Review of Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) by Donald B — 09 Jan 2010

Planet of the Apes is a Science Fiction classic, but the sequels that followed were anything but. While the only real ?bad? movie of the bunch was ?Battle for the Planet of the Apes?, none of them were able to match the original?s merits, aside from this one perhaps.

It?s the year 1973 and a spaceship is found floating in the pacific ocean, which is soon identified as Taylor?s. The army prepares a welcoming committee to greet him, but are shocked to find that his ship is instead carrying three apes: Zira, Cornelius, and Dr. Milo.

The three apes are taken to the zoo for observation and while they agree at first to refrain from speaking, Zira opens her mouth due to the humans constant patronization.

Zira and Cornelius are brought before the presidential commission where they disclose the unfortunate future of mankind, leaving out some of the more grim details as to avoid unnecessary tension between them and the humans.

Soon after, the apes become celebrities and are lavished with tons of media attention, and we also learn that Zira is pregnant. This worries some humans, especially one particular scientist, Dr. Otto Hasslein. Dr. Hasslein wants to force Zira to have an abortion and have the two sterilized in an attempt to save the future of mankind.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes is perhaps the most thought provoking installement of the series. It deals with many of the same issues as the original and like that film, handles them more subtlety than most movies.

This movie held my interest for it?s entirety and I enjoyed seeing the humans reaction to and interactions with the intelligent apes.

The back and forth on the many topics that were explored, that of forced sterilization in particular, were intriguing. On the one hand, it?s for the benefit of our future, but on the other, such a thing is immoral.

Of course the movie ends rather tragically and unfortunately the subsequent sequels and television series were never able to replicate the quality of the first and third films.

My only real complaint about this movie is that it shouldn?t exist. Being how ?Beneath the Planet of the Apes" ended, there is no way that Zira, Cornelius and Dr. Milo could still be alive let alone back in the year 1973. I suppose there are also a few minor continuity issues that plagued each successive sequel as well, but I think they are mostly easy to overlook.