Search - Beneath The Planet Of The Apes on DVD

A Movie Reacted Too Differently by Different Viewers!!

Stephen Pletko | London, Ontario, Canada | 06/07/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

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(Note that this review is for this movie on DVD that was released by 20TH Century Fox.)

This movie is the sequel to the blockbuster "Planet of the Apes" (1968). Essentially, it is about an astronaut named Brent (James Franciscus) who is sent on a mission to find out what happened to the astronauts who were sent on a mission (the first mission) before him.

This sequel starts off with a flashback to the concluding 10 minutes of the original movie. Doing this serves to remind the viewer what happened and for those who never saw the previous movie, to orientate them. In the final moment of this flashback, we have the two main human characters of the original movie, Taylor the commander of the first mission (Charlton Heston) and the mute woman he befriends named Nova (Linda Harrison), ride off together on horseback to the "Forbidden Zone" (a vast and barren area on this "unknown planet."). It is here that Taylor mysteriously vanishes while exploring. Nova, though horrified at Taylor's sudden disappearance, continues riding on horseback.

It is at this point that Brent's spaceship crash lands in the Forbidden Zone in the year 3955. By an incredible stroke of luck, Brent encounters the mute Nova riding on horseback and he discovers that she knew Taylor. Thus, Brent knows he's on the right track to finding him.

The movie at this point is essentially a condensed version of original movie and lasts for about 45 minutes. Brent and Nova get captured by gorilla hunters and in captivity encounter the friendly chimpanzee scientists Cornelius (David Watson) and Zira (Kim Hunter) as well as the stern orangutan High Minister of Science and Religion Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans). Brent and Nova, however, escape and have to go underground (thus the word "Beneath" in the movie title) to evade the hunting gorillas. It should be mentioned the gorillas in this movie have become more militaristic and want to expand their land ownership into the Forbidden Zone. (Dr. Zaius will lead them.) We get an idea of the gorilla's view of humans when a general of the gorilla military named Ursus (James Gregory) says:

"The only good human is a dead human."

It is in this underground world that Brent and Nova meet human mutants who have special mind powers and worship "a souvenir from the twentieth century." Brent and Nova finally meet Taylor (who was captured by these mutants). As well, the apes have managed to penetrate this underground world. This leads to a violent and somewhat surprising ending.

Those who have not seen the previous movie should enjoy this one. It is filled with action and some good special effects. James Franciscus gives, I feel, a solid performance. Charlton Heston, even though he has limited time on-screen (about 25 minutes), also gives a good performance.

Viewers who have not seen the original movie might give this sequel a rating of (5) stars.

Those who have seen the previous movie will have some problems with this movie. Here, I feel, are some of the main problems:

(1) Brent in this sequel landed on this planet in 3955. According to the original movie, Taylor lands in 3978. In other words, Brent landed 23 years too early when Taylor was still back on Earth!
(2) Zira and Cornelius have only bit parts in this sequel. In the original movie, they had richer and more interesting parts.
(3) Roddy McDowall play Cornelius in the original movie. Contrary to what the other reviews say, he does appear in this movie during the opening flashback scene. As this sequel proceeds, David Watson takes over the role of Cornelius. I found this distracting. Since McDowall was not available, they should have written Cornelius' small part out of this movie.
(4) Dr. Zaius is not nearly the same stern and interesting high official he was in the original movie. He's more like an intellectual gorilla in this movie.
(5) The amazing music of the original movie has been replaced with the more strained music of this sequel.
(6) The fantastic ape make-up of the original movie looks like it has been replaced with masks in this sequel.
(7) The late, great Rod Serling was a screenplay writer for the original movie. You can tell he had no input in the writing of this sequel.
(8) In the opening credits, we're told that this sequel is based on the characters created by Pierre Boulle. This is not absolutely correct. There were no human mutants in Boulle's novel.

Those who previously viewed this movie might give this sequel a rating of (2.5) stars.

My rating of this movie will be an average of the two above ratings and will be shown below.

Finally, there is a sequel to this sequel called "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" (1971). It is available on DVD.

In conclusion, this is a sequel that will be reacted too differently by different viewers. Those who have not seen the original movie should enjoy this movie!!

*** 3/4

(1970; 100 min; widescreen)

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