Flipping channels on Sat. night I came upon the Planet of the Apes. Nik sat down next to me on the couch & said, "what's this, Dad."
"Oh, an old movie about apes ruling the planet & humans as animals, with Charlton Heston overacting (especially at the end)."
"Oh, an old movie about apes ruling the planet & humans as animals, with Charlton Heston overacting (especially at the end)."
Now, I haven't seen this film since my early teens on the ABC 4:30 Movie.
I think Nik dug the costumes & kooky action/chase scenes. One particularly great moment is of course when Mr. Heston captured in a net exclaims, "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" The 14 yr old part of me wanted to yell, "You tell 'em, man!" Funny, how that visceral reaction is there toward injustice & cruelty.
I think Nik dug the costumes & kooky action/chase scenes. One particularly great moment is of course when Mr. Heston captured in a net exclaims, "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" The 14 yr old part of me wanted to yell, "You tell 'em, man!" Funny, how that visceral reaction is there toward injustice & cruelty.
Seems I've forgotten some of the major socio-political (albeit, heavy-handed) points of the film: science clouded by religion, evolution theory as heresy, separation of church & state, man's destructive nature, respect for all living creatures, etc. I assume these topics must've made quite a stir in 1968. Do they stir the audience today? Seems the issues haven't gone away. I just don't see them in movies anymore.
George Taylor: Doctor, I'd like to kiss you goodbye.
Dr. Zira: All right, but you're so damned ugly.
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