Planet of the Apes


 If you are the kind of person who cannot stomach any movie that was made more than 20 years ago, this is probably not the film for you. The special effects look quite dated the way that the movie was filmed also is dated and some of the lines in the film clearly refer to the historical moment when it was released at the end of the '60s. But I think you would be missing out on a sci-Fi masterpiece. It's quite good because the dilemma in the film is about the nature of faith versus science - and we as an audience are generally rooting for a science on till the end when we realize that the science that they're talking about in the movie caused a global catastrophe. So it raises the question is it better to be ignorant or is it better to be knowledgeable. That's what's so compelling about the film - it seems to be this sort of Fish Out of Water the universe is turned upside down kind of story, but actually it's the story of what measures should be taken to prevent destruction. Unfortunately, human beings tend to invent something and then worry about the consequences later. So it's an interesting examination of what non-hum would do in such a situation. Plus, the ending of the movie is a classic, which probably would have been quite shocking for people who didn't know anything about the book the movie was based on. The two main chimpanzee characters Zira and Cornelius do a great job of acting under makeup, which must have been difficult and torturous to work with. There are great moments of comedy in this serious film. For example, Carlton Heston's character asks at the end of the movie to kiss Zira the chimpanzee, and she says "but..but you're so ugly." I think it's a great underrated sci-fi and I would recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi. Leverton Review 5/5

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