Planet of the Apes

Release Date: April 3, 1968

Watch Date: February 3 – 4, 2025

“Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall star in this legendary science fiction masterpiece. Astronaut Taylor (Heston) crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist (McDowall).”

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   I went into this movie completely prepared to be born out of my mind, to dislike it entirely, to eagerly await the roll of the credits so we could move on to the next movie.

   And then I liked it?

   Like I mean, I really like this movie. And I couldn’t tell you why. It’s full of machoism, which I don’t enjoy. At all. While the ape actors are actually done really tastefully and with a lot of emotion Taylor is pretty wooden, his only setting being anger and yelling. But then, maybe that’s on purpose, so that he seems more animal than what we would typically think of.

   It’s actually a really great commentary or the evolution of history, how it’s dictated by the victors. The problems that are caused when you live in a theocracy, where science and religion are completely intertwined and one can be charged for heresy for simply asking questions. It’s a great warning against the global warn that, currently, feels like it’s brewing. On the effects of climate change. On maybe treating animals with a little more kindness than we expect as they can maybe understand a little bit more than we give them credit for.

   But the soundtrack is real bad. It’s real bad. It’s just a lot of silence and then some major crescendos that, sure, add tension, but also just sound really freaky and don’t really add anything to the environment of the film. I also don’t think the cinematography was very good, there’s some shots that look amazing, including the final shot which is obviously iconic, but overall it’s kind of meh.

   This is one of those films where if you’ve not experienced it you should. I don’t want to give too much away. Go watch it. Enjoy it. Or fall asleep like Bob. I can’t control you.