Simply Perfect

Must See Movie...

i must have seen a different film!!

A Major Disappointment

The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.Although Charlton Heston showed little interest in reprising his role as Taylor, studio head Richard Zanuck thought the actor was essential to the sequel. After some disagreement with the actor's agents, Heston agreed to briefly appear with the provision that Taylor be killed and that Heston's pay go to charity. The writers decided to have Taylor disappear at the story's start and only return by the film's ending, and have a new protagonist for the major part of the story.Strangely, the switching out of heroes does not seem to have much effect. Whether it is Heston or anyone else, the lone human idea remains just as good. Now, the new humans are a strange addition. Accepting ape-people is one thing, but then to add a second mysterious race takes this another step and begins to distort the allegory. But it also creates plenty of sci-fi opportunities.

A "done on the cheap" sequel - and it shows. Charlton Heston bregrudingly agreed to come back, the budget was slashed, so more and more of the apes wore masks and not the full makeup and they filmmakers cobbled together a script that makes very little sense.Out are the characters and characterizations that made the first film interesting. The filmmakers focused on outdoing the "gotcha" moment of the first film. Roddy McDowell was unavailable to make this film, and I'm sure he's happy for it. Both Kim Hunter and Maurice Evans looks like they are sleepwalking through this - even though their faces are covered up by make-up and James Gregory chews even more scenery than Heston as the lead war-mongering gorilla. Add into this the "mutant men" and you have a baffling film that, in the end just doesn't work.6 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis)

While the first movie in the series, the adaptation of Pierre Boulle's excellent novel, was a somewhat mixed bag and ultimately a disappointment compared to the original material, the second one, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is simply an all-round disaster with a mind-numbingly stupid plot, horrible acting, incompetent directing and editing, and the lousiest special effects ever put on the screen.Mutant humans with telepathic powers worshipping a nuclear bomb in a temple set up amidst the ruins of a subway station? Did the filmmakers deliberately pick the dumbest idea they could find? And what was the message? It is better to blow up the whole planet than to cede our power to apes or mutants?But in the end, it's not the witlessness of the plot that counts but the execution. Make it exciting and at least semi-believable, and all will be forgiven. Unfortunately, Beneath the Planet of the Apes fails in every single department. It is both extremely boring and ridiculously cheap-looking, even for its time. By far the worst instalment in the series, a horrendous movie in itself, and quite possibly THE worst sequel of all time. (Although looking strictly at the extent of drop in quality, there are many serious contenders from Futureworld and Exorcist II or Speed 2 to The Force Awakens.)

Made two years after the original Apes movie, 'Beneath' spends the first half retreading old territory, before going off on a wacky tangent that leads to a unexpectedly downbeat and explosive finalé.After repeating the twist ending of the first film (Damn you! God damn you all to hell!), the film introduces astronaut Brent (James Franciscus), who has crash-landed on a desolate planet in the year AD 3955, having followed the trajectory charted by fellow NASA explorer Taylor (Charlton Heston). By a remarkable coincidence, Brent encounters Taylor's mute squeeze Nova (Linda Harrison), who takes him to Ape Town where chimpanzees Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (David Watson, replacing Roddy McDowell) inform him that Taylor has ventured into the wasteland known as the The Forbidden Zone.Nova and Brent leave the town as soon as possible, hoping to find Taylor, but are quickly captured by gorilla troops, who intend to use them for target practice; however, while being escorted to the shooting range, the pair manage to escape (with a little help from Zira), eventually finding sanctuary in a cave where Brent discovers the shocking truth: he is on Earth, the human race having finally 'pushed the button'.So far, so familiar. But then things take an unexpected turn…Following the strange noise emanating from deep within the cave, Brent and Nova discover a race of telepathic mutants whose first line of defence is the use of mental illusions, but who also worship an ancient and still primed Russian 'Doomsday' device. Brent also meets Taylor, who is being held prisoner by the subterranean freaks. When the gorilla army enters the forbidden zone and attacks the mutants, Brent and Taylor escape, but are shot during the mêlée. In a final act of defiance, Taylor activates the bomb.As much as I enjoy all of the entries in the original Apes series, 'Beneath' is must be considered a disappointment when compared with its excellent predecessor: the first half offers nothing absolutely nothing new, while the second half is just a little too silly for its own good, the most ridiculous moment being when the mutants take off rubber masks to reveal their true selves. Where exactly did they get the latex to make these convincing disguises? And more to the point, why did they make them?Beneath's apocalyptic ending suggests that this is the end of the apes, but they would soon be back by popular demand in the very enjoyable Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971).6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.