PLANET OF THE APES - 30 YEARS AGO
The Original | The
Sequels | Box Office 1968 | 1968 in a
Paragraph | Credits | Also
THE ORIGINAL

"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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THE SEQUELS

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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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BOX OFFICE 1968
UK |
US |
1. Thoroughly Modern
Millie |
1. The Graduate |
2. Half a Sixpence |
2. Guess Whos Coming
to Dinner |
3. Doctor Dolittle |
3. Gone with the Wind
(reissue) |
TOP TEN GENERAL RELEASES |
4. Valley of the Dolls |
1. Doctor Zhivago |
5.The Odd Couple |
2. The Sound of Music |
6.Planet of the Apes |
3. The Jungle Book |
7.Rosemarys Baby |
4. Up the Junction |
8. The Jungle Book |
5. Barbarella |
9.Yours, Mine and Ours |
6. The Graduate |
10. The Green Berets |
7. Poor Cow |
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8. Here We Go Round the
Mulberry Bush |
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9. The Devils
Brigade |
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10. Guess Whos
Coming to Dinner |
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1968 IN A PARAGRAPH
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 37th President of the USA. Tom Wolfes 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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