The first must-see film of the year.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I consider the first "Planet of the Apes" film to be one of the greatest science-fiction movies I have ever seen. Going off mere memory, I thought that "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" fell off quite a bit from that striking original. Upon a repeated viewing, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find a film that held me in rapt attention all the way through.For a basic plot summary, "Beneath" sees astronaut Brent (James Franciscus) land on future Earth after following the exact same trajectory as Taylor (Charlton Heston) had previously. Brent is quickly introduced to Nova (Linda Harrison), who has lost Taylor. Upon a meeting with Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (David Watson), Brent discovers that he must venture into the Forbidden Zone to find his fellow adventurer. He'll be battling the clock, however, as gorilla commander Ursus (James Gregory) has gained the support of Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) for a full-fledged attack on whatever that new territory may have to offer. What the apes AND Brent discover is a society shaped by long-ago nuclear warfare.First and foremost, to enjoy this movie you must be able to "buy in" to the concept of science fiction as metaphor. This approach is not so much used nowadays, so it can be seen as antiquated. Back in the 1960s and early 70s, though, sci-fi was often used as a conduit for political discussions that would not or could not be aired in any other forums. Thus, this movie holds some deep-seeded political themes building off those already exposed from the original. Such issues as nuclear warfare, religion, conquest, and imperialism run rampart throughout the main plots of the piece.Besides the heavy themes, though, this is also just a great adventure. The turning point for fans regarding "Beneath" usual centers around Heston's role. Spoiler Alert: Heston is not in much of this movie. While its detractors take that as a sign of weakness, I view it as a way to increase tension. Viewers formed such a bond with Heston as he tried to wrap his mind around an "ape society" in the original, that we just really want to see what happens to him. The new adventures of Brent (while just as interesting and visually interesting in their own right) provide us with that opportunity...it just is a slow burn until the end.Like I have said, if you "buy in" to the whole Apes concept, then this movie will suck you in just as much as the original. You just have to be able to see it both as an adventure and a political treatise. Those who were on the fence about the first one will probably see this as sliding even further down that slippery slope.

Beneath The Planet of the Apes (1970) belongs in that list of sequels that could have been as good or even better than the original film. The first sequel to Planet of the Apes (1968) has two strikes against it. The film had only half the budget of the original film and Charlton Heston has a supporting part, while the screenplay was clearly written with his character as the lead. In those days a star did not do sequels, but apparently he was grateful for the success of Planet of the Apes that he did a cameo and donated his salary to charity. Heston became a science fiction icon and would go on in the seventies starring in the SF classics The Omega Man (1971) and Soylent Green (1973).The writers Paul Dehn and Mort Abrahams and director Ted Post took Beneath The Planet of the Apes serious enough and did excellent work despite these limitations. A couple of years later Ted Post would direct another sequel: Magnum Force (1973). The first Dirty Harry sequel which could also be rated as a sequel almost as good as the original.The first 30 minutes of Beneath The Planet of the Apes is a quick rerun of the plot of the original film, but when the lead characters get underground (hence the title), we get a first rate science fiction parable. The underground ruins of New York city are inhabited by mutated humans with psychic powers and worship an atom bomb as a God. This story line does make the ape race secondary characters in the second half.The ending is very nihilistic and seems like a very definitive ending to the series. But because of success at the box office and the ingenuity of the writers, we got three more sequels/prequels. All of them are very enjoyable, but nowhere near as powerful as this first underrated sequel.

Now, I move on to the first of four sequels to the 1968 original.The story follows Brent, an astronaut who inadvertently follows Taylor into the future while searching for him. After encountering the apes from the first film. Brent finds Taylor imprisoned by a colony of subterranean human mutants who worship an ancient nuclear bomb.Now, BENEATH THE PLANET of the APES is pathetic. How the heck did this movie became the worst of the film series? Let's go through some history, shall we? Planning for the sequel, eventually titled Beneath the Planet of the Apes, began two months after the original film's release.Arthur P. Jacobs and Mort Abrahams initially considered several treatments by Rod Serling and Pierre Boulle, but ultimately turned them down. In fall 1968, the producers hired Paul Dehn to write the script. He would become the primary writer for the franchise.Charlton Heston was uninterested in a sequel, but agreed to shoot a few scenes if his character was killed off and he donated his salary to charity.Brent is played by James Franciscus and he is okay. The director of the first film was unavailable to work on this film. The returning actors are Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans and Linda Harrison and they all play their parts from the first film and they do a really great job. A new villain is Gorilla Ursus and Paul Richards played mutant leader Mendez. They all do great jobs and they play their parts amazingly. Since Roddy McDowall was unavailable to play Cornelius, his part was taken over by David Watson. Watson does a great job for the most part, but could have been worse.The story is just stupid, action is unbelievable and the ending is stupid. Charlton Heston plays his part amazingly and he does an amazing job with what he has until he is killed.Overall, I hate BENEATH THE PLANET of the APES and I just don't freaking buy this movie at all. So in my rating, I give it 1 out of 10.

Right away, I knew this was not going to be as good as the original, (which is mostly because I love the original so much). That being said, I was curious on how they'd follow up. All I can say is, w.t.f! Every moment of plot progression from the other ship to the underground telepathic community with the nuclear bomb straight up knocked me off my ass. Some stuff was interesting, others were kind of stupid.After realizing the extinction of man, Taylor, (Charlton Heston) disappears, and his mute love interest, Nova, finds another survivor of a rescue expedition who has also landed on the planet, determined with the help of Nova to find Taylor.I gotta give this movie credit...it kept my interest. Regardless of how goofy it got at times, it made me want to figure out what was going on the whole time. It felt way more intense with the war between apes and man. It actually felt more brutal and intense than the original, though that wasn't the original's intention understandably. A few things in the writing make it sound like it was written by a hippie, talking A LOT about peace and love. I think they might have hammered in the "nuclear warfare is evil, we're all going to blow ourselves up" talk that was popular around the early 70's.The film doesn't get necessarily boring, but it takes a few too many risks, some work, some don't. Overall, it wasn't that bad. I felt genuinely worried about the main character's and their mission and all the conflicts going on. It does kind of dismiss the goings on in Ape City a little abruptly, but that's what more sequels are for I guess. Recommended if you watched and enjoyed the original.