Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman, Ricardo Montalban
Director: Don Taylor
Synopsis: The Apes arrive on modern day Earth to a warm welcome initially...
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

 

The third entry in what was already becoming a rapidly deteriorating series of films based on Pierre Boulle's classic novel is partially redeemed by its fairly potent moral message—though not nearly enough to rescue it from being a largely unmemorable and distinctly mediocre affair.

This time around, what appears to be Taylor's spaceship returns to Earth where, upon landing, it is greeted by a bevy of excited U.S. Government stiffies. Much to their horror, however, it isn't Taylor and his companions who emerge from the craft but three familiar apes in spacesuits.

The apes, known to us from the previous film—Zira, Cornelius and Milo—are initially treated with typical human suspicion and contempt. Once they reveal that they can speak, however, they rapidly become the darlings of an adoring nation. Before long, cooler heads begin to realise that these apes originate from a future in which mankind has been overthrown and apes rule the planet. Since they have apparently travelled some two centuries back in time, the conclusion is obvious: eliminate them now and humanity's dominance of the Earth can be preserved indefinitely.

Thus, yesterday's honoured guests suddenly become today's most wanted fugitives.

The race is on to discover whether the apes can somehow escape humanity's own brand of barbarism before the noose inevitably tightens around them, for they have no means of returning to their own time.

The premise is actually rather interesting. Unfortunately, the film itself has all the excitement and visual flair of an average television serial. There is a curious flatness to the entire production and at no point does the film generate any real tension or suspense. While the performances are perfectly competent, the screenplay is positively emaciated and the drama woefully undernourished, with scarcely a single scene capable of quickening the pulse or encouraging the audience to chew a fingernail in anticipation.

The film is about as exciting as an episode of Marcus Welby, M.D., boasting much the same production values. Perfectly inoffensive but equally dull and uninvolving, this particular instalment of the Planet of the Apes saga hardly inspires confidence in the remaining sequels.

And any film featuring Ricardo Montalbán in the cast must surely be regarded with a certain amount of suspicion after all.