Farewell to the Planet of the Apes (1980)

Memorable, crazy movie

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The last of the made-for-TV films in the PLANET OF THE APES series, which were made simply by stringing together two episodes from the short-lived TV series. At least this one is a lot better than the previous instalment, the deathly dull LIFE, LIBERTY & PURSUIT ON THE PLANET OF THE APES. That's purely because the two TV episodes chosen here are more fun.Not that they have much in common. The first half involves humans being thrown into shark-infested waters by the apes; it's just about passable, although the story seems oddly light and irrelevant. The second half is better, as it involves humans and apes teaming up to create a hang-glider which will allow the humans to escape their captors. At least this has plenty of incident and some imagination to keep it going. Saying that, these films are still rather pointless as simply watching the TV series would be a better bet instead.

Farewell to the Planet of the Apes was the final of five TV movies that was made by combining episodes of the 'Planet of the Apes' TV series together. This one featured the instalments 'Tomorrow's Tide' and 'Up Above the World So High'. In the first half our human protagonists are captured (again) by apes who run a forced labour camp where men are made to fish in shark infested waters. In the second part our heroes assist a man who has built a hand-glider and wishes to discover the secrets of flight.I suppose the two episodes used in this final TV movie are reasonably distinctive when set along-side most of the others. Fishing and hand-gliding aren't the most predictable subjects for this series to base its material around. In this respect the film is to be commended but in almost all respects it's as poor as the others in this series of films. It lacks decent characters beyond Roddy McDowell's Galen and some of the apes and the plots are never played out to very much dramatic effect. While, like all the others, this is essentially two separate episodes stuck together somewhat randomly and so it has two half-hearted story arcs as opposed to one decent one. In summary, these TV movies are no more than a curiosity. Their appeal is very limited, as any enthusiasts of all things 'Apes' would really be better simply watching the series rather than these clumsily constructed films. They're more worthy of a footnote in 'Apes' history rather than something that needs to be seen.

Each of these syndicated, two-episode "movies," when they originally appeared in 1981, had newly filmed prologue/epilogue segments with Roddy McDowell back in the ape make-up. He portrayed an older Galen who reminisced about his adventures while fiddling with a little mechanical device he was building. In the final installment he finishes the toy and we learn what it is. These bookend segments were a delight, and they were McDowell's last appearance as an ape. When the package was rerun in later years, however, the scenes were absent. I have no idea how they came to be produced and I'm sure McDowell wasn't payed very much, but it's clear he enjoyed being a chimpanzee and he probably had a good time making them, even though the make up was not quite up to previous standards. I seem to recall that this older Galen had streaks of gray in his hair. Does anyone else remember these charming scenes?

In 1974, CBS began a "Planet of the Apes" prime-time TV series after Fox had concluded it's highly-successful theatrically released films ("Planet of the Apes," "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," "Escape From the Planet of the Apes," "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes," and "Battle for the Planet of the Apes"). However, due to directly competing to hit shows like "Sanford & Son" in the same time slot, the show would fold-up after just 13 episodes.Seven years later, several episodes of the TV series would be edited into five made-for-television movies. "Farewell to the Planet of the Apes" was the last of such films. 'Farewell' was compiled from episodes "Tomorrow's Tide" and "Up Above the World So High".The episode "Tomorrow's Tide" is about how the astronauts, Burke and Vidron, are captured in a fishing village employing human slave labor, they must prove their worth as fishermen or be sacrificed to the gods of the sea. "Up Above the World So High" is about Galen's flight on a hang glider highlights this story about the fugitives' attempts to help a human who is determined to learn the secret of flying.Not as fluid as "Back to the Planet of the Apes," but for what it is, 'Farewell' is an entertaining 'Apes' flick. Check out the episodes on the DVD release of the complete television series of "Planet of the Apes".