For a long time, Beneath The Planet Of the Apes was my favorite of the Apes sequels (these days, it keeps going back-and-forth between Beneath and Conquest) for its exciting action-oriented - and utterly nihilistic - bonkers plot. Plus, you know, telepathic mutants, lots of Linda Harrison's "Nova" - and one of the most downbeat endings in sci-fi cinema history.
I do miss Roddy McDowell, though....
I have a Planet of the Apes week every coupla years. Because of the elliptical time travel element you can start wherever you want- but Planet and Beneath always have to be a double bill.
ReplyDeleteBeneath may suffer for being the sequel to one of the greatest SF movies ever and clearly shot on a smaller budget (thanks Fox) but it has a lot to offer - More Linda Harrison screen time, James Franciscus was always cool, and the underground psychic mutant army would've been great to see pop up on the TV series if it'd been given more of a chance.
Best Chris B
I have my own Apeathon every so often too- including the TV and animated shows.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the mutants on the TV show though. The premise was totally different and their it didn't really have a place for them (lol- or the budget).
Of the movies I can't say I have a favorite. I tend to go back and forth between Beneath and Battle. Mendez I in Battle certainly envisioned a different society than the one it eventually developed into as shown in Beneath. I presume a Mendez was thoroughly corrupted when the mutant mental powers developed.
I also found it interesting that Zaius well understood the danger the missile represented but by that time had lost control of the situation to "Look Ma- No Brains" Ursus.
Just by chance I happened to watch this movie again a couple of nights ago. David Watson (who played Cornelius) did a pretty good impersonation of Roddy McDowell, sounding very much like him under all that makeup. It's funny how Zaius wasn't portrayed as such a bad guy in this one compared to his role in POTA. Cornelius, who was an archeologist in the original, is described as an "animal psychologist" like his wife Zira by Zaius himself in Beneath. You could see the cost-cutting steps taken in the poor ape masks worn by some of the actors in crowd settings. As Linda Harrison said James Franciscus took the material VERY seriously, and is kind of a mini-Heston in Beneath. Interesting that this film was originally rated "G" considering all the violence depicted, particularly how the protagonist is slaughtered in a very graphic scene at the end of the movie.
ReplyDeleteHank
For myself, the perfect trilogy is Planet Of The Apes(1968), Beneath The Planet Of The Apes(1970) and Escape From The Planet Of The Apes(1971) making a completed full circle story.
ReplyDeleteI miss Roddy McDowell too.
SGB
Always like the Planet of the Apes films favoring the first two. I always thought Beneath was a great sequel. I just watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and thought it was pretty good the way they dovetailed that into the series.
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd post this podcast site, as it's pretty funny but also references several pop references: http://cavecomedyradio.com/nerdofmouth
...HAW! The one with Nova pointing at the Ape just screams for the caption "Hey! Ask that Ape if he wants to join in for a foursome!"
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This and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes are my favorite "Ape" movies.
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