Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Starring: James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison, Charlton Heston
Directed by: Ted Post
Rating: G
Genre: Action, Science Fiction
1970

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Another astronaut (James Franciscus) lands on the same planet, searching for the missing Taylor (Charlton Heston). He finds and befriends Nova (Linda Harrison), but also finds himself in the middle of a battle between the Apes and the last remnants of human civilization.

Review:

Tim: This is about as disappointing sequel as you could expect to see. The original was an instant science fiction classic, featuring one of the most stunning, memorable conclusions of all time. This sequel is a silly, depressing, unenjoyable mess. Charlton Heston wisely did not want to come back, but reluctantly agreed with a few conditions (which contributed to this film's weaknesses). The first movie was an amazing ride, as well as a fascinating meditation on the more destruction sides of humanity. This movie tries to capture those same elements, but it just doesn't work.

James Franciscus atually does a pretty admirable job taking over the lead role from Heston. I don't know why it was so important to get a Heston look alike for this role (and the similarities are pretty obvious), but he works well. I didn't miss Heston too much and I got into the new character fairly well. Even still, Franciscus, though gives a strong effort, is still not Heston. He doesn't have any of the incredibly memorable lines that Heston had in the first film.

It was nice to see most of the original cast back- Linda Harrison, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans all added some continuity, which does help the film. However, I did miss Roddy McDowall- the actor replacing him as Cornelius isn't nearly as good. That hurts the film a bit. I was actually glad that Charlton Heston did agree to appear in this film, however briefly. His presence is a welcome one, but I wish he had more screen time. I understand, though, his unwillingness to put too much effort into this sequel.

For the first 45 minutes or so, I actually enjoyed the sequel. It didn't reach the heights of the original (that much was clear), but I was still enjoying the return trip to the Planet of the Apes. However, when we actually get "beneath" the planet of the apes, the movie completely falls apart. The psychic humans are silly, stupid, and incredibly hard to believe. They are so disjointed from the rest of the movie that their scenes grind the movie to a halt. This marks the beginning of the end- the movie unravels from this point on, resulting in a head-scratching conclusion. All the strenghts of the early stages of the film and the goodwill of the original is spoiled by these confusing, silly scenes.

I really enjoyed the original Planet of the Apes, and I was pretty excited to see the sequel. That excitement was wasted because this is not a deserving entry into the Planet of the Apes franchise. While this movie goes out of its way to guarantee this would be the last sequel, that was not to be. While this movie was a complete disappointment, I really believe there is enough meat to this story to allow future sequels to improve upon this film. I wish this movie could have been better, but I am thankful it wasn't any worse.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes