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Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes [1972]
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Editorial
Synopsis
An intelligent ape from the far future leads an army of monkey servants in a revolt against their human masters. The fourth film in the series.
The beginning of the hairy revolution
Review date: 2007-12-18 Rating: 8 out of 10
This is the fourth in a series of five films, and this is where it all begins...
In the third film (Escape from the Planet of the Apes) Cornelius travels back in time with his pregnant chimp-wife Zira. After giving birth they are ordered to be executed ...but their son survived.
This film sees the Circus owner Armando attempt to hide the intelligent talking ape (played by Roddy McDowell once again, and the likeness to his father Cornelius is made in the film) but is arrested. This is a time of slavery, with humans owning apes to carry out domestic chores and manual labour. Governor Breck is nervous after the revelation 20 years previous that the future of humanity is one of slavery under the rule of the apes and so the possibility that an ape in the city could be the son of Cornelius is one which must be investigated ...and the ape killed.
The slavery of apes and the fear of being enslaved by them in the future drives Breck to take an interest in an unusually intelligent ape he suspects might be the `talking ape' - after being allowed to follow a quaint Breck family tradition of selecting a name from a book, the ape `randomly' selects Caesar. He is dismissed as another stupid ape and ownership transfers to Aide MacDonald - a black senior. Parallels are drawn to the human trade of black slaves and there is level of empathy from MacDonald.
This film sets in motion the ape led revolution which is developed further in the fifth film, and sets up the first (confused?!). The politics behind the film is what makes it. Slavery and inhumanity are strong themes throughout the Planet of the Apes quintology. The great thing about this film though is that it doesn't polarise people into `good' or `bad' camps. The plight of the humans is expressed when the unemployed engage in protests at the loss of jobs to apes, Caesar the hero of the film seems torn between revenge and idealistic revolution, even the ape-despising Breck who sanctions torture is shown to be vulnerable owing to his fear of losing dominance to the apes. Which party is right? Is it less wrong for one group to enslave the other?
The stirring speech given by Caesar at the end of the film is one of the best moments in the "Planet..." series of films. The film certainly gets you to think, and the points raised have never subdued in their relevance since the films release in '72. I can see that to a non-fan this would maybe only merit three stars, but as a fan I have given this four stars.
Similar Products
- Escape From The Planet Of The Apes [1971]
- Battle For The Planet Of The Apes [1973]
- Beneath The Planet Of The Apes [1970]
- The Planet of the Apes Collection (6 Disk Box Set) [1968]
- Planet Of The Apes - The Television Series [1974]
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Roddy McDowall
Natalie Trundy
Hari Rhodes
Don Murray
Creators:
Roddy McDowall (Primary Contributor)
Don Murray (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036022859
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-08-22
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 83 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1972
Language: English (Original Language)