Planet of the Apes

This is one of the most entertaining science-fiction fantasies ever to come out of Hollywood.

A brilliant synthesis of story, theme, performance and innovation.

A film rich with unforgettable imagery, killer lines and physical thrills.

Planet of the Apes became a blockbuster because it’s cannily crafted, in part, as a ripping adventure yarn, director Franklin Schaffner staging a long desert trek for survival by Taylor and his two surviving shipmates in the opening half-hour, a brilliant “hunt” sequence with gorillas pursuing the human brutes as targets and trophies (memorably enhanced by Jerry Goldsmith’s dissonant, percussive score), and a lengthy chase sequence where the escaped spaceman leaps and dodges past hairy denizens of church, museum, and marketplace.

One of those rare films whose historical impact outweighs its quality. It's a good film, but not a classic. Yet, although little more than a socially conscious, well executed science fiction adventure film, Planet of the Apes arrived in theaters at just the right time to capture the country's imagination.

A promising idea, and yet ultimately too cute: it is a one-to-one allegory, and this much of the film is spent exploring this not very rewarding vein.

Dismal SF deep think that gave birth to an equally dismal string of sequels and TV spin-offs.

A classic movie with a great story and smart dialogues. There are so many similarities and social ciritics to our past and present. Yes, the beginning is a bit slow, but after 20 minutes it starts to be very interesting. Everyone who likes movies should see it.

Note:9.6 50 years later and Planet Of Apes continues to have the same brilliance, his script is magical and passes a great message that until today is very reflexive, a good direction that can set the tone of the film in the first and only attempt, not counting the end , which brings us one of the biggest plot-twist in film history. A revolutionary film for the genre of science fiction and one of my favorite films.

An immortal classic. It might be a little slow to start, but it has excellent pacing and acting. I'm also extremely impressed by how much the actors were able to express under all that excellent make-up. The characters are all very well done; you really get a feel for Taylor's desperation at the beginning, being chased around and locked up. He doesn't want to e treated like a wild animal, but then when he has control, you feel his sheer confidence, like when he holds a certain character hostage. This movie also tackles prejudice in a smart way, since the apes do not just blindly hate humans, but they want to retrain humans for their history of warfare and violence. Then you have Zira who wants to better understand the humans while still exercising caution. The characters behave realistically. Planet of the Apes is just a timeless movie.

The people of Earth send four astronauts into the great unknown, firing through the cosmos at the speed of light in an ill-explained voyage to Orion’s Belt. Alone on the bridge, irritable crewman Taylor (Charlton Heston) casually ponders the wrinkles of time and space before joining his mates in the hibernation chamber. When they wake, months later, the ship has crash-landed in a large body of water and, after a narrow escape, the crew sets off in search of intelligent life. They soon find it: several native species of speaking, horse-mounted, dominant apes, who hunt their mute human cousins for sport. The other spacemen are quickly dispatched, but Taylor survives to dazzle simian scientists in captivity while plotting his escape. Like many of Heston’s dystopian sci-fi pictures from the ‘60s and ‘70s, Planet of the Apes can be boiled down to a thoughtful (if heavy-handed) premise, several opportunities for the star to evangelize from the grandstand and an effective, well-known twist ending. While this makes for an energetic leap into the conceptual deep end, the production’s flaws and shortcomings are quickly made apparent. The apes’ civilization is a puzzling blend of modern technology and stone-age comforts, a weird mishmash that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. It also feels extremely small-scale; just one minor village with limited range and few hints of a broader culture. Religious fundamentalists have settled into cushy roles inside the government, mandating that their subjects avoid the surrounding “forbidden zone,” so the lower-class denizens have little to do beyond smoking cigs, attending Bible study, wandering the city and poaching the hairless wildlife. Hard to imagine multiple generations could feel content with such a flavorless life. So we settle into a steady flow of cruelty and obstruction from the top, which ignites a mild struggle with the more liberal-minded chimps. The social metaphors are strong, though over-played, and it all makes for good imagination fuel, but Heston is hardly an ideal hero. His rants and raves quickly grow tiresome and the action scenes that always seem to follow suit are dull and repetitive. I think we’re asked to sit through three overlong horse-and-netting chase scenes before it’s all through? One would’ve been more than enough. I’m sure this was daring and different in the late ‘60s, but it feels ponderous and a tad preachy in the modern light. Good ideas stuck in a dated execution, with an overbearing lead performance.

I know lots of people hail this film as a masterpiece and everything, but I really wanted to like this movie (as I am a fan of Rise, Dawn, and War of the Planet of the Apes) but I just did not. Sure, this movie has decent acting, and good special effects, but I was just bored during pretty much the whole film.(with the exception of a few scenes)