On a mission in space Charlton Heston and his crew get a fast forward courtesy of a 'time bend' and they wind up hundreds of years in the future. And on a planet where evolution has reversed a step. It's the apes that are the species created in the image of the Creator and humans are at best entertaining and at worse a lower form of animal that threatens the existence of Simian Civilization.
As Heston so aptly puts it he thinks he's arrived in a mad house. Two simian scientists, Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowell have true scientific curiosity and want to know more about this human with articulate speech. But they answer to Maurice Evans who acts more like the high priest of simian religion and will do anything to protect the orthodoxy of his faith.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? As is true in human religions on earth, those in charge have power over the true believers and will do anything to protect their privileged position. The apes haven't done anything different, it's what is driving Charlton Heston quite out of his mind.
My favorite in this film is Maurice Evans and seeing him in that orangutan costume and makeup and hearing that classically trained voice come from same is a treat that keeps on treating every time you see this film and the sequel films that he did appear in. Today's audience cannot appreciate the familiar voices of people like Evans, McDowell, Hunter, James Whitmore and James Daly who are in ape costume, but even so the makeup remains a marvel.
In fact it got Planet Of The Apes its only Oscar and well deserved. In the past you simply would put some actor in a gorilla costume in some B and lower grade feature, but it was never convincing. The actors here look like simians and must have rehearsed for weeks to get simian movements down as well as they do.
In the end Heston goes off to meet his destiny and the destiny that met mankind while he was asleep and time bended. Planet Of The Apes is as fresh as it was when it arrived on the big screen in 1968 and with a lot of the same lessons to be learned.
As Heston so aptly puts it he thinks he's arrived in a mad house. Two simian scientists, Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowell have true scientific curiosity and want to know more about this human with articulate speech. But they answer to Maurice Evans who acts more like the high priest of simian religion and will do anything to protect the orthodoxy of his faith.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? As is true in human religions on earth, those in charge have power over the true believers and will do anything to protect their privileged position. The apes haven't done anything different, it's what is driving Charlton Heston quite out of his mind.
My favorite in this film is Maurice Evans and seeing him in that orangutan costume and makeup and hearing that classically trained voice come from same is a treat that keeps on treating every time you see this film and the sequel films that he did appear in. Today's audience cannot appreciate the familiar voices of people like Evans, McDowell, Hunter, James Whitmore and James Daly who are in ape costume, but even so the makeup remains a marvel.
In fact it got Planet Of The Apes its only Oscar and well deserved. In the past you simply would put some actor in a gorilla costume in some B and lower grade feature, but it was never convincing. The actors here look like simians and must have rehearsed for weeks to get simian movements down as well as they do.
In the end Heston goes off to meet his destiny and the destiny that met mankind while he was asleep and time bended. Planet Of The Apes is as fresh as it was when it arrived on the big screen in 1968 and with a lot of the same lessons to be learned.