Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) User Reviews

The Best and Worst of the Apes Series

[Dan1863Sickles · 7/10 · 22 August 2018]

I've always had mixed feelings about ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES. As a kid forty-five years ago, I saw all five original films on television and I loved them all. ESCAPE I enjoyed because I had a huge little boy crush on Kim Hunter, and I thought Dr. Zira was so brave, funny, and even sexy. On the other hand, this is the one movie in the series with no battle scenes, no gorillas on horseback, and no epic excitement or adventure. So on that level I'm sorry to say this was my least favorite Apes film . . . Forty five years ago.

So the other day I got all five films on Blu Ray for about 15 dollars. And when I watched ESCAPE as a 55 year old I was very impressed. It's not really a kid's adventure film, or even a science fiction spectacle. This movie is a tragedy, in the most profound sense of the word. In spirit it's much closer to CHINATOWN than the original PLANET OF THE APES.

Everyone remembers Zira and Cornelius as a cute, fun couple. That's how I remembered them too. But when you actually watch the film you see that they are really tragic heroes. When they flee the hospital with their baby there are Biblical overtones. (The President actually compares himself to Herod!) But what's still more disturbing is the way Zira herself owns up to the savage things that went on in her own laboratory in the future world. Her self-knowledge is a grim component of her eventual tragic fate. Her insistence on truth only makes her more admirable after she reveals some truly terrible secrets.

It's a waste of time to point out that Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowell both give career best performances as Zira and Cornelius. But what astonished me after forty-five years was the incredible intensity of Eric Braeden as Dr. Otto Hasslein. (He was just as spectacular as the doomed werewolf in a classic episode of KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER.) Dr. Hasslein is clearly meant to remind us of Nazi scientists and doctors who did unspeakable things in World War II. But at the same time he's like the tormented Christian heroes in THE OMEN movies, searching for the Anti Christ before the earth runs out of time. Each chilling thing he does is made more chilling by the fact that he's sincere in trying to stop what he thinks of as real evil. On the other hand, William Windom is surprisingly affable and humane as the President of the United States. STAR TREK fans will remember his epic meltdown in "The Doomsday Machine," but here he plays the voice of reason, a decent man who refuses to become hysterical in the face of mankind's doom.

Superb script, intense, haunting drama, beautiful tragic characters . . . All that's missing is the action, excitement, and gorillas on horseback!

A Film in its Own Right, Not Just a Sequel

[JamesHitchcock · 6/10 · 29 April 2005]

After "Planet of the Apes" was completed, its star, Charlton Heston, argued strongly that there should not be a sequel. The original film was complete in itself, and any sequel would only dilute its impact and tarnish its reputation. In the event, a sequel was made and Heston was reluctantly persuaded to appear in it. He suggested, however, that it should end with the destruction of the Earth, a denouement that, he hoped, would put paid to any attempt to extend the series beyond two films.

In one respect Heston was to be proved right. "Planet of the Apes" is a classic, one of the best science-fiction movies ever made and one that combines an exciting plot with philosophical depth. It is frequently said that sequels are generally inferior to the original films, but seldom is this is as true as in the case of "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", a hopeless mess of a film. Neither its lack of artistic merit, however, nor its explosive ending dissuaded the filmmakers from making a third "Apes" film. An ingenious device was found to avoid the problems posed by planetary destruction; it is explained that shortly before the Earth was destroyed three of the apes found the wreckage of Taylor's spacecraft, repaired it and used it to travel back in time to 1970s America.

Although one of the apes is killed in an unfortunate incident shortly after arrival, the American public take to the two survivors, Cornelius and his wife Zira (both of whom played important parts in the first two films). The two intelligent, talking chimpanzees become media celebrities, and the early scenes are much lighter in tone than the two earlier films, at times even comic, as the two apes become after-dinner speakers and discover the joys of alcohol. The tone, however, gradually darkens. Figures in the government become alarmed by talk of a future in which men are dominated by apes, and Dr Hasslein, the President's sinister Germanic adviser, (based on Henry Kissinger?) is convinced that Zira and Cornelius represent a threat to the human race, especially after it is discovered that Zira is pregnant.

My disappointment with "Beneath...." had hitherto dissuaded me from watching any more of the later episodes in the "Apes" canon, so I was pleasantly surprised by "Escape.......". Although it lacks the depth and brilliance of "Planet of the Apes", it is considerably better than its immediate predecessor. The reason for its relative success lies with the fine contributions of its two stars, Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter. Their characters played important supporting roles on the original film; here they take centre stage. The original had Heston's character Taylor at its centre, a human in danger from the apes. In "Escape......" the roles are reversed, with two lovable, and deeply human, apes in danger from humans. There is, however, a difference between the two films. The danger to Taylor came largely from ignorance; the apes, particularly Dr Zaius, saw him as a brute beast, like the other humans of their planet, and refused to listen to the evidence that suggested that he was, in fact, an intelligent being like themselves. Cornelius and Zira are in danger because of both their human and their non-human characteristics. Hasslein knows that they are intelligent beings who seem human and yet are not, and hates and fears them for precisely that reason. Just as they pitied and befriended Taylor, so they are in their turn befriended by two human scientists who try and save them from Hasslein.

There are a couple of inconsistencies between this and the earlier films, where the apes' society is shown as being technologically less advanced than ours, on a par with sixteenth or seventeenth century Europe. It is not explained how individuals from such a society could have succeeded in repairing and operating a spacecraft. Another inconsistency is that Cornelius and Zira know how the apes came to seize control of the Earth from humans and even state that this story is told in the Sacred Scrolls, the holy books of the apes' religion. In "Planet of the Apes" we are to understand that the Scrolls explicitly deny that humans ever had the powers of speech and reason, which is why Zaius is so reluctant to admit that Taylor can speak. These inconsistencies, however, are not really plot-holes as such and are unlikely to worry those who come to "Escape......." without having seen its predecessors. "Escape......." can be seen as a film in its own right rather than as a mere sequel, a film which starts out as a comedy and then turns into a serious thriller as the apes try to escape from their human enemies. Although it is less philosophical than the first film, it can perhaps be seen as an allegory of racism as Hasslein's paranoia leads him to treat as enemies those who bear no ill-will to him and his kind and whose only crime is to be different from him. It is significant that his name is derived from the German for "hate". 6/10

You Hear the one about the Chimps as Astronauts?

[Bogmeister · 7/10 · 3 June 2006]

The 3rd film in the Apes series (after "Beneath..."), this one is easily the most whimsical, at least in the first half. The writers had to stretch believability in getting the two primary apes of the 1st 2 films into our present times from the future, when Earth is destroyed by a doomsday bomb, but the first few scenes are almost classic farce disguised as science fiction storytelling. We view our central characters first as 'ape-onauts' and then stuck in a zoo, followed by a brief turn at celebrity when our populace becomes enamored of the two as the latest fad. The best and most clever thing about this sequel is that it utilizes the already well-known captivating characteristics of the chimps, delightfully performed again by McDowall and Hunter. They're kind of like old friends by this time and seeing them get acquainted with our modern-day culture is just good times. It's also a neat reversal on the ape society of the first two films, which was visited by aberrant intelligent humans.

Things turn grim in the 2nd half, as the fad wears off and our leadership begins to take the threat of possible future ape domination rather seriously. The most interesting character becomes the chief human scientist, played by Braeden, who starts out typically dispassionate but soon reveals an intense personal desire to preserve the human race and society, to the point of fanaticism. In his coldly intelligent eyes, only he sees the truly apocalyptic threat presented by the chimps' pregnancy. He's the nominal villain, but he sees himself as the only one who gives a damn. Some of the sf plot lines regarding time travel are very clever, while others are a bit clumsy. It's clever that the two evolved time-traveling chimps may now be the cause of the future time-line ruled by an ape society. But they reveal to have a knowledge of their history that did not exist in the previous two films. Also, rather than letting events evolve over a century or more following what happens here, the next film accelerates everything to change the world in the next 20 years - see "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes."

Sure this is worth watching......

[gazzo-2 · 15 December 2001]

You have Ricardo Montalbon, you have Soap star Eric 'mustache' Breaden, and you have Sal 'Rebel without a Cause' Mineo. How can you go wrong? You have guys in Chimp suits. You have Roddy. You have Kim Hunter from the first flick. It's great.

My chief memory/image of the flick is seeing them, the trio of apes, being given the Star treatment, getting outta a limousine in front of a crowded city street, etc. That is very much a part of the flick. It was made in '71, and yeah it really, really looks it-but ya gotta like it. William Windom as da Prez is pretty cool too, def. a knockoff of hostile Nixon in places I would say.

This sets up the next two fine, though its both better than them and better than #2 in the run also. I think you can do worse than to sit through this.......

**1/2 outta ****

A new tone for the series

[perfectbond · 7/10 · 24 June 2003]

No, this film is not as awe-inspiring as the original but it still maintains the viewer's interest despite the scaled down approach which was due to budget constraints. For much of the film the there is a humorous tone. Good performances were turned in by familiar faces (Braeden, Montalban, Mineo). The story, despite some holes, was quite riveting. I'm looking forward to the fourth installment. The sense of adventure and exploration (this time by the apes) and the continued presentation of parallels between this fictional world and our world still make for worthwhile viewing. 7/10.

Paradox of the Apes

[incognitoami · 7/10 · 21 May 2006]

Following the cataclysmic finale of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, there was only one logical direction for the series to go---> back to the future. The result is an illogically conceived and satirical prequel that will amuse and delight and ultimately devastate with its bleak Shakesperean tragedy.

When Taylor's spacecraft unexpectedly splashes down in 1973 and is retrieved by a military envoy, the three astronauts that emerge from the capsule are not revealed to be Taylor, Landon and Dodge, but rather the astonishing simian ape-chimps Cornelius, Zira and Milo... the third of which is a completely disposable character who is appropriately killed off very early by a caged zoo gorilla who was probably jealous that the talking simian chimpanzees were getting all of the attention. With Milo out of the picture, the story focuses on the relationship between Cornelius and Zira in ways that were not afforded the opportunity in the two previous films and is filled with tongue-in-cheek episodes inspired by Pierre Boulle's original novel as Cornelius and Zira go around "aping" 20th century human culture (a subtle and clever mockery of our own) in an attempt to make themselves fit in to our society.

While Cornelius and Zira make themselves at home as cultural "celebrities" they are being carefully monitored under the watchful auspices of the nefarious Dr. Otto Hasslein played by recognizable character actor Eric Braeden (of Young and the Restless fame) who listens with great interest to what the talking chimps have to say about where they came from during a Presidential Inquiry and how they managed to arrive in Taylor's spacecraft as Cornelius explains that the capsule was found when it washed ashore and was repaired by Milo -- an implausibility which is the film's glaring continuity error since Taylor's spacecraft sunk into the depths of the Forbidden Zone it is a far fetched conclusion that they somehow managed to not only find, retrieve and repair it (even if they had repaired Astronaut Brent's crashed spacecraft from Beneath which was overlooked as well) with engineering far in advance of their own intellectual ape intelligence (which Milo only "half-understood" as Cornelius describes it) but managed to do so and escape within a very small window of time before the planet was obliterated by the shock-wave of destruction catapulting them backwards in time and arriving at roughly the same destination and era as Taylor's original point of departure (it could be argued that these narrative inconsistencies support evidence of "Hasslein's Observed Time Curve" which suggest that a predestination paradox created alternate intersecting timelines as illustrated by the incongruent timeline of events between Conquest and Battle). Nevertheless, once you get past the major plot hole and just go with it, Escape is a fun and dramatically intense film but is my least favorite second only to the weakest link in the evolutionary Apes chain; Battle For The Planet of the Apes.

When Zira announces that she is pregnant, the film takes a dark and conspiratorial turn when the government realizes the consequence a race of intelligent talking apes will have on the future of our human society. In an effort to protect their newborn, Cornelius and Zira find refuge with Armando, a sideshow circus entertainer played by the extravagant Ricardo Montalban who gladly welcomes the simian family with open arms, but it isn't long before Dr. Otto Hasslein picks up the fugitives' trail and hunts them down in a tragic and inevitable climax that sets up the paradox of the entire Planet of the Apes chronology.

Three monkeys travel back in time to present day from the ape dominated planet

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 3 November 2010]

Nice and entertaining science-fiction movie with a first rate Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter as likable chimpanzees and special intervention of Ricardo Montalban as kindly circus owner who's hidden them from the humans for time . This known story is the third and one of the best of primates sequels ; it starts when through the same time warp , three survivors jumped aside in the last moment by means of a spacial craft from incinerated planet that blew up in the final of ¨Beneath of planet of apes¨ and crash on Earth . There appear three simians Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) , Zira (Kim Hunter ) and Milo (Sal Mineo ). They charm the world and turn mass media celebrities . However , the presidential (William Windom) adviser (Eric Braeden )suspects their dark origin and learn that can be a threat on the downfall of mankind and decides kill them . Later on , at L.A.C. they become the subjects of a relentless pursuit by the CIA and being helped by two doctors (Bradford Dillman and Natalie Trundy who married Arthur P Jacobs and starred various sequels as Zira) .

This is a good sci-fi flick plenty of comedy , suspense, metaphysical significance with thoughtful reflexion about origin of human being and nuclear catastrophe , though also packs action, adventures, intrigue and entertainment. In spite of time and being mostly an amusing follow-up of the former movies , energy remains still and turns out to be an enjoyable sequel full of fantasy and suspense , though with a unsettling and dramatic final . Exciting , clever writing credits by Paul Dehn , though some elements of the screenplay strain credibility to the limit , the imaginative plot is based upon characters created by Pierre Boulle . One of the important attributes of this work are the magnificent acting from the main cast and supporting , Roddy McDowall's distinctive features prove to be recognizable even under marvelous simian make-up . The performers , particularly Kim Hunter who provides the sturdy central pivot the tale surely needs , are pretty good , the superb characters are well drawn and in spite of makeup they are still oddly convincing . Glimmer and luminous cinematography by Joseph Biroc A.S.C who made such a fine job in several films . Phenomenal, creative make-up by John Chambers ,as always , he is a first-rate expert, such as proved in 'Blade runner, Ssss, Island of Dr Moreau' among others . Sensational musical score by top-notch Jerry Goldsmith who composed the classic original score . The picture is well produced by Frank Capra Jr and usual Arthur P. Jacobs , producer of whole saga, and well directed by Don Taylor , using a great visual sense.

It's followed by three inferior sequels that get worse and the impact from original film has perhaps been lessened by these followings as 'Conquest of planet of apes'(72, J. Lee Thompson), in which the Apes turn the tables on the Earth population and Roddy McDowall plays the son of the role he first created ; 'Battle for the planet of apes'(73, J.Lee Thompson) and a TV series , repeating Roddy McDowall again on hand as leader to sustain our anticipation and interest.

my 2nd favourite in the McDowell ape films

[veryape-887-913905 · 7/10 · 4 January 2014]

This is the 3rd chapter in the McDowell ape films this 1971 film stars Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter & Bradford Dillman. Roddy McDowell & Kim Hunter continue their roles as Cornelius and Zira in this film they travel to present day at first they are feared and imprisoned but at their court hearing they become sensations where they are taken from the zoo to a 5 star hotel, they are wined and dined and treated like celebrities until Zira falls pregnant then they have to fight for their lives but they have the help of Dillman and his colleague Natalie Trundy. A good entry to the ape saga much better then the 2nd one beneath the planet of the apes but for me the stand-out in the series is the 1968 classic Planet of the apes.

***/*****

Better than the first sequel.

[Coffee_in_the_Clink · 6/10 · 3 February 2020]

After the world ended when Taylor pressed the Doomsday button in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" Zira, Cornelius and Dr. Milo managed to get Taylor's spaceship working again and launched themselves into space and through time. They crash-land on Earth in 1973, two-thousand years before their own time and two years on since Taylor left Earth. They are found by the US military and taken to the zoo, but when they start talking to the humans they become celebrities and are wined-and-dined throughout the country. Dr. Hasselein, advisor to the President of the United States, is sceptical, however, and wants to know more about the world that the apes came from, something which they have been elusive about. When he discovers the truth, he believes that it would be in humanity's best interests if the apes were exterminated.

Where the first sequel was a carbon-copy of the original, up until the end that is, "Escape..." is certainly different. It would have been difficult to predict what they could have done with another sequel following the ending of the last one but they certainly did do a good job here. As likable as Zira and Cornelius were in the first two instalments, it is here that we truly start to care for them as characters. McDowall and Hunter are brilliant together. Bradford Dillman (Who would later take the lead in "Piranha") also stars. The last ten minutes came out of nowhere and were shocking and this time, we were left with no doubt that another sequel would follow.

The "boullest" of all these four not-so-glorious sequels.

[dbdumonteil · 6/10 · 1 August 2001]

The third -and unexpected,considering the ending of the second part-sequel of the apes saga is probably the best of the four, thanks to Kim Hunter's and Roddy McDowall's characters Zira and Cornelius,who play a prominent part here. Here ,Pierre Boulle is more present than in "beneath the planet..":the reason can be found ,I think, in the Baby,the menace for the human race. In Pierre Boulle's book,Ulysse Mérou(Taylor) and Nova have a baby,and that's why they cannot continue to live peacefully with the simian race;had Cornelius and Zira not intervened,the trio would have been slain ruthlessly.Thanks to them,they can escape from the planet and go back to earth where they.... (No,I won't tell you anything more,please,read the book!) Here,it's the same situation ,a monkey baby instead of a human one.And the humans act like the monkeys in the book.There's a good original idea in the screenplay :the using of a circus as a place to hide .Taylor should have thought(should think!) of this when he was (or is!)in the apes society.

funny campy and franchise in decline

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 29 May 2015]

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.

Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971) ***1/2

[JoeKarlosi · 9/10 · 16 February 2005]

In a brilliant solution for continuing the storyline after the ending of BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES, three intelligent chimpanzees from Earth's future take off in Charlton Heston's salvaged spacecraft just prior to Earth's destruction; they wind up hurled backward in time to 1973 California and - in an interesting twist on the original theme - now find themselves the strange visitors in a strange world ruled by bombastic human beings.

Lovable simians Zira and Cornelius (expertly played by Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall) lose their friend Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo!) early on in a tragic accident, and find themselves in a strange situation when mankind first welcomes them as celebrities and garnishes them with gifts, but ultimately begins to fear when it is learned that Zira is pregnant with an ape offspring that could grow to overtake humanity.

We really grow to sympathize with the plight of the chimpanzee couple, and we fear along with them and the safety of their child when they become hunted fugitives later in the story. Eric Braeden is very good as the quintessential villain out to kill the ape family at any cost.

Some people enjoy picking on the APES sequels as they continued, but I've always felt this series consistently remained very intelligent and had something powerful to say about race relations and prejudice. People want to know how apes could ever manage to send Taylor's ship into orbit; I say that if you can suspend disbelief long enough to accept the notion of intelligent apes, then it shouldn't be that far a reach to accept that Dr. Milo was the genius of his time who just could pull it off; the Thomas Edision of his type, if you will.

The timeline in the five apes films is often admittedly contradictory, but there are ways that fans of the Apes movies have been able to make them work. For example, in this film Cornelius seems to talk about Ape History and Evolution in a way that actually doesn't follow suit during the next two installments. That's because the very arrival of Zira and Cornelius onto present-day Earth of 1973, and the subsequent birth of their baby, will accelerate the procedure from how Cornelius remembered it, as we'll see in the next two chapters. The circumstances for the future will be sped up and changed, and the apes will evolve at a much quicker rate.

Some of the other dubious complaints are aimed at the "lesser budgets," or supposed "TV Movie Look" of the sequels from this point on -- but this story in ESCAPE does not require mind-numbing special effects or hordes of CGI-rendered ape figures swarming Los Angeles to make it effective. It's got a lot of heart and good writing with characters we care about, and that's all it needs. ***1/2 out of ****

An Odd Message

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 5 October 2017]

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.

Really bad

[lagage · 1/10 · 21 July 2022]

I recently watched this movie after not seeing it since the original release in theaters. This is really bad. The only sequel on its level is Death Wish III. Bad plot, bad acting, bad all the way throughout. USC's film school should show this as a great, bad example of film making. Obviously it was just a studio money grab on a popular genre. I gave it one star because you have to select something.

Good sequel with a heart (yet people still don't get it)

[mord39 · 5 October 2000]

MORD39 RATING: *** out of ****

This third APES film ingeniously manages to keep the franchise alive and produces what is arguably the second best film of the five originals.

After the ultimate ending in BENEATH, who could have believed a new story was possible? Here the tables are turned from the original film with a remarkable twist: now three of our chimpanzee characters take off in Charlton Heston's spaceship and wind up going BACK in time, to "present Day" Earth (1973 A.D.) Once it is learned that Zira (Kim Hunter in her best performance in the series) is pregnant with the child that could possibly turn our future into the PLANET OF THE APES, she and her husband Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) go from becoming honored celebrities to dangerous threats to humanity!

It's a brilliant idea, and now it is possible to start the series anew (chronologically, this movie comes first) and see whether or not Taylor's nightmare from the first film can be prevented or will rear its ugly head for mankind.

A little defending is in order here. Many people get hung up on the story's notion that the chimpanzees can actually manage to fix Taylor's ship from the first film and actually launch it. Well, I say that if you can suspend disbelief long enough to accept the idea of a society of talking apes, why can't you accept that one of them (Dr. Milo) is a super-intelligent ape, sort of the "Albert Einstein" or "Thomas Edison" of his time? Besides, when folks get stuck on a point like that it becomes impossible for them to have a good time with a film. As Cornelius said in the movie: "Dr. Milo was a genius well in advance of his time." He was able to fly the ship. Case Closed.

Next case: the "TV Movie" look of the film. SO WHAT? People have become so accustomed to garbage like 1999's THE MUMMY that unless all films are over-swamped with spectacular sets and numbing effects, they can't enjoy them. Well, ESCAPE needs none of these to tell its simple story. It's got something that sci-fi stories today have lost..."heart".

Time Loop

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 25 August 2013]

If you remember the previous film in this series Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, the world met doomsday courtesy of a doomsday device left over from the human nuclear age. I would think it would have been hard pressed to come up with a sequel after that, but there must have been a demand for one.

While the cataclysm was happening, Kim Hunter, Roddy McDowall, and Sal Mineo managed to get Charlton Heston's old ship in working order and transported back in reverse order to Earth of the second half of the 20th century and when it's discovered they speak and are from our future they're met with acclaim by most. But science adviser to the President of the USA Eric Braeden, he's quite alarmed.

Braeden proposes a King Herod like solution to President William Windom who really doesn't want to go down in history that way. Doesn't deter Braeden in the slightest.

This film in the Planet Of The Apes saga makes us learn that earth history courtesy of some unplanned time travel is in a time loop. Can we escape it.

A good ensemble cast makes us want to find out in the next film.

"We came from your future!"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 30 September 2023]

It would take a huge leap of faith to believe that the future ape society of 3955 would have evolved from the baby chimp born to Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter), back in 1973, but that's the idea in this, the third film in the POTA franchise. After all, a lot could happen in two thousand years, and things don't always progress in a linear fashion, so I thought it pretty presumptuous to think that killing baby Milo and sterilizing its parents would set things right for the future of humankind. If one can get beyond all that, this was actually a fairly entertaining flick with a good dose of humor as the adult simians learned to adapt to the modern world they were sent back to. I thought killing off Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo) in the story was a bit hasty. He could have added some additional intelligence to the presidential committee investigating their arrival, but so it goes. I didn't think Dr. Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden) would turn out to be the villain of the piece, but then again, he did portray Nazi officer Hans Dietrich in the Sixties war series "Rat Patrol", and that evil streak returns here. Bradford Dillman and Natalie Trundy provide needed emotional support when the married apes from the future go on the run to protect themselves and their baby. Ricardo Montalban's cameo as circus owner Armando makes it possible for the franchise to live on when he takes in chimp baby Milo, who tugs at one's heartstrings in the closing moments of the film when he calls after his departed 'Mama, Mama'.

Planet Of The Humans

[sddavis63 · 6/10 · 17 January 2011]

I quite enjoyed the first two instalments of the "Ape" series. Both were interesting movies (the first was definitely better) that offered some reflections on human nature as seen through the eyes of the apes. Generally speaking, this third instalment of the series continues to do that - and, as in the first two - humanity doesn't come off looking particularly good. In and of itself, standing alone, this isn't a bad movie. Its basic problem is its lack of originality (although the very fact that it created a sequel to "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" - whose ending did look rather final - counts for something, I suppose.) Still, in many ways this is the mirror image of the first movie. In that, of course, three human astronauts land on a future earth rules by apes. Here, three "ape-onauts" (as they're referred to) land on a past earth ruled by humans - namely, our own (well, at least the world of 1973.) A lot of this is very similar to the original. Cornelius (Roddy McDowell, who returns in the role after missing "Beneath") and Zira (Kim Hunter) essentially take on the roles of the human astronauts in "Planet" while Drs. Dixon (Bradford Dillman) and Branton (Natalie Trundy) are the Cornelius and Zira of this society, sympathetic to the apes and wanting them to survive, while Dr. Hasslein (Eric Braeden) is the personification of the evil human who wants to kill these intelligent apes (just as most of the apes wanted to kill the intelligent humans of the original.) So, aside from the ingenious way of resurrecting a series that you would have expected to be finished, originality was somewhat lacking. There are a few twists. Overall, human society seemed generally kinder to the apes than ape society was to the humans, and it's somewhat humorous to watch as at first Cornelius and Zira are feted as celebrities in Los Angeles. Overall, though, this really does have the feel of the original in reverse.

It's not a bad story. It's a bit far-fetched to believe that the apes could have not only raised Taylor's spaceship from the original and learned to launch and pilot it, given that in the first two movies (which seemed to take place over a relatively short span of time) the ape society hadn't even invented the internal combustion engine. Yes, that's kind of explained by Cornelius' assertion that Dr. Milo (who accompanied he and Zira on this journey) is a genius well ahead of his time. Obviously! Still, that bit of far-fetchedness aside, this is a reasonable addition to the series, an imaginative way of restarting the series, and an obvious set-up at the end for what would become the fourth instalment in the series ("Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes.") It's just not particularly original, in that it's a rerun of the first with the roles reversed. But if you like the series, it's enjoyable enough. (6/10)

Witty but slow

[Rammstein-2 · 6/10 · 31 July 2001]

The third APES movie is better than the second (almost anything would be), but lags behind the first one a great deal, to nobody's surprise. It is witty but painfully slow - the escape of Cornelius and Dr. Zira from the doomed future Earth lands them right smack in the 70's, where they are greeted with surprise and fear. The films borders on ridiculous at some points, but some echoes from the 1980 "Elephant Man" by David Lynch can be detected, suggesting Mr Lynch took a good look at this one before the making of that fantastic movie.

Slowly the film degenerates and just seems to end without any adequate point having been made, and as it gets slower and slower towards the end, it gets hard to understand the need for making it. But the initial surprise and the human reactions are still enjoyable.

a "hard to imagine HOW they came up with a sequel" sequel

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 11 July 2006]

As fans of the series know, the Earth got blowed up good at the end of the second movie. So, you might ask, how did they make a sequel? Hmm, well they did something unique in film history--the sequel was also a prequel!! Here's how they did it: At the end of the last movie the Earth blew up, but somehow our favorite apes, Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Zira (Kim Hunter) both escaped the explosion in a space ship and traveled back in time to 20th century Earth!!! Now this was no small feat, as the apes in the previous movies had progressed up to perhaps the 18th century in technology and no others possessed a space ship, either! Well, this gaping plot hole is one of the reasons this movie only gets a 6. The other is that this movie, for the first half of it, has absolutely no controversy or excitement. If you like seeing the two apes being wined and dined and interviewed on TV, then this movie is for you--but zilch as far as controversy goes.

However, later, under the influence of a truth serum, Zira tells the humans that they are from Earth in the future and that humans are either treated as slaves or killed! Well, the narrow-minded humans want no part of that and decide to sterilize the apes to prevent this horrible future. The problem is that Zira is already pregnant (never mind that it seems hardly likely that Roddy McDowell could be the father) and they don't want their baby killed! I'm not sure why no one thought about letting the child be born and then sterilizing the three--this could have worked out and prevented a fourth movie.

Well, our two beloved apes don't want to be sterilized or lose their baby, so they escape. While in hiding, Zira has the baby and when the human thugs catch up to them, they are killed--but not before a DIFFERENT baby is substituted for theirs--meaning that they actually planned on making a sequel to this movie.

Decent story writing (though with HUGE plot holes), good acting and a fun script make this a worthwhile film, but certainly weaker than movies number 1, 2 and 4.

probably the most talky of the Apes sequels, but has some of the most interest

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 31 December 2007]

Yes Apes fans, Escape has only- sadly- three Apes (or four if you'll count a little baby chimp at the end), which are the original Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Zira (Kim Hunter) who along with another brilliant ape escape before the world is destroyed by the atom bomb in part 2. They're scrutinized and gawked, in a quasi deja vu to what Taylor had happen upon him when he arrived on the "ape planet" in part 1. Soon however the two apes (poor Milo meets his end suddenly, and with a cheesy quick montage of various animals reacting across the zoo) become semi-stars... and what was routine in their past, like Zira's experimenting on human subjects, makes them targets.

It's not rocket science, but there is some good, satirical fun this time around, where the low budget and more "human" locations give room for a script that's smarter than a third movie in a series of Planet of the Apes deserves to have. Who can't laugh a little when Zira has her 'grape juice plus', or with Ricardo Montabon's bit part at the end, followed by a tongue-in-cheek mention of the little guy talking. There is a low level of action and suspense, so when the little bits do come up, like the chase on the ship, it's sustained pretty well. And McDowell and Hunter are pretty much second nature to the parts by this time, understanding how to blend the line between campy and serious portrayals of the species known as Ape. It's fun sci-fi for an afternoon.

So-so

[plan9-149-959814 · 4/10 · 25 March 2015]

Like many fans of the original Apes franchise, I was expecting a lot more after the apocalyptic Beneath. This one is a comedown; it would have made a decent 60 or 70 min TV movie, but has neither the scope nor the impending sense of doom that pervades the first two.

The teaser opening, with Cornelius, Zira and Milo returning to preset day Earth is captivating. But it's completely undeveloped, and what should have been the underpinning for the story becomes a throwaway hook. The big questions raised but unanswered are: how did they recover Taylor's ship, repair and learn to fly it? Are they here as prophets? What else could they have brought with them? Instead we get a disposable "genius" character, Milo, who's quickly strangled by a zoo gorilla.

The rest plays like a Quinn-Martin crime drama. Despite solid performances, the hyperbolic threat of we-must-kill-them-to-save-Mankind is painfully simplistic.

Escape is for completists only, and can easily be skipped to the next, and far better follow-up, Conquest.

Darker than a nuke!

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 31 December 2019]

"Apes exist, Sequel required."

With those words, sent in a telegram from producer Arthur P. Jacobs to writer Paul Dehn, a sequel was set in motion to Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

But hey - didn't everyone die in a nuclear bomb blast at the end of that movie?

They sure did.

Doesn't matter.

Dehn decided that Cornelius and Zira - along with an inventor ape named Milo - would go back in time with Taylor's ship. He also consulted Pierre Boulle, writer of the original Planet of the Apes novel, to add more satire to the story. Originally titled Secret of the Planet of the Apes, the results are rather genius, as only three ape actors allowed for a smaller budget while selling director Don Taylor (Damien: The Omen II and The Final Countdown) on the idea of making the film more humorous.

Cornelius (Roddy McDowall), Zira (Kim Hunter) and Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo!) have escaped the ruin of future Earth and landed back in 1973, where they are taken to the Los Angeles Zoo, where Dr. Stephanie Branton (Natalie Trundy, the wife of producer Jacobs and the only actor to portray every single race in the Apes universe) and Dr. Lewis Dixon (Bradford Dillman!) are set to examine them.

In private, the apes elect to not to let the humans know that they can speak. They also can't tell them that, you know, they once dissected humans and that everyone else died in the Ape War. But man, those humans act so condescending to Zira and she flips out and shows them just how smart she is. And then she starts talking. And then, well, a mishap allows a zoo gorilla to kill Dr. Milo. Luckily - and in spite of this - Lewis ends up friends with the chimpanzees.

Meanwhile, a Presidential Commission has been formed to investigate the return of Taylor's spaceship and determine what these apes are all about. Cornelius and Zira become celebrities over night and everyone loves them.

That's not sitting well with President's Science Advisor Dr. Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden, Titanic, Colossus: The Forbin Project), who discovers that Zira is with child and therefore fears for the future of humanity. He gets her drunk - dude, she's pregnant! - and she reveals all, which means that now it's time for the government to really interrogate them. After some truth syrum, Zira reveals that yes, she has dissected humans before and yes, she knew Taylor before he died.

Hasslein takes his findings to the President (William Windom), who must agree with the council that Zira's pregnancy is to be aborted - guess he's not a Right to Lifer - and that they must both be sterilized. After his child is called a little monkey by an orderly, Cornelius goes wild and accidentally kills the man before they escape.

Branton and Dixon help the apes to escape, where they hid out in the circus run by Senor Armando (Ricardo Montalban!), where an ape named Heloise has just given birth. Zira also gives birth to a son, whom she names Milo in honor of their deceased friend.

Hasslein is more animal than the apes, tracking them to a shipyard. The couple do not want to be taken alive, which suits him just fine. He fires numerous shots into Zira and her baby to the horror of all watching. Cornelius kills him in retaliation before being shot by a sniper. The couple crawl toward each other, touching one another one more time before dying.

Meanwhile, at Armando's circus, we learn that Zira switched children with Heloise and Milo has survived. As the ringmaster walks away, we hear his first words as he cries for his mother.

Somehow, each Apes film tops the previous one for total downer endings.

It could have been worse - Cornelius and Zira were originally going to be ripped apart by a pack of Doberman Pinschers!

James Bacon shows up here - the only actor to be in all five of the Apes films. He also would go on to write numerous books about Hollywood, including the Jackie Gleason biography How Sweet It Is: The Jackie Gleason Story. This is the only movie in the series where he plays a human being.

Detroit TV announcer - he was mostly on WXYZ-TV - Bill Bonds plays a TV newsman. John Randolph plays a councilman, a role he'd also play in the next film, and he's in another monkey movie, the 1976 remake of King Kong. M. Emmet Walsh also makes an appearance. And Albert Salmi, who is in Superstition, is here as well.

Sal Mineo found the makeup process very uncomfortable and tiring. Kim Hunter would later say that she and Roddy McDowall had to hug Mineo a lot to console him. He had hoped that this movie would restart his career, as it did McDowall's, but due to how much he hated the make-up, he was killed off earlier than originally planned. Escape from the Planet of the Apes would be Mineo's final theatrical film before he was murdered on February 12, 1976 at the age of 37.

Mood changes half way out; Otherwise a decent, if unnecessary third entry.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 27 January 2020]

Yes, it's entertaining. Certainly, much of it is funny, and while campy in spots, it's not outlandish as its predecessor. Somehow, Cornelius and Zira make it back to the time around Taylor's life, in his own spaceship. They witnessed the destruction of their world, and with a reversed time notification on the ship, they realize that they are on the destroyed planet centuries before. The government and military realize that the preservation of humans in the future means that Zira (who has discovered that she is pregnant) must not give birth to a live baby and must be sterilized. But with Cornelius realizing what is going on, the two decide to take drastic measures which even their new human friends can't help them with.

The future Victor Newman, aka "the mustache", aka Eric Braeden sans mustache, is the villain here, a presidential adviser who believes that the arrival of Cornelius and Zira is the beginning of the end, even if that end won't be for more than a dozen generations. Escaping to hide in the circus run by Ricardo Montalban, Hunter prepares to have her baby while Cornelius does what all expectant fathers do: strive to protect his family and Braeden moves in for the kill.

With the first half funny but filled with tension because it's obvious where this will go, it still continues to make strong points of the fear of whomever is in control to remain in power. The extended footage of Hunter and McDowall as the major characters after supporting Charlton Heston and James Franciscus in the first two films makes them the heart and soul of the series because they are extremely likable, especially Hunter. When they go out for a shopping spree, it becomes delightfully silly, especially the bashful Zira who suddenly feels like a diva in her designer outfit.

This shows two humans who are practically identical to Cornelius and Zira in compassion and gentility, and ironically in the same profession. Bradford Dillman and Natalie Trundy (who would wear the chimpanzee make-up for the last two films) are sensational as they break through the shells of the petrified time travelers, and Sal Mineo, in a small role as the third ape who traveled back in time, is very good as well. There are tons of funny moments as Cornelius and Zira attempt to adapt in the human world, but the cruelties of the humans brainwashed by the evil Braeden makes you want to hiss them.

The saga has to continue to come full circle, but there's heartbreak in store for the two chimpanzees who would have been better had they not escaped, even though that would have meant the circle of the world being incomplete. Montalban enters the film as it takes a serious tone, and his cameo takes the plot into its further twist. The final arc of the story is filled with tension, and I can't imagine there being one dry eye in the movie theater as this ended. Like the first film, this ends with the "wow" moment where everybody probably stayed quiet and digested everything they had just seen.

Unimpressive entry

[Sandcooler · 5/10 · 23 May 2009]

This one tries to hit a lighter note, which only stays entertaining for two minutes or so. The makers figured they could just reverse the formula of the first two and see what happens. I guess having the apes go back in time wasn't too bad of an idea, but it does hurt the atmosphere that made the series so awesome. I probably should give them credit for trying new things, but it feels wrong. The first half consists almost solely of generic, vaguely humorous fish-out-of-water scenes about the apes discovering wine and whatnot, and it's still the best part. The second half is an even more generic (assuming that's possible) action flick about apes on the run from the law and having some shoot-outs. It all just feels really lazy and unimaginative, with the exception of the ending, which surprisingly is quite good. This movie is just not fun to sit through. It's still "Planet Of The Apes", so it can't be all bad, but this stuff is mediocre at best.