Review of Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) by Jack H — 18 Aug 2011

Known as the "silly" one, the third in the original sequence of Apes films is actually one of two halves. There is firstly the ridiculous concept to get through: Cornelius, Zira, and another rather short-lived ape manage to escape from the destruction of the Earth in Beneath and find themselves in 'modern day' Earth, where humans are still the ruling species and apes can't talk.

Then, for the first 45 minutes, the film is stuffed full of jokes as the apes demonstrate they are intelligent, go to a press conference, go shopping, go to a hotel etc. What follows this is actually quite a tense, thrilling final 45 minutes, as the apes find themselves on the run from the humans who have misunderstood them through ignorance.

There's also a couple of nice points that tie into the 2011 prequel film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Then... there's that ending. Clearly trying to keep the precedent set by both Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the denouement is properly shocking and downbeat, elevating this third flick to the equal of its immediate predecessor.