Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Paul Dehn (written by)
Pierre Boulle (characters)

Release Date:

30 June 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

All new! The revolt of the apes. The most awesome spectacle in the annals of science fiction!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Ape | Future | Rebellion | Revolution | Slavery

Cast

Roddy McDowall	...	Caesar
Don Murray	...	Breck
Natalie Trundy	...	Lisa
Hari Rhodes	...	MacDonald
Severn Darden	...	Kolp
Lou Wagner	...	Busboy
John Randolph	...	Commission Chairman
Asa Maynor	...	Mrs. Riley
H.M. Wynant	...	Hoskyns (as H. M. Wynant)
David Chow	...	Aldo
Buck Kartalian	...	Frank - Gorilla
John Dennis	...	Policeman
Paul Comi	...	2nd Policeman
Gordon Jump	...	Auctioneer
Dick Spangler	...	Announcer

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Brazil:12 | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2003) | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Germany:12 (re-rating) | Australia:M | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Avenue of the Stars, Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The final scene in which Caesar is giving his "equality" speech was added after the film's completion. This is why the final shot is only of Caesar's eyes and is of a grainy quality; the shot was just a cropped piece of footage from earlier in the film. Roddy McDowall was brought in the read the final lines, which were then edited into place and the film re-released.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Throughout the film, the supposedly wireless telephones are simply standard telephones with the wires removed and the wire outlets taped over. This is most noticeable when Mr. McDonald is talking on a red phone and the tape color does not match.

Quotes:

MacDonald: Caesar... Caesar! This is not how it was meant to be.
Caesar: In your view or mine?
MacDonald: Violence prolongs hate, hate prolongs violence. By what right are you spilling blood?
Caesar: By the slave's right to punish his persecutor.
MacDonald: I, a decedent of slaves am asking you to show humanity.
Caesar: But, I was not born human.
MacDonald: I know. The child of the evolved apes.
Caesar: Whose children shall rule the earth.
MacDonald: For better or for worse?
Caesar: Do you think it could be worse?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Great New Wonderful (2005)

The nadir of the series

You watch this movie, with its depiction of humans (with a single exception) as either mindless order-following automata or mustache-twirling stock villains, and you have to ask yourself: Is this what the filmmakers think people are like? Well, no, of course not. This is what the filmmakers think *other* people are like.

And that, far more than decreasing budgets or continuity errors, explains the inferiority of the APES sequels to the original.

Great satire--indeed, great art--is always an examination of *us*, of what *we* are like. This is what the original film did so well and why it is still remembered so fondly. By this point in the series, however, the filmmakers were simply sneering at "them," defined as all those people who didn't attend film school or vote for McGovern. It's a nasty, bigoted little piece of hackwork which tries to pass itself off as clever satire.