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The original Planet of the Apes was a great science-fiction movie and did well in the box-office when it was released in movie theatres. So what did Fox do? Drive it into the ground with four more sequels, of course! The first sequel was Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Zack will probably add something to this review since he likes monkeys in movies so much. Charlton Heston goes riding on his horse with the chick in cave-woman clothes from the first movie. He tells her to stay still as he investigates an odd phenomenon involving lightning and earthquakes. Heston disappears, and it’s up to James Franciscus, who looks a lot like Heston, to find the chick, rescue Charlton Heston, and return back to Earth. They run into those damn dirty apes and a crazy cult of people who worship an atomic bomb while tearing off their faces to reveal their nuclear-scarred selves. Hold on, you might say. Isn’t this called Beneath the Planet of the Apes, not Beneath the Planet of the Nuclear Bomb Worshippers? Well, you’d be correct. Unfortunately in the last half of the film, the focus is switched from the light focus on the apes to these crazy humans. Why? I have no idea… The movie would have been more interesting if there was more ape adventures. But no, we’re stuck with a cult that hypnotizes people which leads to an odd ending. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I think I want to listen to R.E.M.’s It’s The End of the World As We Know it for a second. The ape faces are a lot worse in this movie as well. Several of the apes have cheap looking masks on. Rent this movie for a mediocre apes experience. I give Beneath the Planet of the Apes ** out of ****.
When Mat said that I would add, he was absolutely correct. I feel the need to correct a few things, that Mat said. First of all, there are no monkeys in this movie. There are Chimps, Orangutans, and Gorillas. None of which are monkeys. They are apes, but due to their lack of tails, they are not classified as monkeys. They called in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", because the hero goes underground, on the planet of the apes. It isn't that difficult to figure out. Although, it isn't quite as good as the original, this movie is still cool. At least it is when compared to Escape from the Planet of the Apes. The main point of this movie was shown with the mutant humans worshipping a giant nuke, which was supposed to be a parallel with the arm's race against the Soviets, during the Cold War. Since Mat already ruined the ending, as he's prone to do, I'll add that Charlten Heston came up with the idea so that there wouldn't be anymore sequels. I give it **1/2out of **** |