Ape Escape

Not many people know about my enduring fondness for the Planet of the Apes. (The movies, not the planet.)

I've seen all of the original films (starring the late, great Roddy McDowall), plus the television series with James Naughton (and Roddy McDowall!), and even the animated series (which had no Roddy McDowall).

I even dated someone who was obsessed with them--I remember the poem she wrote in honor of Cornelius.


To be fair, while I enjoyed the series, it always freaked me out.

A future in which apes keep humans as slaves and pets?

Yeah, frightening as hell.


Even the cartoon's crude animation effectively conveyed the terror of its human protagonists, desperately trying to stay alive in a world where their very existence as evolved humans is cause for their termination.

Most people insist that the first movie was the best, and that every sequel and spinoff was just one more unnecessary trip to the well. I believe that is mistaken. In fact, my favorite movie in the series goes a step further in examining the injustices we inflict upon those who are different, while literally taking the series where it's never been before: contemporary Earth.

After all, we had to Escape from the Planet of the Apes sometime.


First, let's have a bit of background for those of you unfamiliar with the Planet of the Apes franchise (and yes, here there be spoilers). Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle (and scripted by Rod Serling), the first Planet of the Apes film starred Charlton Heston as Col. George Taylor, an astronaut whose craft crashlands on a strange world where apes have become the dominant species. He escapes his captors with te help of sympathetic chimpanzee scientists Cornelius (McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter). Ultimately, Taylor discovers the truth of the planet: that it is Earth 2,000 years into the future.

Heston didn't really want to do the sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, but he signed on with the assurance that his screen time would be limited. In Beneath, Taylor disappears early on, and another astronaut, John Brent (Heston lookalike James Franciscus) lands on the planet in an attempt to find him. Brent meets Cornelius and Zira, who help him escape the Ape City, but he also discovers a race of telepathic mutants living underground, who hold Taylor captive and worship a nuclear bomb capable of destroying the world. In a bloody last battle between apes, humans and mutants, Taylor is fatally shot, and with his last breath, triggers the bomb, destroying the Planet of the Apes.

But that wasn't the end of the story.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes opens with a spacecraft being found in the Pacific. It's American, and what's more, it's Taylor's. The Marines are sent to greet the returning astronauts, long thought lost, but what they find are three apes in spacesuits.


As it turns out, Cornelius, Zira and their colleague, Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo) were able to salvage Taylor's craft and use it to escape the future Earth just before its destruction. Thrown through time (as the craft was prone towards), they ended up 2,000 years in the past, in Taylor's time.

The chimps are remanded to the Marines' custody, where they astound their military observers with their apparent sophistication, though they wisely choose to remain silent. From there, the apes are transported to the infirmary of the Los Angeles Zoo, where they are left in the care of zoologist Lewis Dixon (Bradford Dillman) and his partner, Stephanie "Stevie" Branton (Natalie Trundy in her second of four PotA appearances). The zoologists test Zira's motor skills and memory, using a banana as incentive. Zira, however, angrily refuses, blowing her cover when she shouts, "I loathe bananas!" It's a moment meant to mirror Charlton Heston in the first film screaming, "Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty apes!" But as much as I love Zira, I was disturbed with how incredibly irrational she is written in this movie, speaking out of turn, saying things she shouldn't, and acting disagreeable at the worst times. There's a perfect explanation further in the film, but for the apes, this only grows more worrisome.


The apes are invited to appear before a presidential commission inquiring into their arrival and very existence. The mood is apprehensive at best. One of the president's scientific advisors, Dr. Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden), is asked what he expects to find at the hearing, and his only response is, "Fear." In fact, while the press observing the hearing are wowed by the intelligent, charismatic apes, Dr. Hasslein is truly frightened, especially when Zira reveals that they're from Earth's future.

Despite his misgivings, the apes are treated as celebrities and doted on by an adoring public. Zira is hailed as a speaker, while Cornelius takes in a prize fight. His reaction to the bloodsport is priceless.

And really, that's how to describe McDowall and Hunter's performances, on which this entire endeavor hinges. It's no surprise that they knock it out of the park, but that they're able to craft Cornelius and Zira into such convincingly ape-like, yet human characters through their ape makeup is nothing short of stupendous.

Sadly, things don't end well for the apes. The beginning of the end is when Zira passes out while at a museum with Dr. Hasslein. She casually reveals the reason, instantly making sense of her behavior throughout the movie. Unfortunately, it's a revelation that dooms not only the "apenauts," but the future of the Planet of the Apes itself.

I would tell you more, but if you haven't seen this brilliant inversion of the familiar Planet of the Apes formula, you really should. The scenes where Zira is forced to confront her own mistreatment of humans (including dissection) are striking, and the disgust that even her human friends feel is palpable. The commission hearing is a hoot to see taboos broken left and right, from torture to religion (ape marriage is not especially looked upon well in our world).

As much as I extol the virtues of McDowall and Hunter's acting, Eric Braeden makes a wonderful villain as Hasslein. The scientist is understandably afraid, and driven to great lengths by that fear to protect humanity at all costs. In one scene, he shares his conflict with the President, pondering if he is meant to rewrite the future, and how far he is prepared to go to do so. Braeden is not a mustache-twirler, and he imbues Hasslein with self-awareness and sympathy even as the doctor's actions become blacker, and harder to forgive.

And for no reason except to be absolutely awesome, Ricardo Montalban shows up in the third act as a kindly circus owner. Montalban, to me, is like Christopher Lee: his presences enhances any genre work.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes extended the franchise's lifespan, and two more sequels were later made, delving further into the origins of the simian sanctuary. Neither could totally match Escape's high quality and utter tragedy, but the violent Conquest of the Planet of the Apes came closest. Still, the series as a whole was a fine, and at times brilliant look at a world of our making, one turned upside down by wars, injustice and racism. Escape from the Planet of the Apes is one of its most pointed bits of commentary, and a great addition to the vault.