Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

People are voting emotionally.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The acting in this movie is really good.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Movie that continues at the exact spot the original left off. At the and of The Planet of the Apes more than anything I wanted to see more. And when that more came, after promising start, it suddenly turned to lousy movie with crappy ending. I can't recall last time I was this much disappointed. Really sad.6/10

In an moment of Colonel Needham madness, Colonel Taylor pressed the doomsday button. My question is this - was Taylor seeking attention? Did he press the doomsday button so that everybody would be focusing on him? Was he trying to steal the limelight amidst all the commotion? Why? Why would he feel the need to become the centre of attention? He was mortally wounded and all he could think about was being in the spotlight.I do not understand why he did not simply perform a tap dance or sing a song - why did he have to behave so drastically? Perhaps his singing voice was not strong enough or he simply did not have the skills of a tap dancer?

The typical sequel formula goes as follows: more of the exact same, only not as good. Unfortunately Beneath the Planet of the Apes falls to that trap as well, trying to tell the exact same story as the first one, but with the added problem that it has to take into account the events of that first film as well. Thus it comes across as pale imitation instead of something new or innovative.What makes this doubly baffling is the fact that they had a very good hook for a sequel at the end of the first film. Taylor (Charles Heston) had escaped from the apes, had found the truth about the planet he had crashed on and was all set to find a new place to live with Nova (Linda Harrison). And we do get some of that storyline, for about five minutes, after which everything seems to reset as a new astronaut (James Franciscus) crashes on to the planet, taking the place of Taylor, who promptly disappears for much of the runtime. Apparently Heston was reluctant to reprise his role, which limited his role to that of an extended cameo, which kind of explain the decision to go with the new astronaut, but it's still annoying that they have to go through the exact same scenes we already saw in the first film.The film manages to cover a lot of new ground in the second half of the film, but unfortunately that new ground just doesn't seem to fit in with the existing setting at all. It's like if you took two completely different scifi films and smashed them together to create something utterly new and bizarre. It's creative, sure, but there's little to no logic behind it, and what's even worse, the allegories kept getting more forced and farcical. And they weren't exactly subtle in the first film either, but at least they were poignant.And yet, I can honestly say that I liked the film. It is very much its own creation, unlike anything I have ever seen before, and while it lacks the depth of the original, it is very followable and entertaining. Not a good film by any objective standard, but a decent film to check out if you like older scifi films and want to see more of the original Apes universe.

After briefly recapping the ending of the landmark previous film, "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" shows how the apes are motivated towards aggression by the gorillas, led by Ursus (James Gregory). They embark on a mission to a mystery region known as The Forbidden Zone, with Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) going along to prove or dispel the idea of other forms of life on Earth. Meanwhile, another astronaut named Brent (James Franciscus) arrives in search of Charlton Hestons' character Taylor. He meets up with Taylors' companion Nova (super sexy Linda Harrison), and as they escape from captivity, they eventually find an underground civilization populated by human mutants who pray to an atomic bomb.This sequel, not unexpectedly, is definitely not in the same league as its predecessor. It's actually kind of goofy, albeit somewhat interesting, and works as a fair action-oriented narrative. The real marvel is the art direction by William J. Creber and Jack Martin Smith. John Chambers' ape masks are still as impressive as ever. What's most striking about the script by Paul Dehn (based on a story by Dehn and Mort Abrahams) is that these mutants are supposedly peaceable individuals, and their whole angle is getting their enemies to destroy each other.Franciscus is good in the starring role, and Gregory stands out among the strong supporting cast. Kim Hunter briefly returns as Zira, but you miss the presence of Roddy McDowall. He was directing the film "The Ballad of Tam Lin" at the time, and is replaced by an actor named David Watson. Paul Richards, Victor Buono, Jeff Corey, Natalie Trundy, and Don Pedro Colley play assorted mutants; this was Trundys' first appearance in an "Apes" film, and she went on to do all the other theatrical sequels as well. Hestons' contribution basically amounts to a special guest appearance, but he gets to administer the final coup de grace at the end.Directed by Ted Post ("Hang Em High", "Magnum Force", "The Baby", "Go Tell the Spartans"), this is all filmed in a workmanlike but entertaining enough fashion.Seven out of 10.