In 1970s Los Angeles, an American spacecraft is found floating off the coast of Los Angeles which upon rescue is revealed to have three chimpanzees wearing spacesuits. The group consisting of Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo) as well as husband and wife Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter) and Dr. Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) are discretely relocated to the Los Angeles Zoo for examination with the group hiding the fact they can talk due to escaping a future where the world was ended by war. Upon revealing their true nature and origin of 2,000 years in the future to the sympathetic animal psychologists Dr. Lewis Dixon (Bradford Dillman) and Dr. Stephanie Branton (Natalie Trundy) prior to Milo's death at the hands of a gorilla, their nature is further questioned by the government who are taken aback by both the apes' nature as well as their stories of the future (with certain details omitted). As Zira and Cornelius deal with their celebrity status and adjusting to this unfamiliar world, Presidential Science Adviser Dr. Otto Hasslein (Eric Braedon) is determined to deal with the apparent threat the two pose to human superiority determined to alter the ape dominated future by any means necessary.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes is the third film in the original Planet of the Apes series started by 20th Century Fox and based on the novel Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. Despite the definitive ending of the second film Beneath the Planet of the Apes involving the destruction of the entire world in a nuclear holocaust, Arthur P. Jacobs spurred by the healthy box office famously sent screenwriter Paul Dehn a telegram reading "Apes exist, Sequel required". In order to create a new sequel (as well as serving as a cost saving measure), it was decided to retcon Zira, Cornelius, and a third previously unseen ape as having restored one of the crashed space ships and escaped Earth's destruction by coming to Earth's past (then present) and put in more satire and humor of the novel and first entry that had largely been absent from the second entry. Made for a modest $2 million and making $12 million, Escape from the Planet of the Apes proved a decent success and even garnered critical recognition with many considering it the best of the Planet of the Apes sequels. While still missing the touch Michael Wilson and Rod Serling brought to the first film, Escape from the Planet of the Apes makes for a solid follow-up that builds upon the themes and ideas of the series.
While the film's excuse for why this sequel exists is heavily reliant on a flimsy pretext of time travel (rather than the more plausible time dilation of its predecessors) and pretty significant retcons, the movie nonetheless uses it to solid effect by having more defined protagonists in Zira and Cornelius who are a major upgrade from James Franciscus' underwritten Brent. At its core Escape from the Planet of the Apes is something of a fish-out-of-water story with the trappings of a first contact science-fiction story in the vein of something like The Day the Earth Stood Still. Unlike Klaatu who was massively advanced and came as a messenger, Zira and Cornelius while intelligent and skilled are more everymen (or everyapes) who are more akin to displaced refugees. Both Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall do well playing expanded versions of these characters who are allowed more freedom to develop their characters by being the primary focus rather than supporting players as they were in the prior films.
The scenes of Zira and Cornelius reacting to human society and engaging in discussions with various denizens are well staged be they with the benevolent curiosity of the sympathetic Dr. Dixon and Dr. Branton, or the fearful suspicion of Eric Braeden's Dr. Otto Hasslein. Much like Dr. Zaius' portrayal, Hasslein is a nuanced antagonist (to a degree). While Hasslein's intentions are the preservation of humanity, he's also willing to do some inhuman things to achieve this end including terminating Zira's pregnancy and sterilizing her against her will. As a driving point for the plot I found it much more compelling in comparison to the mutants or General Ursus from the prior film, but the writing would sometimes get heavy handed such as direct references to King Herrod's Massacre of the Innocents which takes what could've been subtext and makes it overly blunt.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes is a marked improvement on its predecessor and has a lot more on its mind even if it doesn't quite strike the balance the 1968 original achieved. Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter give solid performances in service of likable characters and while certain story beats are lacking in nuance or subtlety and you need to offer a lot of leeway in order to allow for this sequel it offers much more than anyone had any right to expect of it.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes is the third film in the original Planet of the Apes series started by 20th Century Fox and based on the novel Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. Despite the definitive ending of the second film Beneath the Planet of the Apes involving the destruction of the entire world in a nuclear holocaust, Arthur P. Jacobs spurred by the healthy box office famously sent screenwriter Paul Dehn a telegram reading "Apes exist, Sequel required". In order to create a new sequel (as well as serving as a cost saving measure), it was decided to retcon Zira, Cornelius, and a third previously unseen ape as having restored one of the crashed space ships and escaped Earth's destruction by coming to Earth's past (then present) and put in more satire and humor of the novel and first entry that had largely been absent from the second entry. Made for a modest $2 million and making $12 million, Escape from the Planet of the Apes proved a decent success and even garnered critical recognition with many considering it the best of the Planet of the Apes sequels. While still missing the touch Michael Wilson and Rod Serling brought to the first film, Escape from the Planet of the Apes makes for a solid follow-up that builds upon the themes and ideas of the series.
While the film's excuse for why this sequel exists is heavily reliant on a flimsy pretext of time travel (rather than the more plausible time dilation of its predecessors) and pretty significant retcons, the movie nonetheless uses it to solid effect by having more defined protagonists in Zira and Cornelius who are a major upgrade from James Franciscus' underwritten Brent. At its core Escape from the Planet of the Apes is something of a fish-out-of-water story with the trappings of a first contact science-fiction story in the vein of something like The Day the Earth Stood Still. Unlike Klaatu who was massively advanced and came as a messenger, Zira and Cornelius while intelligent and skilled are more everymen (or everyapes) who are more akin to displaced refugees. Both Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall do well playing expanded versions of these characters who are allowed more freedom to develop their characters by being the primary focus rather than supporting players as they were in the prior films.
The scenes of Zira and Cornelius reacting to human society and engaging in discussions with various denizens are well staged be they with the benevolent curiosity of the sympathetic Dr. Dixon and Dr. Branton, or the fearful suspicion of Eric Braeden's Dr. Otto Hasslein. Much like Dr. Zaius' portrayal, Hasslein is a nuanced antagonist (to a degree). While Hasslein's intentions are the preservation of humanity, he's also willing to do some inhuman things to achieve this end including terminating Zira's pregnancy and sterilizing her against her will. As a driving point for the plot I found it much more compelling in comparison to the mutants or General Ursus from the prior film, but the writing would sometimes get heavy handed such as direct references to King Herrod's Massacre of the Innocents which takes what could've been subtext and makes it overly blunt.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes is a marked improvement on its predecessor and has a lot more on its mind even if it doesn't quite strike the balance the 1968 original achieved. Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter give solid performances in service of likable characters and while certain story beats are lacking in nuance or subtlety and you need to offer a lot of leeway in order to allow for this sequel it offers much more than anyone had any right to expect of it.