Planet of the Apes (1968) Review

Confession time: this was the first time I have ever seen Planet of the Apes.  I had seen the reboot trilogy, which I am a big fan of, and I had seen the Tim Burton remake, which I am not a big fan of, but I had never seen the original, so I figured I should probably give it a watch.  How does the original film compare to the remake and the reboots?  Let's find out.

A group of astronauts, led by George Taylor (Charlton Heston), crash land on a unknown planet.  Due to their hibernation and the strange warping of time, it's been over 2,000 years since they left Earth.  They discover that the dominant species on the planet is apes, but these apes walk on two legs and speak in perfect English.  They use guns, ride horses, make scientific discoveries, and have their own religion.  Meanwhile, mankind is nothing but primitive creatures.  They can't speak and survive purely on instinct.  Humans are hunted for sport, enslaved, and experimented on by the apes, who view them only as stupid animals.  Taylor is captured and his throat is injured rendering him incapable of speaking.  Now Taylor has to find a way to prove to the apes that he is intelligent like them, but even if he can, some of the ape leaders want to get rid of him as he challenges the beliefs of their society.

What Works:

I'll mention the ending briefly before getting into the meat of the film, but I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen this 50-year old movie.  I knew the twist before watching this film and although I didn't get to enjoy the surprise, I didn't mind.  The film is still awesome even without the ending.

The reason this film holds up so well is because the story is utterly fascinating.  The role-reversal of apes and man is engrossing.  Watching man treated like animals, and behave like them too, was really interesting, but seeing how the apes' society operates hits a little too close to home, which is the whole point.  The themes and ideas of this film were far ahead of its time.  I loved watching the apes' society's inter-workings and how the ape leaders did their best to impede progress.  All-in-all, it's an extremely engaging movie.

We also get a fantastic protagonist in George Taylor, who left Earth partly because he doesn't like people.  I know I can relate to that.  Charlton Heston give a fantastic performance as Taylor.  Once he is captured, he becomes incredibly easy to root for.  We are as frustrated as he his when he loses his ability to speak.  We want so desperately for him to being able to show the apes his intelligence.  It's easy to imagine what we might say in his situation, but he can't, and it's easy to identify with him.  And then in the trial sequence, we want so badly for the leaders to hear Taylor out, but they won't.  It's frustrating (in a good way) to watch this scene because we know the truth, we're with Taylor, but they won't let him speak in his own defense and they won't hear any explanation that conflicts with their beliefs.  This sort of conflict makes a great protagonist.

And on the same note, we also have a great antagonist in Dr. Zaius (James Whitmore).  He's a great villain because his motivation makes sense.  He doesn't want the people's faith to be challenged because it keeps him in control.  He doesn't want Taylor around to cause problems so it makes sense that he would use his power to steer the trial against Taylor.  That's what I mean by frustrating in a good way.  The character decisions make sense and we feel the frustration of the protagonist.  This gives us the best kind of villain; one we can understand.

Finally, I love that the characters use communication, logic, and reason instead of just violence.  Sure, we do get some action sequences, but more often we get conflict via dialogue.  It's very refreshing and I love how logical and rational these characters can be. 

What Sucks:

I got nothing for you.

Verdict:

Planet of the Apes is considered to be a classic and it absolutely earns that moniker, and not just because of the twist at the end.  The story is fascinating and wholly engrossing, the protagonist is easy to identify with and root for, the villain is great and understandable, and the characters are intelligent and rational.  Planet of the Apes really is fantastic.  It's far superior to the remake, it's on par, if not better than, the reboot trilogy, and it has definitely got it going on.

 10/10: Amazing