Planet of the Apeshas cemented itself as one of the most iconic sci-fi franchises in years, starting with the original 1968 film and stretching all the way to the recent reboot films - including the recentKingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Its premise is classic sci-fi: an astronaut crash-lands on a planet whereapes have evolved to become the dominant life form, while humanity went the opposite direction and became mute servants.
This premise was enough to carry five films and inspireda wealth of spinoff media-as well as plenty of parodies. But what exactly happened in the originalPlanet of the Apesfilms? This saga has embodied multiple sci-fi tropes, including time travel and hyper-accelerated evolution, and gone tosome really weird places in the process.
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Astronaut George Taylor and his crew crash-land on an unknown planet where they discover a society dominated by intelligent apes. Humans on this planet are mute and treated as inferior beings. Captured and imprisoned by the apes, Taylor must navigate their complex society to survive. He gains allies in Zira and Cornelius, two chimpanzee scientists who are intrigued by his intelligence. As Taylor fights to expose the truth and secure his freedom, he uncovers a devastating secret about the planet’s past and its connection to humanity.
The Original ‘Planet of the Apes’ Has One of the Best Plot Twists in Film History
The originalPlanet of the Apesbegins when astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) lands on the titular planet. Taylor is the only one of his crewmates to survive; he’s locked up with other slaves and is studied by ape scientists Zira (Kim Hunter), Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Zaius (Maurice Evans). Taylor also starts to fall for a female captive he names “Nova” (Linda Harrison), and the duo ventures out to the “Forbidden Zone” - an area that Zaius warns Taylor about. Taylor soon learns that the warning isn’t entirely unfounded:the planet he actually crash-landed on is Earth, and he breaks down in despair upon seeing the remains of the Statue of Liberty.
The end scene ofPlanet of the Apeshelped cement its place in film history, and a large part of that is due to the work ofRod Serling. Serling wrote the first major draft of the film, which was constantly being reworked due to cost concerns, andhe was the one who came up with the film’s twist ending. Given Serling’s work onThe Twilight ZoneandNight Gallery, it’s not surprising that he concocted the idea of the Planet of the Apes beingourplanet. It’s a twist that the following films would attempt to replicate with mixed results.
The ‘Planet of the Apes’ Sequels Featured a Nuclear Apocalypse and Time Travel
WithPlanet of the Apesbecoming a major hit, 20th Century Fox immediately rushed a sequel into production.Beneath the Planet of the Apespicks up immediately wherePlanet of the Apesleft off, as another astronaut named Brent (James Franciscus) lands on the planet and Taylor is dragged underground. Brent and Nova soon discoverthat a race of mutant telepaths lives underground and that they worship a nuclear bomb. Meanwhile, gorilla general Ursus (James Gregory) leads an invasion into the center of the Earth; Taylor is shot and winds up triggering the bomb,destroying the entire planet.As sci-fi blockbusters go, it’s a very bleak ending, but that didn’t stop Fox from greenlighting another sequel. ScreenwriterPaul Dehnreceived a telegraph that simply stated"Apes exist. Sequel required". - even in the ’70s, Hollywood never met a film franchise it wasn’t determined to milk.
This set up the sequelEscape from the Planet of the Apes, which revealed that Cornelius and Zira - alongside fellow scientist Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo) - managed to leave Earth after repairing Taylor’s spaceship, withthe shock wave from Earth’s destruction propelling them to 1973.Escapeflips the premise of the original Planet of the Apes, subjecting Zira and Cornelius to the same treatment that Taylor received when he arrived in their time. The two are eventually killed, but not before it’s revealed thatZira gave birth to a son at a local zoo, whom she named after Milo.
The Planet of the Apes Movies Finished by Showing the Ape Society’s Origins – and Inspired the Reboot Films
The originalPlanet of the Apessaga wrapped up with two final films:Conquest of the Planet of the Apesin 1972 andBattle for the Planet of the Apesone year later.Conquestdepicted how the planet of the apes came to be: when a mysterious pandemic ravaged the Earth in 1983, humanity began testing apes for ways to combat it. Cornelius and Zira’s son Caesar (McDowall)form a resistance against mankind, which eventually leads to the birth of the Planet of the Apes.Battleends the saga on a rather ambitious note, as Caesar attempts to lead ape society while dealing with the warmongering gorillas and the human survivors fromBeneath. It ends with a flash-forward to a futurewhere humans and apes achieve a tenuous peace, though the apes still keep their weapons locked up in case they need them.
The ’70s Sci-Fi Movie Charlton Heston Used To Wage a War on Sequels
Charlton Heston tried to save a classic from franchise status by blowing it up.
ThePlanet of the Apesreboot saga draws upon elements of the original saga, most notablyConquestandBattle.Rise of the Planet of the Apesputs a modern spin on the pandemic that decimated humanity, revealing that it was born from a serum that scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) concocted and gave to a chimpanzee named Caesar (Andy Serkis). Caesar and other apes gained enhanced intelligence while mankind slowly thinned out, eventually losing the ability to speak. Caesar also attempts to lead an ape society that’s upended by the paranoia of humans and the ape Koba (Toby Kebbell). The directors of the reboot films have also acknowledged this influence;Matt Reevescited the originalPlanet of the Apessaga asone of his influences forWar:
“We got Fox to give us a theater and we watched movie after movie. We watched everyPlanet of the Apesmovie, war movies, westerns,Empire Strikes Back… We just thought, ‘We have to pretend we have all the time in the world,’ even though we had limited time. We got really inspired.”
KingdomdirectorWes Ballhas also hinted that futurePlanet of the Apesfilmscould lead up to the eventsof the originalApes. Even after all this time,Planet of the Apesis still a gold standard for science fiction movies, influencing the new run of films over half a century later.
Planet of the Apesis available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
