Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely Fantastic

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The third film in the Apes series takes a new twist by not having humans crash land on a planet ruled by apes and instead has three apes crash land on modern day earth (or at least 1970s earth). The talking, intelligent apes become the toast of the town upon their arrival, but there are sinister government forces who fear them and believe them to be a threat to humanity. After a lot of light comedy during the first part of the film, the apes go on the run from the government agents who want to kill them. Escape is one of the weaker Apes film, but it is interesting that the villains of the picture are actually correct (if you've seen the other films in the series) in that the apes do eventually take over the world, although it's humanity's fault, due to their own fear and distrust. However, those more interesting of topics are not covered in this film and it is instead a fish-out-of-water comedy for the first and second acts and a not especially exciting of chase film for the final act. The first "Planet of the Apes" film, written by Rod Serling, more interestingly addressed this idea of who's the real bad-guy in the original film's conclusion, where the villainous Dr. Zaius is revealed to know the truth behind humankind destroying itself, and that intelligent humans would genuinely pose a threat to the Ape world, as unequal, backwards, and flawed as that society may be. Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter return as Cornelius and Zira, and you also get Albert Salmi, M. Emmet Walsh, Ricardo Montalban in a nice cameo leading to sequels to come, and Sal Mineo briefly appearing as an ape (he apparently did not like the ape make-up and asked to be written out of the script). Jerry Goldsmith also returns to provide the film an excellent rousing score. Overall, this isn't that good of an Apes film, but it is still entertaining.

The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society, but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.The "Apes" series gets more strange as it goes on, and the messages it uses are a bit blunt. We get environmental issues and political topics, sometimes with a discussion of race that is pretty blunt (the whole slavery thing is not subtle at all).This one even has religious themes, though they do actually hide those somewhat well. It may be blasphemous to compare the president to Herod the Great and Cornelius to Joseph (father of Jesus), but this film goes there. And it is actually pretty clever.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes is an odd one, to say the least. There is a notable deviation in the franchise's tone up to this point, and though some might find it jarring, I found it rather refreshing and overall serviceably intelligent given the ridiculous premise. Though this film almost solely exists via a contrived, greedy studio request, "Escape" manages to be both clever and entertaining enough to pass as a solid franchise entry.Don Taylor is the third director to helm this franchise, and does a competent job overall. It's well shot in a standard kind of way, but well-shot nonetheless. The beginning has a good reveal, and sets the dual tone of thriller/comedy, which I think Taylor handled well. I'm impressed at how coherent this film is with genre elements from comedy, romance, tragedy, thriller, action, sci-fi, etc. . . . though these genre influences will turn some viewers off no doubt. For what it's worth, I find it to be handled well, though nostalgia likely has a role to play in my ease with it. As for further overall flaws, this installment admittedly can be borderline campy at times. Specifically, the shot of the baby chimp at the end is rather lazily edited (despite being an important plot point). As per usual with these films, the most integral component lies in the writing.Written by Paul Dehn, who first appeared in the franchise to doctor the Beneath the Planet of the Apes script, this film manages to retain its social commentary with intelligence and more subtlety than ever, whist retaining the franchise's tradition of tragedy. The commentary on racism is as evident as ever, though there's also commentary on bureaucracy, morality, and even animal rights. Something this franchise has done very well (particularly here) is it's diverse portrayal of ape and human characters alike, displaying diverse perspectives and moralities, as though to say that despite looking different, we're all similar. There is never a point in this franchise in which an entire species is scapegoated or deemed as the "good" or "bad" guy--it dabbles in shades of grey, just as real people do.This entry also works as a very clever reversal on the circumstances of the first film, placing Cornelius and Zira essentially in the shoes of Taylor and Brent. The most notable aspect that portrays this is the trial sequence. This reversal also results in some quirky fish-out-of-water humor, but more notably, a conceptually compelling reflection upon the first film, which in itself was a reflection upon humanity. A reflection upon a reflection if you will, driving the concept to a new level of realization--just like the painter painting himself, painting himself, etc. . . . It fits an overarching theme of infinite regression, which ties into Hasslein's theory of time, which essentially lays the groundwork for the original series' overarching progression. If there's one great thing Paul Dehn brought to this series, it's giving this franchise a clear direction and building a timeline that is intricate and thoughtful, even if at times convoluted or contradictory. The question of how our choices affect the future is present through the remainder of the franchise, though is represented best in this installment. The writing isn't perfect however. The salvaged spaceship and time-travel premise is a stretch to put it lightly (though given the previous installment, was a better explanation than what could've been hoped for), and the comedic elements are bound to be jarring for many viewers. The character of Milo also isn't as fleshed out as I'd like him to be, which is especially disappointing as he is one of my very favorite characters in the extended canon. They also go into more detail about the salvaging of the spaceship in the comics, but those are the comics: on this front, the movie failed. There is also a bit about Aldo's revolution, and this comes in later as an unexplained plot inconsistency. It can only be speculated about, and the comics provide an almost-explanation at best.Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter are more endearing than ever as Cornelius and Zira. Zira in particular doesn't get much credit for being such a strongly written and acted character. In fact, I'd say this is one of the strongest female characters I've ever seen on film (and this was the 70's, folks). The human characters often work as reflections upon characters in the first film, and are generally competently portrayed, if slightly gimmicky at times. This film also introduces one of my favorite human characters in the franchise, which is Armando--a wise and sympathetic man played by Ricardo Montalban. Because of the greatly reduced ape cast, the attention to John Chamber's prosthetics is at its best by default. No longer must we endure the dreadful pullover ape masks! Visually this is probably the least interesting film, though that attributable to the time period in which it takes place, and is understandable. Jerry Goldsmith returns for his second and final Apes film, and delivers (arguably) the best score of the original five movies. Though his avant-garde score for the 1968 classic is a close second, his work on "Escape" is superior on a melodic and rhythmic level, portraying the underlying weirdness & suspense brilliantly alongside the comedic/romantic elements. I dare say that this is even some of Goldsmith's best work."Escape" is no doubt a step up from "Beneath", succeeding in being more subtle with its commentary, and arguably being less-dumb (it's better than mutants vs apes, but the spaceship/time-travel shenanigans are again, a stretch). I'll probably like this movie more than most, though I find it to be one of the franchise's stronger points regardless. This film has a solid recommendation from me, yet one should also consider that this isn't a stand-alone entry, and might have to decide whether they want to engage in the whole franchise first.Score: 8/10

Cornelius (Roddy McDowall), Zira (Kim Hunter) and Milo escape the Earth's destruction in Colonel Taylor's spaceship. They travel back in time 2000 years and arrive in present-day Earth 2 years after the spacecraft's disappearance. The military are shocked to find the apes in the space capsule and place them in the Los Angeles Zoo. Dr. Dixon and Dr. Branton are shocked when they start talking. Milo is killed by the gorilla in the next cage. They become media sensations. Senior White House scientific adviser Dr. Hasslein takes them on a tour around town. A drunken Zira lets out the truth about the future and Hasslein advises the President to kill the apes. Branton and Dixon help them escape and find shelter in a circus run by Señor Armando (Ricardo Montalbán). Zira gives birth to a son she names Milo.This is very silly compared to the first two movies. The comedic turns are fun. The initial testing of the apes is really funny. The switch in tone does make this a campy follow up. The flip between humans and apes is pretty good. However the logic of the space traveling apes is questionable. Also the humans need to be played by better actors. The decline in budget probably has a big hand in that. Eric Braeden plays the only human that is truly compelling.