Beneath the Planet of the Apes

1970 "The bizarre world of "Planet of the Apes" was only the beginning..."
6| 1h35m| G| en| More Info
Released: 26 May 1970 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission discovers a planet ruled by apes, and an underground city run by telepathic humans.

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Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
paulclaassen How could they mess up a sequel so badly? This was not nearly as entertaining as the first film. What are the chances of another craft crash landing on the same planet the same year? The religious and racist elements are annoying. The film gets utterly ridiculous as it progresses and finally becomes almost unwatchable. The telepathic humans said at one point it is primitive to speak, but later in the film talks to each other anyway. Why? The visual effects are quite laughable at times. Give this film a skip.
zkonedog I consider the first "Planet of the Apes" film to be one of the greatest science-fiction movies I have ever seen. Going off mere memory, I thought that "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" fell off quite a bit from that striking original. Upon a repeated viewing, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find a film that held me in rapt attention all the way through.For a basic plot summary, "Beneath" sees astronaut Brent (James Franciscus) land on future Earth after following the exact same trajectory as Taylor (Charlton Heston) had previously. Brent is quickly introduced to Nova (Linda Harrison), who has lost Taylor. Upon a meeting with Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (David Watson), Brent discovers that he must venture into the Forbidden Zone to find his fellow adventurer. He'll be battling the clock, however, as gorilla commander Ursus (James Gregory) has gained the support of Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) for a full-fledged attack on whatever that new territory may have to offer. What the apes AND Brent discover is a society shaped by long-ago nuclear warfare.First and foremost, to enjoy this movie you must be able to "buy in" to the concept of science fiction as metaphor. This approach is not so much used nowadays, so it can be seen as antiquated. Back in the 1960s and early 70s, though, sci-fi was often used as a conduit for political discussions that would not or could not be aired in any other forums. Thus, this movie holds some deep-seeded political themes building off those already exposed from the original. Such issues as nuclear warfare, religion, conquest, and imperialism run rampart throughout the main plots of the piece.Besides the heavy themes, though, this is also just a great adventure. The turning point for fans regarding "Beneath" usual centers around Heston's role. Spoiler Alert: Heston is not in much of this movie. While its detractors take that as a sign of weakness, I view it as a way to increase tension. Viewers formed such a bond with Heston as he tried to wrap his mind around an "ape society" in the original, that we just really want to see what happens to him. The new adventures of Brent (while just as interesting and visually interesting in their own right) provide us with that opportunity...it just is a slow burn until the end.Like I have said, if you "buy in" to the whole Apes concept, then this movie will suck you in just as much as the original. You just have to be able to see it both as an adventure and a political treatise. Those who were on the fence about the first one will probably see this as sliding even further down that slippery slope.
joshuadrake-91275 Now, I move on to the first of four sequels to the 1968 original.The story follows Brent, an astronaut who inadvertently follows Taylor into the future while searching for him. After encountering the apes from the first film. Brent finds Taylor imprisoned by a colony of subterranean human mutants who worship an ancient nuclear bomb.Now, BENEATH THE PLANET of the APES is pathetic. How the heck did this movie became the worst of the film series? Let's go through some history, shall we? Planning for the sequel, eventually titled Beneath the Planet of the Apes, began two months after the original film's release.Arthur P. Jacobs and Mort Abrahams initially considered several treatments by Rod Serling and Pierre Boulle, but ultimately turned them down. In fall 1968, the producers hired Paul Dehn to write the script. He would become the primary writer for the franchise.Charlton Heston was uninterested in a sequel, but agreed to shoot a few scenes if his character was killed off and he donated his salary to charity.Brent is played by James Franciscus and he is okay. The director of the first film was unavailable to work on this film. The returning actors are Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans and Linda Harrison and they all play their parts from the first film and they do a really great job. A new villain is Gorilla Ursus and Paul Richards played mutant leader Mendez. They all do great jobs and they play their parts amazingly. Since Roddy McDowall was unavailable to play Cornelius, his part was taken over by David Watson. Watson does a great job for the most part, but could have been worse.The story is just stupid, action is unbelievable and the ending is stupid. Charlton Heston plays his part amazingly and he does an amazing job with what he has until he is killed.Overall, I hate BENEATH THE PLANET of the APES and I just don't freaking buy this movie at all. So in my rating, I give it 1 out of 10.
WakenPayne I recently watched the original Planet Of The Apes and I actually enjoyed it. It offered a better look into what people were thinking at the time of "Science Vs Faith" That may still be argued to this very day. I watched the sequel because I managed to find a box set containing every single movie to do with the Planet Of The Apes up until Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and this is probably the first movie in the series I didn't like.So the movie opens with a rescue party for the astronauts in the first movie that also crash lands on the planet... Which I have to ask how NASA knew they were in any kind of danger considering their expedition would take 1000 years, but I digress, he then finds Nova from the first movie and one thing leads to another and that leads them to the Apes where he escapes and goes to find another group of humans that have evolved to a higher plain of evolution.My biggest problem with the movie is the ending. So Taylor and this other guy escape the "Higher humans" prison cell and when they make their way out the Apes attack and it ends with them blowing up the world, basically killing all life. They kill their own lead characters off for almost no reason whatsoever for what?... To make no sequels? I really want to know what the though process was behind literally killing this entire franchise and I know that there are more but how exactly can someone write their way out of "We blew up the world in the last movie". Even still, without this in mind I still think it's a horrible ending.And even with all this in mind there is still a lot to which I didn't like. The worshiping of an unexploded nuke like they're going to Sunday Mass made no sense to me. Wouldn't they know that going into an underground church where there's something that's still functional that obliterates almost everything in the area be more feared then worshiped, another thing that bugs me is that the bomb is worshiped in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY as Christianity. Isn't every religion meant to be celebrated differently? It just doesn't add up.Aside from that ranting and even more things to complain about this movie is not without it's benefits. The sets of the underground cave are really well done and the make-up is better then ever and the cinematography works for what it's trying to do.So it's not entirely awful it just has some really big problems that just detract from the enjoyment of the movie. I will finish watching all the Apes movies but this won't really be one I'll come back to in time.