PLANET OF THE APES - 30 YEARS AGO

"When three astronauts crash-land on a planet governed by apes, one is killed, one lobotomized, and one put in a zoo full of animalistic humans. The apes are seen as both more and less civilised than the human captive: they are ordered and sophisticated, but also casually cruel to what they see as animals. At the end of the film, the devastated astonaut makes the discovery that any audience must suspect all along: this is no alien planet, but a far-future Earth. The scene that tells him this is, of course, one of the most famous uses of the ruined statue of Liberty as an icon."
- John Clute in Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia

"This is a slick commercial picture, with its elements carefully engineered--pretty girl (who unfortunately doesn't seem to have had acting training), comic relief, thrills, chases--but when expensive Hollywood engineering works, the results can be impressive. This is one of the most entertaining science-fiction fantasies ever to come out of Hollywood."
- Pauline Kael

"Only liabilities: somewhat familiar plot, self-conscious humor; otherwise, a must-see."
- Leonard Maltin

"A hysterical parable on race relations."
- Michael Atkinson in the September/October 1995 issue of Film Comment magazine.

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BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES
(1970)
"Second APES film still has great sets, makeup and ideas, but somebody let it get away as Apes battle human mutants who survived a nuclear blast many years before."
- Leonard Maltin

ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES
(1971)
"Third in series is best of the sequels, with the Apes in modern-day LA; ingeniously paves the way for 4th and 5th entries in series."
- Leonard Maltin

CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
(1972)
"Fourth APES feature shows how apes came to rebel and subsequently vanquish man. Loosely acted and often trite, but still interesting."
- Leonard Maltin

BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
(1973)
"Substandard; fifth (and last) apes instalment attempts to bring entire series full-cycle. Good footage from earlier films helps, but not much."
- Leonard Maltin

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Astronauts in Apollo 8 orbit the Moon for the first time. An experimental hydrogen bomb is detonated underground. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King are shot. The Vietnam War drags on. Richard M. Nixon wins by the narrowest margin since 1912 and become the 37^th President of the USA. Tom Wolfe’s Electric Cool Aid Acid Test is published. Russia sends in tanks to crush the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia. Students riot in Paris.

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CREDITS:

MAIN CAST: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly, Linda Harrison, Robert Gunner, Lou Wagner, Woodrow Parfrey, Jeff Burton , Buck Kartalian, Norman Burton, Wright King, Paul Lambert, Diane Stanley.

PRODUCER: Arthur P. Jacobs; DIRECTOR: Franklin J. Schaffner; SCREENWRITER: Michael Wilson, Rod Serling (based on the novel "Monkey Planet" by Pierre Boulle); EDITOR: Hugh S. Fowler; CINEMATOGRAPHER: Leon Shamroy; COMPOSER: Jerry Goldsmith; ART DESIGN: Jack Martin Smith, William Creber; SET DESIGNER: Walter M. Scott, Norman Rockett; SPECIAL EFFECTS: John Chambers, L.B. Abbott, Art Cruickshank, Emil Kosa Jr.; MAKEUP: Ben Nye, Dan Striepeke; COSTUMES: Morton Haack

OSCAR: Honorary and Other Awards 1968: John Chambers (for his outstanding makeup achievement for PLANET OF THE APES)

NOMINATIONS: Costume Design; Music - Original Score (For a Motion Picture Not a Musical)

(Winner best film 1968: Oliver!)

112 minutes. Colour

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ALSO:

PLANET OF THE APES-RELATED:
Review of Planet of the Apes
Review of Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Discuss Planet of the Apes in the Sci-Fi Movie Page's Boardroom

OTHER SCI-FI MOVIES RELEASED IN 1968:
Review of 2001: A Space Odyssey
Review of Barbarella
Review of Weekend
Review of Charly

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