Second Viewing: Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

This is the Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home of the Apes series. It’s weird, it involves time travel, it’s very funny, and it’s arguably the best sequel of the original series.

With the Earth being destroyed at the end of the second movie, Cornelius and Zira arrive on Earth in 1973, along with their friend Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo in his last movie role). At first they’re kept at a zoo, until it’s revealed they can talk.

It’s sort of like a reversal of the original movie, with Cornelius and Zira playing the role of Charlton Heston in a world that’s largely hostile to them, though they make friends with an animal psychologist (Bradford Dillman) and his girlfriend (Natalie Trundy).

Come to think of it, it’s very, very similar to the original. The social commentary may be a bit on the nose here, but I really appreciate this movie’s balancing of tones.

For a long stretch in the middle this movie’s basically a comedy, but then it gets very dramatic with a fantastic last act.

It’s a very fun movie and probably the only way they could have kept the series going after that second movie.

Rating: 7/10