Why Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) is the Most Underrated Apes Movie

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

Check out Go Ape! The full podcast is here! kzbin.info

[@zardozspeakstome]

I agree with the criticisms of the first half retread (astronaut crashes on strange planet, meets Nova, gets captured and taken to Ape City, meets Zira/Cornelius, escapes Ape City), but the new stuff is so great that it makes up for that: Ursus, the mutants, the destroyed NYC imagery, the ending and the music. And if I'm not mistaken, Nova seems to have more screen time/more to do? The new makeup-effects and ending are more than worthy follow-ups to the original.

[@chrisgreene2623]

When I was eight those mutants scared the shit out of me watching this on TV, and then they were replaced by the Omega Man mutants that scared the shit out of me even more. " All hail the great Doomsday Bomb!"

[@Atoz-om4vm]

Totally agree that this movie is greatly underrated. The last few minutes of your review sums up the movie perfectly; the human/ape conflict is all of real Earth history condensed into 95 minutes with the inevitable outcome if we continue down our current path. This movie is in my top 5 best movies list.

[@shaun2133]

Beneath is my favorite Apes sequel mostly because it takes place in the same Apes setting as the first one. I enjoy the others but the first two are almost like watching one continuous movie.

[@dolphinsrr]

I agree

[@dragdragon23]

@@dolphinsrr I feel in conquest is saying guess where this story is going.

[@mistergrool3941]

Glad to see someone speaking positively about the setting, tone and themes of this movie. A lot of retrospectives just say that the second movie is kind of cool at the end but bad otherwise. My dad saw all of the original movies in theaters and Beneath is his favorite sequel by far, so I've always had a greater appreciation for this one and agree that there are a lot of great arcs going on throughout the film

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

Listen to our podcast on the film. My guest gushed over the film and I was happy to have someone else enjoy it.

[@VonWenk]

This was my first Planet of the Apes movie, and that ending with Nova speaking, then dying, our heroes getting shot (as you said) brutally and Taylor blowing up the world has stuck with me. But without the first half, how do you get to the second half?

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

Agreed. All the more reason I believe more care needed to be brought to the first half. As explained in the more detailed podcast Go Ape.

[@bryan-po8dn]

My first exposure to Beneath was from one of those weird book/record combos they had back in the 70s when I was a real little kid. The concept that the Earth, the whole Earth, could be blown up traumatized me for years.

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

God bless early 70s scifi

[@markcorcoran482]

I still have a promotional ape city "newspaper'" that I obtained form my local theater upon Beneath's initial release! I'm in total agreement about James Gregory, who's very effectively enhanced by his headgear. (Funny, how bulky he and Zaius are when "naked.") Franciscus/Brent has the most priceless line in the film, when in response to Taylor asking him how he got there, he replies, "Same as you: spaceship, ape city, subway." Multiple viewings of Beneath delightfully enhanced my Summer of 1970.

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

Oh man. I can't believe we didn't mention that line! Lol.

[@LeeviHokka126]

I was quite shocked by the movie's ending when watching it for the first time as a kid, and it made a lasting impression.

[@chasehedges6775]

It’s still brutal and haunting as an adult

[@patricktilton5377]

Great video! I agree that BENEATH is underrated. And I'm glad it is what it is, despite the challenges they faced coming up with a story to tell, working around the unwillingness of Heston to have anything to do with the project. Think of what COULD have been, though, if Heston had told Zanuck et al. that he'd do a sequel IF -- and ONLY if -- they were to come up with a magnificent script that was just begging to be realized on film. Someone could have reminded him that the source novel owed a lot to the last (of 4) stories from GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, and the idea of having his character Taylor make a journey -- after that iconic ending of the 1st film -- to some other place where a society different from that of the Apes, yet just as wickedly satirical, could be delved into. Well, we GOT that with BENEATH -- the 'mutant' survivors of the civilization that used the Bomb twenty centuries earlier, having come to WORSHIP the ultimate man-made abomination as a 'God', as the Keepers of the Divine Bomb., a "holy weapon of peace" . . . Chuck didn't think that ANY sequel would be worth making, and only agreed to minimal participation as a favor to Dick Zanuck for his having green-lit the 1st one. If the Taylor character had been the focus all along -- if Dehn could have written a script using Taylor fully, as he'd been used in PLANET -- we might have had a fuller story involving that insane society of Bomb-worshiping Mutants, with no need for Dehn to conjure up a new Protagonist (Brent) and put him through the necessary paces -- "spaceship . . . Ape City . . . subway" -- before they could have HIM discover that subterranean world. As it stood, though, Chuck was only in it for the bare minimum, agreeing to 'disappear' in the beginning and then be discovered near the end, to then be killed off. Yet this turned out well, I think, in that it created a Mystery to be solved (by Brent) . . . a quest to locate him. Dehn and Abrahams had to find a way to tell a compelling story all-the-while having one arm tied behind the back, so to speak, to accommodate Chuck's recalcitrance. Despite its flaws, BENEATH ended up being terrific. Not quite as good as the 1st one, but then no sequel ever COULD be as good. Yet it's a worthy sequel, and it has an ending that's even more of a punch to the gut than the iconic ending of the 1st film. I'm reminded of the 'Red Wedding' in GAME OF THRONES -- which was GRRM's way of letting the audience/readership know that NOBODY IS SAFE - - if they hadn't already learned that when Ned Stark got beheaded! The bleak ending of BENEATH puts the lie to the idea that no matter how bad things may get down here on Earth, there's a loving 'God' up in Heaven who WILL intervene to save the world in the nick of time, like Superman swooping across the sky to rescue Lois Lane from falling to her death. No . . . in BENEATH we see a bitter man, dying from a gunshot akin to the one that took the life of the one human woman he loved -- who had come to love HIM, he being a man who couldn't find love in the 20th Century on the messed-up world he'd left, full or people he despised -- and going out of his way to DESTROY THE ENTIRE WORLD!!! No 'God' is there to exercise 'Divine Intervention', just as there was no 'God' around in the late 20th Century to prevent the ICBMs from raining down upon all the major cities and other sundry military targets in Mutual Assured Destruction. Taylor had called upon 'God' to damn the Human Race to Hell . . . but Man had done a fine job of that all by himself -- with no need for any Supreme Being to lift a finger.

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

Really well put. I'm glad Beneath is getting some reassessment since the new movies have started coming out.

[@BobBenson-qz8lp]

Very underrated. In fact, If I had a choice now, I would rather watch beneath than the original! Terrifying, creepy and wonderful. My only beef is how could Zira, Cornelius and the friend scientist/ engineer who was killed by the zoo gorilla, were all able to pull taylors ship out of the lake and repair it to get it in orbit and step into the same time barrier wormhole Taylor ran into going forward in time, to o back to the year when Taylor was supposed to originally land?

[@patricktilton5377]

@@BobBenson-qz8lp I've developed a scenario to explain these seeming discrepancies regarding the salvaged ANSA ship (etc.); it's rather involved, but I'll try to make it as succinct as I can here. The 2 ships mentioned in ESCAPE as having mysteriously disappeared were NOT Taylor's then Brent's; they were VIRDON'S (1st) then TAYLOR's. Those 2 ANSA ships were nearly identical, having only 3 chairs and having a port-side gull-wing hatch over the cockpit. Taylor's 3-seater ship was the one we saw in ESCAPE. That ship had been joined by 2 ANSA 4-seater ships equipped with 4 hibernation bunks, heading out to a Destination located 320 lightyears away in Orion attached to a larger cargo-carrying 'Mothership' -- similar to the situation in Boulle's source novel. Thus, the entire crew on Taylor's mission included not only the 2 other male astronauts who launched with him ("Welcome, gentlemen, to the United St---") -- probably Landon & Dodge -- but also Lt. Stewart AND Brent AND Brent's 'Skipper' [named 'Maddox'] AND Maddox's wife and 2 daughters AND perhaps up to 41 other ANSA astronauts. Maddox's 2 daughters were along for the same reason that Stewart was, to be breeding females for a colonization venture. The circumstances of the landing of Taylor, Dodge, Landon, and the deceased Stewart led Taylor to assume that the entire venture had suffered a catastrophe, with that 4-seater ANSA shuttle surviving only due to it having somehow detached itself from the Mothership, to land somehow on its own -- though he recognized the possibility that the Mothership (named S.S. Earth, i.e. Spaceship EARTH) might still be within radio-contact range as his shuttle is sinking, since he orders Landon to "get out a last signal, to 'Earth', that we've landed!" If by 'Earth' he had been referring to the planet Earth, at that time he thought they were 320 lightyears away from it, so sending out a last signal to it would mean that it would take 320 years for the signal to arrive back home, and any reply sent back from Earth would take yet another 320 years to be received; since he knew, then, that Stewart was dead, there could be no one there descended from this would-be colony to receive any 640-year-old message . . . so why bother? Anyway, that Mothership ["S.S. Earth"], from which Taylor's 4-seater ANSA shuttle had detached, also had the other 4-seater shuttle attached to it -- the one we see in BENEATH -- as well as the 3-seater in which Taylor and 2 other male astronauts had launched, the one we see in ESCAPE. The ship that Milo found somewhere "on our seaboard" (according to Cornelius, meaning the coastline of the Ocean -- not of Dead Lake) had not been dredged up from the bottom of Dead Lake. It had been successfully landed by a trio of ANSA astronauts, the same ones who left behind the 3 astronaut EVA suits & helmets which the Ape-onauts would later be seen wearing at the beginning of ESCAPE. As that ship was being flown down a re-entry trajectory by 1 of the 3, a 2nd one was REMOTELY PILOTING the 4-seater shuttle down to its splashdown in Dead Lake: the ship's-eye P.O.V. shots of the landing/splashdown after the Opening Credits of PLANET depict it doing maneuvers such as a 'roll', a 'yaw' and a 'pitch' -- and since the ship had NOT been "programmed to land in the water" (as Landon says), then it can ONLY have landed in the water because someone was REMOTELY CONTROLLING its descent. Lewis Dixon, in ESCAPE, mentions the "remote control" possibilities of the ship. So, Taylor's 4-seater (let's call it 'ALFA' shuttle) is remotely-piloted down to its splashdown in Dead Lake while the 3-seater in which Taylor had launched from Cape Kennedy (let's call it 'CHARLIE' shuttle) is simultaneously set down somewhere along the shoreline of the Ocean, further down the beach than the site of the half-buried Statue of Liberty -- beyond which Taylor and Nova couldn't ride that horse, it being a 'dead end' -- for all we know within 100 yards of the back of the Statue, which obstructs Taylor's view of the beach beyond that icon. More than a month later, of course, 'Skipper' Maddox's ANSA ship (let's call it 'BRAVO' shuttle) is piloted by Brent down to its landing in the Forbidden Zone, where Nova eventually finds it while on her way to Ape City -- after perhaps riding back to the Cave, where she'd last seen Zira -- while obeying Taylor's advice to "Go find Zira" if she should lose him. ALFA shuttle sank to the bottom of Dead Lake after having lost not only its PRIMARY power, but also its AUXILIARY power ("It's no use, the power's gone!"), so that even if Milo had dredged it up from the bottom of the lake -- as well as the blown-off hatch-cover -- it could never have been flown back up to orbit. BRAVO shuttle, after crash-landing, with its aft-end having had a fire requiring Brent to use a fire-extinguisher on it, suffered a computer failure ("Our computer's shot -- we're lucky to be alive..."). The ship which Milo found -- intact -- further down the shoreline than Taylor was able to ride with Nova, had not only POWER reserves, but also COMPUTER function, since the Ape-onauts see the EARTH-TIME clock click backwards from 11-23-3955 to 1973 (perhaps "11-23-1973" -- exactly 1,982 years, since they landed "a month" after the birth of the circus chimp Salome, named after St. Salome, whose feast day is October 22 -- or, perhaps, on the 10th anniversary of the JFK assassination, on 11-22-1973, the 'Presidential Commission of Inquiry' being reminiscent of the Warren Commission). My scenario includes a whole host of other information which I can't go into here, but this is the basic plot-line. A different ANSA ship also landed -- one to be differentiated from the 2 ships we saw in PLANET and BENEATH. Unlike those 2 ships, this 3rd ship ['CHARLIE'] had a gull-wing hatch through which the 3 Ape-onauts emerged when it was beached. There's an untold story regarding those mysterious three ANSA astronauts who landed the same day that Taylor landed -- one of them having remotely controlled Taylor's ALFA shuttle down to its splashdown into Dead Lake. The 3 astronauts . . . did they, too, get captured by the Hunt Club gorillas, or by Ursus' scouts, or by Mendez XXVI's mutants? We only know that it wasn't they who put those pressure suits back on and flew their ship back up into orbit. Instead, Dr. Milo found the ship, got word back to Cornelius and Zira, and got them to join him at that landing site in the nick of time, before Taylor detonated the Doomsday Bomb.

[@joebloggs396]

My theory on this is that the reason so many Americans hate this film is that, with American hegemony, they are very predisposed to wanting to believe in very positive future for humanity. I don't mind the first part of the film as I watch to see what differences there are between the two main characters and there's suspense as to when they will finally meet. The budget isn't too much reduced either. And the main focus of the film isn't the second discovery of the apes. For me the next two films tend to be overrated in the US as they have quite conventional villains and are set in a less futuristic world (either 70s America or not that far ahead). But Beneath is the genuine story sequel and fits into the same style and tone as the original.

[@Rizzatouille]

I don't think it's just an American thing mate

[@chasehedges6775]

@@Rizzatouille💯💯💯💯

[@bsharp3281]

Imagery with underground mutants, golden warheads, apes on horses, and underground NY in ruins. I love it, but I still want it to be a better movie

[@chasehedges6775]

Same. The movie is decent/watchable.

[@chasehedges6775]

It is a good movie, not great movie.

[@SteveChapman1962]

Kingdom is streaming now on one of streaming services

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJqbqX2FbsSbirM ^Listen to our podcast "GO APE!" here! First episode - Planet of the Apes (1968)

[@BellsCuriosityShop]

Until they find the subway, it is somewhat of a remake of the first

[@chasehedges6775]

True but it’s still a good movie

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

Loved it since i saw it at 8 when it first came out. Cheers mate

[@carlosyamara]

Where do you live that a movie ticket costs $25-$40? 😂 I never liked this movie, I don’t believe I ever will, but you give a very good commentary on what works for you👍 The ending of Escape, for me, was not only more shocking but incredibly sad and left my 9 y/o brain traumatized to this day 😅

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

For imax, is $20.00 for a ticket, plus another $20ish for food and a drink. It's ridiculous. Lol

[@dragdragon23]

there is some mistakes here and I should of mention them in the last review I seen a few minutes ago. the excuse of the ape army going into the forbidden zone to have more land for crops before they starve because the primitive humans eating the food grown for the apes. Taylor begs Doctor Zaius and before Zaius waited for the reason for the plea, he think Taylor want Zaius to save him which enrages him.

[@TheHelper-l9m]

Most important info!! READ!!!!!!! This movie is a Ted Post directed film. That means nobody turns in a performance. In a Post-directed production his direction conquers all and everybody. Everybody becomes their characters. No trave of the actor is left. Look at his films like 'Hang 'Em High' and see how everyone becomes their character. Even Clint Eastwood!

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

I can't tell if this comment is a slight against the video or a compliment. As I did nothing but praise Post's direction in the video.

[@TheHelper-l9m]

@@ANProductionsOfficialChannel All right. But realize in a Ted Post directed production no one acts. He directs and conquers all! Watch Magnus.Firce (1973) and see!

[@darknagaadventures7884]

Charleton Heston harms all of his Sci-Fi films with his haughty attempt at world-weariness that just comes across smug AF

[@anthonycheek389]

Nah dude the third planet of the apes movie ending with shocking

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

Love that ending too

[@BobBenson-qz8lp]

My only beef is how could Zira, Cornelius and the friend scientist/ engineer who was killed by the zoo gorilla, were all able to pull taylors ship out of the lake and repair it to get it in orbit and step into the same time barrier wormhole Taylor ran into going forward in time, to o back to the year when Taylor was supposed to originally land?

[@scottallen6227]

​@BobBenson-qz8lp it was about the only option they had to extend the series. It may seem a stretch but so is time travel and talking chimpanzees.

[@RichardEKranz]

I love this bleak film, this and the original are they only good ones, the rest and the newer ones are terrible.

[@ANProductionsOfficialChannel]

Oh this hurts me

[@RichardEKranz]

@@ANProductionsOfficialChannel Well there's honest film making, Robert Wise, Franklyn J Shaftner, Milos Foreman. Then there's the other side, marketing, technicians, yes men, that stale TV movie of the week look. (Ted Post just squeaked by with Beneath). Sid Shineberg: "Hey anyone wanna make Jaws 13 for me? Joseph Sargent? Jeannot Szwarc? Nicholas Meyer? Just make sue you put my current lover/wife/illegitimate child in as main characters cohort then pick your check up at the front office. BtPotA may not be Amadeus, but I'd rather watch that then Escape.

[@thiccpalpatine]

Aside from the stupid psychic powers, I actually like the direction they took with the mutants. Many took issue with how bizarre and out of place they feel in the universe set up in the first movie. But to me, that’s why it works. Since the first movie, there was at least a possibility of mutants existing somewhere in the forbidden zone, since Zaius had his fears of them that he admitted to Taylor. There’s something poignant about the fact that, not only was Zaius right, but what the mutants turned out to be way more nightmarish than even Zaius could imagine. Zaius thought them merely to be intelligent humans that were callable of speech and reason, but were still jungle dwellers like the primitive humans. Instead, him and the gorillas come across people arguably more advanced than even the evolved apes who even have apocalyptic power at their fingertips in the Alpha Omega bomb. The kind of horror an ape like Zaius would feel is really no different than the lovecraftian horror humans would have to aliens or beings like the ancient ones. So the mutants feeling bizarre works since that’s basically how the apes feel too. In their case, Zaius even calls them obscene upon just seeing a sculpture of one of them before smashing it.