Escape from the Planet of the Apes is the franchise's most tonally inventive entry and its most emotionally affecting, a film that pivots from the apocalyptic nihilism of its predecessor to a fish-out-of-water comedy set in contemporary America before delivering a conclusion of tragic force. Don Taylor's 1971 film is the series' most structurally surprising entry, and its willingness to use the franchise's time-travel logic to generate both comedy and tragedy gives it a tonal range that no other entry in the original series achieves.
At a Glance
Director: Don Taylor
Runtime: 98 minutes
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman, Natalie Trundy, Eric Braeden
Release: 1971
Critics Rating: ★★★½ (3.5/5 stars, the franchise's most tonally inventive entry)
Audience Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 stars, the original series' most emotionally resonant entry after the 1968 original)
Review Breakdown
Plot
Cornelius, Zira, and a third chimpanzee escape the destruction of Earth in Taylor's salvaged spacecraft and travel back in time to 1973 America, where they are initially celebrated as curiosities before the government, alarmed by Zira's pregnancy and the implications of the apes' knowledge of the future, turns against them. The screenplay by Paul Dehn handles the tonal transition from the previous films' dystopian register to contemporary America's fish-out-of-water comedy with considerable skill, using Cornelius and Zira's intelligence and warmth to generate both humour and sympathy before the final act transforms their situation into something tragic. The government's decision to hunt and kill the apes and their newborn child is the franchise's most emotionally devastating development, and the picture earns it through the careful establishment of Cornelius and Zira as the series' most fully realised characters.
Characters
McDowall's Cornelius and Hunter's Zira are given more screen time and more complexity here than in either previous entry, and both performers respond with their strongest work in the franchise. Zira in particular is developed as a character of intellectual authority and emotional depth, and Hunter's performance gives her a warmth and a wit that make her fate devastating. The human characters are less fully realised, though Bradford Dillman and Natalie Trundy bring enough warmth to their roles as the apes' human allies to give the final act its emotional weight. Eric Braeden's Dr Otto Hasslein is the franchise's most morally complex human antagonist, a man whose actions are driven by a ruthless concern for humanity's future rather than simple malice. The decision to centre the picture on McDowall and Hunter rather than introducing a new human protagonist is the most important creative choice and its most successful, giving the film an emotional foundation that a new protagonist could not have provided.
Tone
Taylor manages the tonal range with considerable skill, maintaining the comedy of the early sequences without allowing it to undermine the tragedy of the conclusion. The sequences in which Cornelius and Zira navigate contemporary American society, shopping, attending parties, and being interviewed on television, have a wit and a warmth that give the picture a lightness entirely absent from its predecessors. The shift to the darker final register is handled with enough preparation to feel earned rather than arbitrary, and the ending, in which Zira's baby is killed and she and Cornelius are shot, is the franchise's most moving moment.
Meaning / Themes
The central concern is the paradox of foreknowledge and the impossibility of escaping historical determinism, themes that the franchise's time-travel logic allows it to explore with a directness that more conventional science fiction would struggle to achieve. Hasslein's argument that the future must be prevented by eliminating its causes in the present is presented with enough logical coherence to make his actions comprehensible even as they are morally repugnant, and the refusal to offer a simple resolution to the paradox he identifies gives the picture a philosophical seriousness that its comic register might not suggest.
Direction
Taylor's direction is the most tonally flexible in the franchise, moving between the comedy of the contemporary sequences and the tragedy of the conclusion without jarring breaks. His handling of the action sequences is competent rather than distinctive, but his management of the performances, particularly Hunter's in the final act, demonstrates a sensitivity to the material's emotional demands that gives the picture its most effective passages. Jerry Goldsmith returns to score the film with a more melodic and emotionally direct approach than his work on the original, suited to the greater emphasis on character over concept.
Cultural Reception
Escape from the Planet of the Apes received positive reviews on its release and was a solid commercial success, grossing over $12 million worldwide. Critics praised the tonal inventiveness and the central performances, and it is now regarded as the original series' most underrated entry, a picture whose emotional range and tragic conclusion give it a distinction that its modest production values and its position in the middle of the franchise's run have sometimes obscured. Hunter's performance in the final act is consistently cited as the original series' most affecting piece of acting.
Who Should Watch
Anyone who responded to Cornelius and Zira in the original film and wants to see them given the prominence their characters deserve, and anyone interested in how genre filmmaking can use tonal contrast to generate emotional impact. Escape from the Planet of the Apes is the franchise's most underrated entry and its most emotionally generous.
Final Verdict: The franchise's most tonally inventive and most emotionally affecting entry after the original, a picture that uses the comedy of its contemporary setting to make its tragic conclusion devastating. McDowall and Hunter deliver the franchise's strongest performances, the screenplay's tonal management is the series' most accomplished, and the ending's emotional force is the original series' most powerful moment.
0 comments