Review of Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) by Bradley F — 13 Jan 2009

This is the second film in the Planet of the Apes series. It picks up right where the first left off. This movie carries on the theme of man's nature and the potential that man has to destroy himself. Based on the dialogue in this movie you can definitely tell that people were afraid that the Cold War between the US and the USSR would lead to ultimate destruction for the world. This movie sets forth a possible set of consequences in the event there was a nuclear war. Anyone knows that a nuclear war would devastate the earth. Will we really do it though? Would anyone actually use a nuclear weapon? Isn't that a bit too permanent of a solution? It's one thing to threaten people with nuclear weapons, or to use them as a deterrent, but who would actually fire one? Our planet only has a limited amount of habitable space, and our natural resources are rapidly diminishing as it is. I don't think we can afford to start turning parts of our planet into sheets of glass that will be uninhabitable for centuries. Even those parts of the world that aren't directly affected would feel the repercussions in economic turmoil, floods of refugees and food shortages.

Also in this movie is a group of people that survived the catastrophe that decimated the human race and instead of becoming more primitive, like the humans the apes hunt and capture, they continued to develop and evolve. Unfortunately, their society is based on a cult-like worship of a nuclear missile. It appears to be an exaggeration of people's reverence for nuclear bombs in the 1970s and a warning of what it could turn into, in an extreme situation.

The first two Planet of the Apes movies were both very entertaining, but on top of that they were educational. They give a glimpse of what concerned people in the late 60s and early 70s. With the Cold War now over, the potential for a catastrophic event of the magnitude shown in the movie happening is less, but not gone. There is still a multitude of nuclear weapons in the world, with more nations gaining the knowledge of how to build them every day. Some of those nations are even less responsible than the ones that have them now.

Nuclear technology has no real practical purpose other than destruction. It can certainly be used for power generation, but it's a dangerous business and carries the potential for reactor meltdowns, radiation, and nuclear fallout. Just look at what happened at Chernobyl. There are much safer ways of generating power. The world could be much better off without widespread nuclear technology at all. This movie is still a wake up call. If ever there was something the world should agree on as a whole, it is the complete dismantling of all nuclear weapons and power plants. The sole legal use for nuclear fission should be as a method for scientists to learn more about the universe, and how to potentially create safer power.

Looks like I got a bit sidetracked on my review, but this movie deals so obviously with those issues that I don't think the review would have been complete without mentioning them.