PLANET OF THE APES (1968)

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PLANET OF THE APES (1968)

Postby Ben Chiu » Sun Apr 07, 2013 3:04 pm

OK, so I have a big shoot in the morning (6 cars, 3 police cars, we shut down 2 roads, plus extras) with an early call time, and I promised myself I'd go to bed early so I would be all bright eyed and bushy tailed (yeah, I know, I have to see someone about that!) and I'm giving the old TV a last flip through the channels before I turn in... and on the local SoCal PBS station they're running PLANET OF THE APES (POTA).

So much for going to bed early...

I first saw this one at the drive in (I guess back in 1968) when it came out. I was 5! I had seen it again perhaps once or twice in the 70's when it was on TV and I've always liked it (although I'll admit it kind of scared me when I was pre-schooler--how they rated that G is still perplexing). But it wasn't until last night that the small details in the dialogue filled in the nuances in the story for me. I suppose being an adult now helps.

Anyway, the screening last night made me realize that the APES series of movies, TV shows, cartoons, comic books, toys, and subsequent remakes made this--well, the STARS WARS of its time. A quick google on POTA and I discover the screenplay was originally written by none other than Rod Serling! (Who penned a sequel or two.) He was ultimately replaced as screenwriter, but his signature twist endings, especially in POTA is one of the greatest/most memorable of all time.

So what's the take away here? A good movie holds up over the years. POTA still does just that in spades. In my mind it also goes to illustrate what a good story and writer can mean to a movie (and franchise!). I've always been a huge Rod Serling fan (IMHO, there's never been an equal) and watching POTA again and realizing Mr. Serling had a hand in it makes total sense to me why I like it so much.

BTW, I love Charleton Heston's over the top acting. It's crazy, but it fits the roles he played and I can't even envision doing it any other way now. Is it because that's what right for the roles or have I just become accustomed to it. There are other actors that worked that same kind of schtick (William Shatner for example) and it works for me. Maybe I'm just too nostalgic. LOL

What do you think?
Ben
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