Escape from the Planet of the Apes pivots from the apocalyptic register 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 genuine grief gives it a tonal range no other entry in the original series attempts.
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 series' most structurally surprising and emotionally generous entry)
Audience Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 stars, the original series' most emotionally resonant entry after the 1968 original)
Plot
Cornelius, Zira, and Dr Milo 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 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 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 depth, and Hunter's performance gives her a warmth and a wit that make her fate genuinely heartbreaking. 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 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 consequential creative choice the film makes, and the one that most clearly accounts for its success, giving the narrative a foundation that a new protagonist could not have provided.
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 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 devastating closing sequence.
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 serviceable rather than inventive, but his management of the performances, particularly Hunter's in the final act, demonstrates a sensitivity to the material's demands that gives the picture its most powerful passages. Tom Scott's score takes a more melodic and direct approach than Goldsmith's work on the original, suited to the greater emphasis on character over concept.
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 inventiveness of its structure and the central performances, and it is now regarded as the original series' most underrated entry, a picture whose 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.
Final Verdict: The series' boldest structural gamble, a picture that uses the comedy of its contemporary setting to make its tragic conclusion land with full force. McDowall and Hunter deliver career-best work in the franchise, the screenplay's tonal management is the series' most accomplished, and the ending carries a weight that the original series never surpasses.