Planet of the Apes

Okay, so I wasn't sure how I would feel about this movie, but as I finally got to see it, I was pleasantly surprised. There were a lot of cool concepts that were explored in this film, and the best part was that it made me think, which is always great to see.

The story concerns an astronaut named George Taylor, played by Charlton Heston, who, along with fellow astronauts Dodge and Landon, end up crash landing on a mysterious planet. After exploring it for a bit, they find that it is ruled by apes with human level intelligence, while the humans on the planet are mute and animalistic. The rest of the film talks about the rights of humans in a society where they are treated like nothing, which feels like it was very much intended to be paralleling human rights at the time of release, which was 1968, a very divisive time among people.

The interesting thing about this film is that it isn't focused on action. The moments that stand out are the scenes where Taylor bonds and connects with a pair of ape scientists named Zira and Cornelius, played by Kim Hunter and Roddy MacDowall, and a scene in which Dr. Zaius, played by Maurice Evans, an ape who seems to downplay humans roles in society through some sort of ape religion, attempts to stop ape culture from looking into the possibility that there is more to humans than what is taught to them.

It is really interesting to see these parallels at work, especially with the previously mentioned courtroom scene debating whether or not humans even deserve rights, because apes treat them as simply savage animals. I was glued to my seat getting to see these characters interact with and learn about each other, and I really connected with Taylor, Zira, and Cornelius. Even Dr. Zaius, as the antagonist, had a logical motivation for why he did what he did.

Overall, this film still is quite amazing and stands the test of time more than I thought it would prior to watching it. Even the way it ends is perfect, and really puts the whole story into perspective. I would wholeheartedly suggest checking it out because I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Next time, we continue the adventures on the planet of the apes. How can you follow up a masterpiece? Is it even possible? Find out when I review Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

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