X
- 1971
- G
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 38 m
- 1971
- G
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 38 m
Summary The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society; but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.
Directed By: Don Taylor
Written By: Paul Dehn, Pierre Boulle
- 1971
- G
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 38 m
- 1971
- G
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1 h 38 m
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
69
6.8
Where to Watch
Summary The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society; but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.
Directed By: Don Taylor
Written By: Paul Dehn, Pierre Boulle
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
69
56% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
44% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
69
56% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
44% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Escape From The Planet Of The Apes gets the series back on track, sending three apes back to the 20th century for a story that begins comically and ends in fear and loathing.
Escape from Planet of the Apes is, in fact, a superior film in many ways to the first, but is lacking that film’s freshness and originality. Still: an undeniable high watermark for the franchise.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 User Ratings
6.8
66% Positive
27 Ratings
27 Ratings
29% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
5% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 User Ratings
6.8
66% Positive
27 Ratings
27 Ratings
29% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
5% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
A very good sequel.
'Escape from the Planet of the Apes' is a clear improvement on (the good) 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes' and isn't that far adrift from the 1968 original. The plot is out there but they make it believable, while the ending is quite something - unexpectedly so!
Neat to see Roddy McDowall return to his role from 'Planet of the Apes', while co-star Kim Hunter continues once again. I like those two characters so enjoyed seeing them become 'the stars' of this third release of the franchise.
Onwards to 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'.
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Taylor's take on this advanced species may not be perpetually competent, but is a pedigree to mature entertainment itself.
Escape From The Planet Of The Apes
Taylor's take on this advanced species may not be perpetually competent, but is a pedigree to mature entertainment itself. The concept is a mature taken on human nature peeled skin by skin with a sci-fi twist of time travelling ingredient that spices things up. The first half of the tale is intriguing and gripping that moves fluently with adaptive and absorbing narration with both humor and fascinating characteristics displayed about characters in order to lure the audience in. And if first half is taken lightly, the second half is equally intense, with slow pace, mature conversation and revelations and nail biting close calls.
And it is one of those things where you are worried about these extremely likeable characters that something will go wrong. And the makers being aware of it, uses that crisp tense environment to keep us at the brisk of our emotions. And on that uncertainty of the trajectory that the makers are about to follow, it is a complete triumph. And as usually such new species does, the innocence is what draws out most of the emotions and with a compelling storytelling and moving characters, the objective is jaggedly on mark. McDowall as a mature overprotective and more grounded to the practicality is convincing but Hunter's more human and emotionally fueled character steals the show.
With a heartbreaking final act, the franchise manages to answer the big and essential questions raised in here, that shows the surrender of a species to fear, thirst and unawareness of the horror that it can capture and project. Taylor's vision has a certain tone that is soothing and poignant at the same time which he has managed to keep it balanced. Escape From The Planet Of The Apes is a forward pass to this franchise on a more similar direction but it is also pushing its boundaries.
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McDowell is as good as ever here – this time playing Cornelius – while Kim Hunter is hugely sympathetic as Zira.
Nobody is going to believe it, but I must say anyway that Don Taylor's Escape From the Planet of the Apes is one of the better new movies in town, and better in a genre—science-fiction—that at the crucial middle level where the history of movies is made, if not written, has recently been not so much bad as invisible.
The utterance of the three gentle chimpanzees in Escape from the Planet of the Apes tends to blow you out of the cinema seat, not so much because they can talk as because they all speak the same language.
Former actor Don Taylor directs smoothly and efficiently and elicits fine performances from the cast, highlighted by the warm relationship between Zira, (a touching Kim Hunter) and Cornelius, knowingly played by Roddy McDowall, who returns in the role after being replaced in the first sequel because he was directing a movie (TAM-LIN) at the time.
It's a long way down from even the second in the series.
C’est à partir de cet épisode (le troisième !) que la saga commence à se déliter… les singes voyagent dans l’espace… mais aussi dans le temps (!) pour revenir à notre époque (!) avec le vaisseau de la seconde expédition ?!…
Remarquez que dans le livre de Pierre Boulle, les singes avaient déjà leur propre vaisseau propulsé par les vents solaires, alors pourquoi pas ? sauf qu’au degré d’évolution qui est le leur dans les deux films précédents, cela reste fort peu crédible…Ce qui est bien traité dans le film par contre, c’est l’accueil réservé aux singes parlants et les réactions humaines, du monde entier à leur égard et le problème politique qu’ils posent assez rapidement.
A l’étonnement succède l’admiration puis la défiance et la… peur. Ce qui se produit par la suite est très humain et même cruel… et donc très réaliste.
Pas de guimauve inutile non plus, c’est appréciable.Quelques détails dans le scénario détonnent encore (manque de moyens très probablement) mais l’ensemble tient à peu près la route. Un troisième épisode digne d’intérêt, dans l’ensemble.
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Escape from the Planet of the Apes completely changes the idea of the franchise. Transferring the action to modern times at the time of filming looks not like a triquel, but as an attempt to extend the life cycle of the series. And although Escape from the Planet of the Apes is the best part of the franchise, I personally liked it the least. For everything for which I watched the first parts of Planet of the Apes is mostly absent here
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It's a huge step up from the previous sequel but still not on par with the original. I like the story a lot, I liked how hard the apes tried to convince the humans that they were responsible for how things turned out but as always, humans turned a blind eye to it and shifted blame elsewhere. The only thing I really disliked about the film was the ending, Which dragged on way too long and brought the pace to a grinding halt.
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Production Company
Twentieth Century Fox,
APJAC Productions
Release Date May 21, 1971
Duration 1 h 38 m
Rating G
Tagline ...in a democracy we do not shoot unarmed suspects on sight for a murder in which their participation is still legally unproven
Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Nomination
