Beneath The Planet Of The Apes

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Ted Post

Starring: James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison, for a short amount of time, Charlton Heston

From: 20th Century Fox

What a movie this is... as I explain below: 

Next week I'll finish watching the rest of the Apes sequels but it fit my schedule to check this out last night, which I did... and what a film it is. Hollywood being incredibly risk-averse and having awful crap like “focus groups” for a long time now means that it isn't common for movies from big studios to be really weird and out-there like this was. Heck, to show how different things were then, this film was a big release from 20th Century Fox, made because the studio was on its ass due to having a few big flops in a row. This wasn't a hit like the original but it still did well at the box office. I don't want to reveal too much, but later I'll mention a few of the loony things this movie has. What an era in Hollywood, where you can have the big studios release things like this, Myra Breckenridge, Zardoz, and other things completely off the wall.

The first half, talk about “retread”. Another spaceship from the 1970's ends up there, just so happening to figuratively slip on a banana peel; this time, it's only James Franciscus (Brent) that survives. He looks a lot like Charlton Heston; Heston returns as Taylor, but in a small role. Brent meets the main characters from the original, hangs out with Taylor's girl Nova, and it's not as good as the first one by any means.

As an aside, while it's told instead of shown, apparently Ape City is in a state of famine. Donald Trump Ape convinces them to explore The Forbidden Zone, due to mysterious happenings there. Now, I am not talking about Dr. Zaius, even though his hair is definitely Trumpian; rather, I am referencing General Ursus. He used bluster and rhetoric for the purposes of making an emotional appeal, has only circumstantial evidence at best that the area has the resources they need, he loves showing off his alleged military might... to me it's an apt comparison.

Anyhow, that's the first half. The second half, what a perplexing left turn they made. The title is “Beneath” as there is an underground city, and its denizens have rather odd powers. From there, there's hymns about an atomic bomb, upside down crucified apes (!), and a lot more. It often doesn't make a lot of sense if you think about it but I for certain wasn't bored, as I eagerly waited to see what other bizarre moment would happen next. Then there was the ending...

How it ended was definitely audacious and definitely something you'd never see in a big Hollywood release. Yet, I understand that most of the people who worked on the film did not like how it turned out and they really did not like the ending either, as “bleak” does not begin to describe it. Heston was the one who actually suggested it, but it was more for his personal interests rather than his belief that it was the most logical way to conclude the story.

I wish I could have liked this more than I did. I wasn't bored and the most memorable moments have to be seen to fully be appreciated-including a black character being credited as NEGRO-but it's not a great movie by any means.