ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES (1971)

Cast

Plot

Following the events in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" Zira and Cornelius use Taylor's repaired spaceship to escape the holocaust on the ape planet and slipping through a bend in time they land on earth circa 1970. Captured by the military and scrutinised at various hearings, the two apes are subjected to the same xenophobic treatment that their human counterparts encountered in the previous ape instalments. As a sequel to a sequel this is a reasonable movie, although like the others the underlying pessimism makes you feel that these Zira and Cornelius are DOA. The plot-line strongly echoes many social issues that were apposite around the time of 'Escapes' conception including race, social status, scientific experimentation on animals, nuclear war and government intrusion as well as women's rights. The movie without getting too cute, plays as fish-out-of-water comedy, before turning quite dark.