Search - Beneath the Planet of the Apes on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Violence, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1970 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 40 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 4 Genres: Action, Science Fiction, Sci-Fi Action See Also: Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes [Widescreen] [Blu-ray]

Sometime after the events of the first Planet of the Apes, the climax of which is repeated frame for frame at the beginning of this sequel, another set of astronauts arrives on the far-future Earth that is the titular planet. This time it's Brent (James Franciscus) who survives the crash landing and learns that evolved simians have taken over the world, post-apocalypse. After hooking up with Nova (Linda Harrison), the mute, fur bikini-clad beauty who spent the first film being squired by astronaut Taylor (Charlton Heston), Brent confers with Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (David Watson, giving Roddy McDowall his only break during the five-film series), the ape scientists whose adherence to scientific principles makes them friendly to the possibility of intelligent human life. Something of a military coup has taken place among the apes, who dispatch an army to the desolate "Forbidden Zone" where Taylor has coincidentally disappeared. With the apes and the humans both rooting about in the ruins of 20th century civilization, it's only a matter of time before they all find out what happened to the other survivors of the nuclear holocaust. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

James Franciscus - Brent
Kim Hunter - Zira
Maurice Evans - Dr. Zaius
Linda Harrison - Nova
Paul Richards - Mendez
Charlton Heston - Taylor

The first sequel to Planet of the Apes showed a marked drop in quality, mostly because the makers had such a huge problem following up the first movie's wrap shot of the Statue of Liberty. Even Pierre Boulle, the author of the original book that was the basis for the first movie, submitted a treatment ("Planet of the Men") that was rejected. The resulting film was something of a mishmash of story parts -- including topical references to Vietnam and Cambodia -- special effects, and impressive makeup effects that hung together just long enough to blow up the world at the dénouement. Released initially on DVD as part of a six-disc set devoted to the entire Planet of the Apes series, Beneath the Planet of the Apes has gotten a brilliant, letterboxed transfer in its full widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which allows viewers to appreciate the effects, sets, and the money that was spent (which was about half of what was spent on the first movie). The film looks flawless and sounds even better, with hundreds of details revealed and color tones that are better and more subtle than those in the original first-run prints. The disc comes with a very limited supplement, consisting of an array of behind-the-scenes makeup photos that aren't terribly enlightening or effective, and a selection of original trailers, one for each movie in the series. The trailers are interesting for their complexity -- each movie required some explanation and exposition, and the trailers for the second and third movies in particular are fairly involved. It's all better treatment than the movie received on laserdisc, and the menu (very cleverly designed) is easy enough to work with, though one wishes that more had been done with the supplement. One also wishes that this movie and its predecessor had been given first-cabin treatment; director Ted Post and many of the key cast members are still alive and some of them could have spoken, and perhaps explained (among other things) why the final lines and scenes of this movie mimic the dialogue and action at the dénouement of The Bridge on the River Kwai (which, curiously enough, is another film related to the work of author Pierre Boulle). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide