the sinisterly twisted mind of Rod Serling. A sci-fi space adventure, touching on everything from racism, sexism, ageism, environmentalism, and the anti-establishment ideals of the late sixties, you wouldn't think a movie that centers around a world inhabited by talking Apes would be so politically relevant, but damn if it ain't.
And though some of the dialogue and style of the film seems dated (the make-up effects seem laugable now, yet still pretty effective, and the three Ape leads all bring their performances out through the foam masks), the ideas behind it certainly aren't. In fact, when you start thinking about Dr. Zaius in terms of some of today's highest-profile politicians and parties, he seems like less and less of an unbelievable intelligent ape, and more and more like...oh...a tea-party candidate. Zaius professes to protect science, yet rejects it at every turn, protects his "faith" with violence, threats of litigation, and tyranny, and hides his deepest fears behind his power, claiming it is for the greater good. All while possessing an uncanny skill at not choking on his own hypocrisy. Sound like anyone you know?
Charlton Heston, never considered one of the more subtle actors, has a wonderful character arc, too. He starts off the film all full of his smug, nihilistic bluster, convinced of his own superiority to his teammates, yet ends up essentially in a committed relationship and in deep shock and mourning for his lost planet. You might also consider the anger he feels at a human world destroyed by itself, and then contrast that with the "cold dead hands" political position of his later life...you know, if you wanted to.
And the ending...my god, the ending. Even when you know it's coming - and I did, before I ever saw the whole movie, I knew how it ended - it's still a powerful and sickening feeling that washes over you when you see the final fate of modern man. The ending elevates an already fantastic film into something that would eventually become iconic. 'Planet of the Apes' is smart, well-constructed, biting, satiric, suspenseful, creepy, and above all a damn good movie.
And filled with damn, dirty apes!
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