Reviews
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
A great let down. Plot just makes NO sense!
Oh dear. Perhaps that should be uttered again. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. This unnecessary and badly structured film is the weakest and most disappointing of the whole apes series, and falls down in almost all the areas that made the original a success. In fact, if you forget the other sequels and look at the original and 'Battle' together, one might be forgiven for thinking that 'Battle' was no more than a very badly made spoof!
The plot logic, already strained in the series, evaporates totally here. The story portrayed by Cornelius and Zira in 'Escape' of the Apes revolt was altered to better suit the needs of the fourth film, 'Conquest', but this ramshackle nonsense in the 5th entry leaves no plausible link to the first film. Apes and humans reconciled, the world happy ever after. Please! Where is the dark satire and menacing plot lines that made the first films great. Where is the indication that man really does fall from grace, loose the powers of speach, and see the apes rule over a nuclear smashed world? The whole concept of a nuclear war fought (off screen, described in the introduction) between the world's superpowers while the apes were in rebellion is ludicrous in the extreme.
The nonsense plot includes too many inconsistencies to list. Most obvious of all - why have the mutants always stayed in the city, when they are so keen to leave? Having been impressed by all of the previous entries in the series, I was very disappointed with 'Battle'. It's upbeat ending, ultra-low budget, naf moralising and farcical plot showed clearly that the series should have ended with Conquest. The even weaker TV series that followed Battle demonstrates these same problems all over again.
Despite all of this, the film is not totally without merit. The idea is fine, and good performances from the leading players helps to salvage something. Leonard Rosenman's stunning musical score is perhaps all that emerges from this disaster unscathed. The saddest thing of all is that if the same budget, thought, and attention to detail as were used on the original had been used here then I think a fantastic film could have been made. As it is, we are left with an unsatisfactory mess, which ends the series on a bad note and is totally unnecessary. Pity, that.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
Best of the rest - GREAT ending!
Originally entitled ''Planet of the Apes Revisited'', Ted Post took over direction from Franklin Schaffner in what is the best of the Planet of the Apes films after the original. While it deviates significantly from what the audience might have imagined would happen, script writer Paul Dehn takes us a step closer to understanding how this ''upside down'' civilization came to be.
The film is hindered by having less subtle commentary to make than its predecessor did (the Vietnam overtones are hard to miss), but none the less the excellent Cathedral sequence - ''the almighty bomb, who created heaven under earth'' - is masterfully orchestrated. A credit to Dehn and to composer Leonard Rosenman, who more than fills the shoes of Jerry Goldsmith in providing an riveting score for the film.
Controversy has always centred around the film's ending more than any other feature of it. Those who critisise it miss the point - this was intended to be the LAST apes film, and although producer Arthur Jacobs kept his mind open for a possible 3rd film, it was felt that another movie set in a post-apocalyptic ape ruled world would just be ''flogging a dead horse''. One of the greatest features of these films, started by the Statue of Liberty sequence in the original, was that they all contained ''shocker'' endings, designed to send a shiver down the spine of the cinema audience. Beneath is so final, so clear cut, so definate in its climax - and is successful BECAUSE of this. 'Escape' featured the talking baby Chimp at its end. 'Conquest' featured the apes take over in its ultimate moments.
Beneath suffers less than the other films from having an inadiquate budget, but is hindred by Chuck Heston's absence. The fact that James Franciscus looks so similar is slightly irritating. But considering the storyline, script, locations, music and great shocker ending, this film is a definate 'hit' for the series.
And as for Linda Harrison........well, let's just say I've kept the best to the last.....
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Should be the best - shame about the budget.
Fourth in the ''Incredible Apes saga'', this outing starts well, suffers from a lull in the middle, then rises to its memorable and frightening conclusion.
Locations are inspiring, if somewhat limited in scope (are we to believe such a large city has such a small mall and central area?), the action set pieces are well orchestrated but suffer from the confines of the set. The script shows promise, but one can't help but feel more could have been done with this film with MORE MONEY! J Lee Thomson's direction is more involved than that of his predecessor in the 3rd Apes film, but this film should be the climax and grand finalle of the series.
This film should answer all the questions of man's fall from grace that people had wondered since Charlton Heston & Linda Harrison confronted the Statue of Liberty in the original. Instead it falls just short of the mark - it's trying to be an epic, but the budget restrictions hold it back, along with a ludicrously optimistic ending designed to pacify Fox's family oriented executives (and allow for another sequel?). I find this film very entertaining, but find myself wondering what might have been. In fairness, it must be recognised that close on 10 minutes of the film was cut to satisfy the censors, severely hindering the more graphic sequences, and the film's social commentary is not far off the power of the original. Couldn't they have combined the budget for Conquest and Battle? Just a thought.
Either way, the first time I watched this film I was young and did so in terror, watching this nightmare unfold as these monkeys smashed human civilization and the world as we knew it turned into a Planet of Apes. Now that's what I call a movie.