Planet of the Apes (1968) – 8/10 – Classic masterpiece that explores philosophical questions
No sci-fi list is complete without the original classic Planet of the Apes. This film is jam-packed with action, adventure, entertainment, and philosophical discourse on what it means to be human. Who are we? Where did we come from? Where is humanity headed? Planet of the Apes was released the same year as the great ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, which also considered the same questions.
Charlton Heston plays an astronaut, George Taylor, who crash lands on an unknown planet with two fellow astronauts. For them, only 6 months had passed. However, time dilation from traveling at (presumably) the speed of light meant many centuries had passed around them, leaving them in some future. With their spacecraft destroyed, they don’t know where they are and, more importantly, when. To answer those questions, they set out on an adventure that gets them captured by an intelligent primate species. The story of the apes is very similar to the story of our human species in an intriguing juxtaposition where humans are inferior to the apes. They have their prejudices, science, religion, class structure, and societal views. I can’t say more without spoiling it, but it speaks more about humans than apes. The ending was epic and somewhat poetic justice.
Would I recommend it? Yes! It’s very well done and one of the finest sci-fi films. The acting, cinematography, visuals, makeup all stand the test of time. Rise of The Planet of the Apes with James Franco is very good too, but it’s a prequel to this. The remake starred Mark Wahlberg in 2001, but it was poorly made. The original is the best.
