There is nothing else to say about this classic film other than it was brilliant and breathtaking. A friend and I were captured instantly by the story, the twists, and the plot. Truly an amazing classic movie. It deserves to be remembered, seen, and bought all over again. I know couple people who would play lots of money just to have this in the theaters once again. A great way to start movie series. The first of five gleaming movies, I can not wait to gobble down the rest.
:)

Astronaut George Taylor (Heston) crash lands on an unknown planet. He is soon captured by its dominant inhabitants, an advanced society of apes capable of speech and with a rudimentary grasp of technology.

An extravagant adaptation of the novel by Pierre Boulle, "Planet of the Apes" quickly became a sensation when it was released in 1968. It was the first film to generate widespread merchandising, in addition to spawning four direct sequels and spin-off television and cartoon shows. But before the formula was impoverished, "Planet of the Apes" had some very salient points to make about 1960s concerns.

Effectively holding a mirror up to mankind, the ape society is a slightly exaggerated reflection of our own. Segregated into strict classes (gorillas make up the military, orang-utangs the intellectuals and chimpanzees the rest), the apes treat the indigenous speechless humans like animals. The arrival of Taylor shocks them as much as a talking chimp would shock modern scientists. Faced with the unknown, the apes respond in a typically human manner, reacting with fear, lobotomizing Taylor's shipmate and attempting to do the same to him. The post-nuclear holocaust environment also plays on the concerns of 1960s America, and here the film differs from its source in order to be a little more topical. Boulle's novel depicts a more advanced ape society, essentially like modern man's, but considering the famous twist ending (probably the work of one of the screenplay's writers, Rod Serling, who was the creator and host of "The Twilight Zone"), it was clearly decided a barren landscape would be more arresting, not to mention cheaper.

"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"

This film had a huge impact on me when I saw it for the first time several years ago. 'Planet of the Apes' is still, even though the film is over 40 years old, a strong social commentary of our past and present world, and a landmark of cinematic excellence.

The film starts with a monologue by Charlton Heston's character called Taylor. In that speech, he pretty much sums up the problems of our world; war, hunger and selfishness of men. When the film really hits off, when the group of 3 men and a woman crashland on a foreign planet, the analysis of our world still continues but 'Planet of the Apes' doesn't forget the Sci-fi audience. In my opinion, this film is one of the greatest movies in its own genre and still a very effective piece of entertainment.

When talking about the film, the technical achievements can't be put aside. First of all, the score is one of the best I've ever witnessed. Generic in no way, Jerry Goldsmith ('The Omen', 'Alien' etc) has once again produced a highly brooding and effective score that is a key element of the movie. The score is almost constantly there, even when it is on the background it helps build up the suspense of the ongoing and following scenes.

The make-up is another winner. Nowadays, I've still seen much worse make-up effects. The apes have been made very much realistic, the way they express their feelings, how they talk and so on. A great achievement and still highly impressive.

'Planet of the Apes' was a success and produced several sequels and a remake by Tim Burton. None of them came even close to the level of this original film by Franklin J. Schaffner, a talented filmmaker who during a short period of 5 years gave us three magnificent films, 'Patton', Papillon' and this one. I recommend all of you who haven't seen these films to watch 'em.

The ending is one the most unforgettable and depressing ever seen on the big screen. I realize why Tim Burton chose not to put it in his version because that would've been a big sacrilege. Once you've seen it, it stays in your head giving a haunting experience of how mankind could easily destroy itself. Nuff said.

"Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it."