Planet of the Apes

*SPOILERS BELOW*

I frst saw this film on its first run on CBS. I was in junior high and a hard core sci-fi fan. I was hooked from the first scene. Written by the late great Rod Serling based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, the story is very engaging. After we are introduced to an ANSA Mission Commander named Colonel Taylor, we are treated to a roller-coaster type sequence as we see the re-entry and crash of Taylor's ship subjectively; as if we were aboard her. The abandon ship scenes are still impressive even by today's standards. It's very easy to believe we are seeing a real spacecraft cra...

I'm a seeker, too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be.

Planet of the Apes is directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and adapted to screenplay by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling from the 1963 Pierre Boulle novel La planete des singes. It stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison. Music is scored by Jerry Goldsmith and Leon Shamroy is the cinematographer.

3978 A.D. and a spaceship and its crew crash down on a distant planet....

A sci-fi film so groundbreaking (in too many ways to list here) let's suffice it to say that everything that came after it owes the film a debt as large as Kubrick's 2001, also made in '68. Anyone who enjoyed the recent reboot trilogy needs to seek this one out....

The writers turned a not very good novel into an allegory on race and religion.

It also takes an nuclear stance which makes an impact in its finale.

Charlton Heston is Taylor. An astronaut, part of a crew of four on a long term space mission.

They crash landed in what looks like a deserted planet. Soon they encounter some hunter/gatherer human beings who do not speak. Then he finds apes on horseback who speak English.

The apes treat the humans like animals. Taylor is injured by the apes and is unable to speak at first.

A female ape who is a zoologist is shocked when Taylor speak...

Having seen all three films from the rebooted series, I came into watching the original series expecting something relatively similar. To my pleasant surprise, it's a very different story.

It's a fascinating dynamic that is set up in this version, which I in fact prefer compared to the films from the 2010s - as entertaining as they are in their own right. It's nicely paced and features good cinematography.

The cast of 1968's <em>'Planet of the Apes'</em> are very good. Charlton Heston, as you might expect, sticks out the most, but Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter and Maurice Evans are good too...