Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

This film's low budget really does it in. The make-up that had worked so well in the first film looks cheap and phony here. The script is half-baked and if you think about it, kind of tasteless. They should have been more subtle with that equating blacks with apes thing. The film is well-directed and its fast pace helps, but it really needed to be better mounted and given a longer running time to develop its story. As it is it's just not very convincing and even more than a little silly. And when I look at a good actor like Roddy McDowall all hunched-over in that make-up, I have to wonder, "Did he really need the gig that much?"

Fmovies: In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, Caesar, the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira, surfaces after almost twenty years of hiding out from the authorities, and prepares for a slave revolt against humanity.

Screenwriter Paul Dehn wrote the film incorporating references to the racial conflicts in North America during the early 1970s. This is evident, as the theme is about apes becoming servants and slaves. Now, it is not really explained how the chimpanzees go from being normal chimps to the more humanoid apes we see in this film. But I guess we are supposed to just pretend these are all real chimps.

The message is a bit strong, but maybe made more sense at the time. Today it seems like they tried too hard and it almost seems silly.

My dad doesn't recall her going, but I remember she did. Our family didn't always attend Disney flicks. The opening credits sequence had to have scared her, even I was little unnerved. Back in 1972, this was the "must see" film of the summer. I have always been impressed with the opening credits. The way J. Lee Thompson choreographed the emergence of the apes from around a corner of the Century City Plaza, never ceases to amaze me. Tom Scott's underrated jazz/avant-garde score is perfect for this sequence. A dissonant chord is heard on the soundtrack: North America, 1991. First we see one gorilla, then another, and then another, until finally we see an enormous band of them. I think this is one of the best openings in screen history. Later on, Scott's music wonderfully captures the sheer violence of the ape rebellion. I can never forget the musical cue for the guard with the flame thrower. I like Caesar's speech at the end--even if the tone was changed. And that crazy matte painting of the skyscraper engulfed in fire even startled my girl friend. A job well done.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes fmovies. These movies are a mixed bag to say the least and it doesn't pay to scrutinise several incongruities...but they are enjoyable none the less.

Conquest for the Planet of the Apes, the fourth in the series, covers the 'pre-history' of the first movie, where the apes first start to gain some ascendancy in the world of humans. And like the first movie (and to a lesser degree the second) it actually strives to make a social statement AND does a decent job. Parallels are drawn between the apes struggle against slavery to humans and the struggle for civil rights of black people in America with the ape riot scene intended to imitate a famous riot in the sixties. The point is well made considering the censorship restrictions on violence and the touchy nature of the underlying subject matter - a topic well discussed today but not overtly talked about in 1972. The result is daring, well-made (the riot is stunning) and well-meaning, but sometimes a little clumsy.

Some fairly elementary things are overlooked, as well, such as the fact that in the first movie the apes were evolved by 2000 years thus excusing their very human bearing, but here, in the 'future' of 1991, they are just supposed to be apes with clothes on...doesn't quite work.

All in all, though, an entertaining film and a good showcase for Roddy McDowall's real acting abilities. 7 out of 10.

On a scale of one to ten, this is one of the few perfect tens I've ever given.

Roddy McDowell returns to the Planet of the Apes franchise as Caesar, known in the previous film, albeit briefly, as Milo, newborn son of Zira and Cornelius.

This is the apocalyptic tale of the slavery that eventually leads to man's final end.

The cruelty in this film is so harsh, so harshly real. This film was returned again and again from the censors. They refused to release it without cuts. The cuts were made and yet still this film feels to me to be one of the most harshly realistic films I've ever seen. I pride myself on my inability to be shocked. Yet this film struck right through all the layers of protection my life has wrapped me in.

The riot scenes were so stunningly authentic. One needs not change much to find oneself staring at our own violent past. Let us hope that it will not be, as some have feared, our future as well.

It inspired me.

In a very Shakespearean way.

The reconditioning camps... the men dressed like soldiers of the Reich... the cruelty... the electrocutions... the conspiracies of men in power...

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was made with a very limited budget. Caesar's prosthetics works were the only high grade appliances in the film. But it works very much with what it had. And it has a finely crafted story. Several steps removed from the rampant idealism of Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest deals with the rage that was bound to result from those events. This is a most important metaphor. A most important film.

If all films were made with such unrestrained passion, with such verve, we would all be better off.

Also it was interesting to me to watch this film because I as able to see inspiration and how it works between peers. Recently I had the oppurtunity to read George Romero's first draft to Day of the Dead -DRASTICLY different from the project that culminated. There were many scenes of the undead legions separated into units, red overalls and green overalls, learning different skills. Being taught. Very similar in every respect to the ape conditioning sequences in this film.

In the end, Romero's film works better WITHOUT those sequences, but still it is quite interesting to be able to see from whence some ideas spring.

Digression aside, this is a very potent film. One that teaches us, if allowed, much about our humanity.

Excellent reprisal performance by Ricardo Montalban. Performance by Roddy McDowell of such a high calibre that it makes up for his relative absence in the previous feature.

Wonderfully adept script by Paul Dehn. Visionary direction by J. Lee Thompson, known for his excellence in his field. Thompson has also been responsible for such highly regarded films as the original Cape Fear and The Guns of the Navarone.

I wish there were more films like this, more films that just go balls to the wall and are so unabashedly free. This movie is not afraid to be what it is. It makes no apologies for the violence it's heroes are forced to resort to. Nor should it. Sometimes bad things happen. And sometimes good men must take to arms to stop the bad men from taking over.

I fear, knowing the result. Knowing the new regime is no better than it's predecessor. The true fear of any freedom fighter.

This will be a film that I watch over and over and over again.

This is by far the best ape film of the series.

The powerful performance by Roddy McDowall is riveting, I have never been so touched by a performance.

This picture has a similar feeling to Romero's Dawn of the Dead.

Roddy is by far a superior performer than Heston.

It is A grade low budget cinema at it's best.

The timing of the picture is also on par. I really thought I was watching an apocalyptic thriller set in the 90's (the vision of the future). This movie is way ahead of it's time.

Much respect to the writers and directors for making such a masterpiece.