Must-Watch Sci Fi Movies: Ongoing series of posts looking at sci fi and fantasy films that best represent the genre and that must get on your watch list.
What Is It?
A deep space mission from Earth traveling at near light speed crashes on a distant planet, and three of the four crew members manage to escape before the ship sinks into the sea. The survivors, led by George Taylor, begin to explore what looks like a barren, desolate planet, but they eventually discover plentiful forests and a lower order of humans who do not have the ability to speak. Then the astronauts find that these are not the dominant species on the planet, as they come face to face with intelligent, talking apes. Taylor is captured and at first studied by the chimpanzee Zira, but the orangutan Dr. Zaius considers this talking human to be an abomination and wants to have him destroyed. Taylor, on the other hand, has plans to show them who the dominant species should be, but first he must face the truth of an unexpected secret this planet of apes holds.
Cast: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, Linda Harrison
Crew: Franklin J. Schaffner (Director), Michael Wilson (Screenplay), Rod Serling (Screenplay)
Original Release: April 3, 1968
Why Is It a Must-Watch Movie?
This film provided another step in the maturation of science fiction cinema from its B-Movie image, as it offered an engaging tale of evolution gone awry made with high production values and some biting social commentary.
A Closer Look:
1968’s Planet of the Apes is an important milestone for science fiction movies for several reasons. For one, the producers (much like Kubrick did with 2001: A Space Odyssey) approached the movie with the intent of making a serious film with broad appeal, unlike the exploitative B-movie cheapies typical of the genre at that time. It also had high production values (for its day) and succeeded in creating believable human-like apes that never looked like actors in gorilla suits. Because of this, the movie proved a huge success at the box office, giving sci fi one of its highest-grossing films up to that point. In addition, it laid the groundwork for the blockbuster franchise, as it would go on to have four sequels, two spin-off TV series, and two reboots in the 21st century.
Jaded moviegoers of today—over-gorged on the CGI-bloated outpouring from the big studios—may find Planet of the Apes a bit quaint, but the fact is that the film was very much the science fiction blockbuster of its time. It may not have relied heavily on SFX scenes, but its production values were first-rate for the ’60s, and it manages to seamlessly bring to life a world run by apes. That’s partly attributed to the magnificent sets of “ape city” (really more of a village), but mostly to the excellent makeup work on the apes. True, the CGI of the recently rebooted Planet of the Apes films delivers simians that look more ape-like, but personally, I much prefer the ones from the original movie series. They represented more of a cross between humans and apes and a logical next evolutionary step. And the makeup was perfectly executed and has since become iconic among movie creatures. Give me the real thing over CGI any day.
The movie itself has worked its way into our popular culture, and that’s because it managed to hit a nerve at the time it came out, and its message still resonates today. The movie didn’t just give us a simplistic “apes vs. humans” scenario; it used its premise to explore some driving social issues from that time (that still remain relevant). Not only do we get the fall of humans as another species leapfrogs us on the evolutionary scale, but the script also uses the conflicts within ape society to address issues that we ourselves struggle with. It looks at the conflicts between religion and science and the attempts of society’s leaders to manipulate the truth to maintain the status quo. Planet of the Apes does what the best examples of science fiction do by using its fantastic elements to offer a mirror to our own world and social struggles. Not surprisingly (especially considering that gut-wrenching twist ending), the original script was penned by Rod Serling. The final version made many changes to what he originally wrote, mostly to keep costs down. But most importantly, the ending from Serling’s script—which harkened back to The Twilight Zone–style twist endings—survived into the final version that was filmed.
Planet of the Apes also benefited from outstanding performances from its talented cast of actors. Performing through that makeup would be difficult for any actor, but the main ape characters all came alive with first-rate acting from the likes of Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans. It’s almost as if the makeup liberated them and energized their performances. And then there’s Charlton Heston in the lead, delivering his usual bravado. His Taylor displays a palpable arrogance and an almost dismissive attitude toward the apes, whom he considers an example of evolution gone wrong. But this makes the ending of the film all the more poignant, as he is faced with a grim reality that delivers an Earth-shattering wake-up call (literally).
I should note, though, that this movie has one glaring flaw that some may not be able to overlook and that could impact how highly they rank it compared to other sci fi films. How is it that Taylor never questions the fact that these apes speak English, even though—from his perspective—they are living on a planet allegedly light-years from Earth? The fact that they could speak at all was definitely shock enough, but shouldn’t he have made some connection when they were speaking the same language as him with practically no variation in dialect? Perhaps we can extend some artistic license here and just appreciate that Hollywood produced an otherwise well-made science fiction film at that time. But it would have been nice if they had addressed that better (in the novel, the human character learns the language of the apes), and I’m guessing there are some fans out there who dock this movie one or two stars on that fact alone.
Despite this flaw, Planet of the Apes is an important science fiction movie and one of the absolute best examples of the genre on film. Its production values were top-notch at the time it came out and still stand up pretty well today. And its story is timeless and will continue to resonate with coming generations for its multiple messages and its shocking ending.
The Story Continues:
And continues and continues and continues…
Planet of the Apes proved to be a big success at the Box Office, and a sequel was requested pretty quickly. The second film then delivered a rather grim and final ending, suggesting that there would be no continuation. But the studio kept demanding sequels, and five total were made in the original series. There was also a live-action television series that ran for one season and an animated series that aired for one season on Saturday mornings. In addition, Marvel put out two comic book series, including Adventures on the Planet of the Apes, which adapted the first two movies across its eleven-issue run, and the Planet of the Apes black-and-white magazine, which featured new stories and ran for 29 issues.
In 2001, the franchise went through a reboot on the big screen with Tim Burton at the helm. That film proved to be a flop—and is often lumped in with the worst sci fi movies of all time—and stalled the revival. Ten years later, another attempt to restart the franchise hit screens with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and that proved to be a hit. Two sequels followed, completing a trilogy of films. Then, in 2024, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes arrived, kicking off another planned trilogy, with the next entry targeting a 2027 release. In addition, there have been multiple comic book revivals over the past couple of decades, with Marvel currently holding the rights to the property.
Interestingly, despite the popularity of the franchise, Pierre Boulle never wrote a continuation to his original book that got things started, nor was he involved with any of the films. (You can read more about the book over at Cult-SciFi.com.)
Interesting Facts:
John Chambers’ prosthetic ape makeup was considered revolutionary because it allowed actors to speak clearly and show facial expressions, which was unheard of at the time. While the Academy didn’t yet have a competitive makeup category, Chambers received an honorary Oscar specifically for this film, helping pave the way for the Makeup & Hairstyling award years later. The makeup was not particularly comfortable for the actors, though, as they had to wear it for hours at a time, and eating and drinking was extremely difficult.
The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling co-wrote early drafts, emphasizing the film’s Cold War themes, nuclear anxiety, and social satire. He also set the film in a world with technology similar to contemporary times, much like Pierre Boulle’s book. Michael Wilson later rewrote much of the script (moving to a lower-tech setting for budgetary purposes), though many of Serling’s ideas remained in the final story, along with the twist ending. Serling would later go on to write the original pilot for the Planet of the Apes TV series, though his script was not used.
Where Can You Watch It?
The original 1968 film is available on DVD, though the Blu-ray has gone out of print, and it has not received a 4K UHD release yet. It is not currently available for streaming on any of the major services, though you purchase it VOD.
