Review of Planet of the Apes (1968) by Blackmanta67 — 29 May 2019

Planet of the Apes is the masterpiece that Arthur P. Jacobs envisioned it to be before Pierre Boulle finished his book La Planète des singes that the film would be based on. Even through its difficulty of finding a studio that would produce the film, Rewriting Rod Sterling’s script that took thirty drafts and and over a year to write, recasting Hollywood legend Edward G. Robinson for the role of Dr. Zaius, balancing its budget, dealing with a hot climate, and most famously, creating believable apes. Its distinct score crafted wonderfully by Jerry Goldsmith flows beautifully with Leon Shamroy’s cinematography and William J. Creber’s sets. What this crew has accomplished is truly a work of art with a unique political awareness and style that remains iconic to this day. And that’s without even mentioning the actors! Charlton Heston knocks his role out of the park in his performance of the cynical astronaut Taylor, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter perfectly portray the two ape scientists Cornelius and Dr. Zira even through the difficulty of the makeup, Linda Harrison portrays the ‘savage’ human Nova to a tee considering her lack of lines, and Robert Gunner and Jeff Burton pull of convincing co-astronauts as Landon and Dodge who both synergize with Charleton Heston’s character Taylor in the first act of the film. Speaking of the plot, the opening scene establishes Taylor’s beliefs effectively in such a small amount of time and manages to establish the tone of the film, as it should. The effects put into the spaceship crash still hold up after fifty years and the script in the first act convincingly depicts the three astronauts, their conflicting views, and their constant attempt of survival in the desertous region later called the ‘Forbidden Zone.’ The scene were the Gorillas hunt the humans is the golden standard for all action scenes. The second act does a fantastic job at putting the audience in Taylor’s agonizingly frustrating situation of containment and state of nonacceptance. The chase scene through the ape scene is professionally shot and the human museum within it containing the remains of Dodge is terrifying. The third act capitalizes on suspense as Lucious breaks Taylor out of his cage and they all make for the dig site in the caves. The surprise of the human artifacts in the archeological dig, particularly the doll that speaks, provides a hint at the iconic big reveal at the end of the film, which is gorgeously shot and beautifully executed, especially with the well-written script.

Overall, the film is a science fiction/dystopian masterpiece as the stunning visuals and music guides the audience through this thought provoking new planet of the apes to bask in its nihilistic and sociopolitical themes. It really is a masterpiece, and who would have thought so, other than Producer Arthur P. Jacobs.