Planet of the Apes

This film was at least 40 years ahead of its time in 1968.

And no, I am not confusing this film with the recent "War for the Planet of the Apes". I am referring to THE "Planet of the Apes", all the way from 1968, that was the very first film adaptation of the French novel "La Planète des Singes", and also the first child of a remarkable film franchise.

As a minor digression, everyone knows that one person who looks way too young for his/her age. Is 50, looks 25 and such. Anyhow, be it due to genetic fortune or skilled maintenance, this quality is highly appropriate for "Planet of the Apes". In terms of the technical details, this film indeed screams of old age by our modern standpoint. The acting feels jarringly choppy, the dialogue is written in old-fashioned English, and the costumes look comically awkward today in the 21st century. The young feature of "Planet of the Apes", however, is its visionary imagination and commentary about a world gone upside down. While it may sound awfully familiar, that is most likely due to many films we watch nowadays that follow a similar premise: a world gone upside down. "Terminator", "Resident Evil", "The Hunger Games", "Mad Max", and others ubiquitous in all forms of literature are written on the basis of an apocalyptic Earth. So what makes "Planet of the Apes" any different?

The film tells the story of three space-time astronauts, in the year 3978, who crash-land into a lake of a strange unknown planet. After abandoning their spaceship, they traverse a stretch of uninhabited desert in hopes of finding food, water and possibly life. Eventually, the astronauts encounter an area brimming with plants and an oasis, but unbeknownst to them, they have also entered a territorial society in which apes can talk like humans, act like humans, and think like humans. From there, the story of "Planet of the Apes" is primarily driven by the mysteries behind where the astronauts are in the galaxy, and what this peculiar race of "primal aliens" is exactly. Rather than experiencing an unruly war between human and ape on screen, the 1968 version displays the interesting dynamic when human meets his evolutionary ancestor, that is the ape, only much more intelligent. For that reason, every second of the interactions between the astronauts and the apes is compellingly suspenseful. Ethics, religion, justice, and philosophy are some of the main topics that are discussed from the apes' point of view throughout the film, and ultimately, what makes them so interesting is the striking parallelism it draws to the humans, which subtly indicates these these apes are well on their way to attaining characteristics of the modern human race. 

Before watching, I assumed that my natural inclination towards CGI would undermine my experience, and that all the technical details of the film would look unbearably clunky and awkward. Contrary to my bias, "Planet of the Apes" feels just as polished as modern films. The costume designs for the apes look impressively realistic and alive, notably in their lip movements that are near-perfectly in sync with the dialogue. The avant-garde score splendidly complements the eerie nature of the planet. And the choices of backgrounds that illustrate the mysterious planet and the ape society successfully emanates a sense of placelessness, yet also familiarity, to the environment. In the beginning, I mentioned how these accomplishments of "Planet of the Apes" can feel overrated and out of place when directly compared to films of today. In addition, one minor downfall of "Planet of the Apes" is its slow pace in the beginning, which I conjecture that it was done on purpose to reinforce the spooky atmosphere of the planet; for my taste though, it was overdone. However, if all things are considered, this film from 1968 is as enjoyable as any 21st century blockbuster. Sure you won't see Captain American coming to the rescue or Optimus Prime leaving behind a trail of explosions, but with the proper perspective, "Planet of the Apes" is a cornerstone of sci-fi imagination of its era, whose essence is repeatedly echoed throughout many subsequent films.

Knowing Hollywood and Captain Obvious as we do, to create a sequel of a film as popular as "Planet of the Apes" was inevitable. There is a total of four new titles after this film, released in 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973 respectively. So in order to please my curiosity, I skimmed through the Wikipedia summaries of all four sequels that eventually lead up to the ape character most people are familiar with today, Caesar. Long story short, the sequels feel wholly unnecessary and forgettable, especially because I personally admired how the first film ended in a memorable cliffhanger after all the thought provoking adventure regarding the human versus ape mystery. The idea of having sequels was welcoming, but almost none of the positives in writing of the first is carried over, and the overall story, albeit interesting, fails to live up to the standards. In other words, just watch the first one and stop. Try not to ruin your experience with the sequels.

"Planet of the Apes" isn't widely regarded as one of the best movies in history for nothing. With ingenious writing, groundbreaking make-up and innovative style of music, this film excels in all facets of filmmaking. Is it outdated? Of course it is, but for a 50 year old motion-picture, "Planet of the Apes" feels convincingly modern. I daresay it is well up there with "Star Wars" in revolutionizing the sci-fi genre and bringing about a fresh new era for the film industry. So if you are ever searching for something new to watch, something foreign, something classic, make absolute sure that "Planet of the Apes" is on your list. 

Verdict: Legendary 10

Box Office: $33.4 million

Release Date: April 3, 1968 Rewatchable: Yes

Here was how trailers were back then.