Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

**A picture of the artist painting a picture of the artist painting a picture of the artist painting a picture of the artist painting a landscape.** Indeed. Talk, talk and some more talk. Then they all decide to talk some more - taking a break for a little more talking - before finally deciding on talking just a little while longer. These actors must have had sore tongues after the film was completed. Some of them hospitalised with repetitive strain on the jawbone. A very talky film which could indeed lose the interest of younger viewers. Younger viewers don't want to see old men blabbering for 90 minutes - they want gorillas with machine guns. Lots of scenes of people with tobacco stained grey hair talking around 1970's tables and not much action here. Not enough psycho gorilla action. The three chimps should have brought at least one maniac gorilla with them for security reasons. If there weren't enough seats in the ship then I am certain he wouldn't mind standing. Perhaps they feared that once they arrived and they opened the ships hatch on the beach - everything from turtles, whelks and Brian Wilson's surf board would have been riddled with bullets. - Potential Kermode

A very good sequel. 'Escape from the Planet of the Apes' is a clear improvement on (the good) 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes' and isn't that far adrift from the 1968 original. The plot is out there but they make it believable, while the ending is quite something - unexpectedly so! Neat to see Roddy McDowall return to his role from 'Planet of the Apes', while co-star Kim Hunter continues once again. I like those two characters so enjoyed seeing them become 'the stars' of this third release of the franchise. Onwards to 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'.

A very good sequel. 'Escape from the Planet of the Apes' is a clear improvement on (the good) 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes' and isn't that far adrift from the 1968 original. The plot is out there but they make it believable, while the ending is quite something - unexpectedly so! Neat to see Roddy McDowall return to his role from 'Planet of the Apes', while co-star Kim Hunter continues once again. I like those two characters so enjoyed seeing them become 'the stars' of this third release of the franchise. Onwards to 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'.

Now quite how, we don't know, but suffice to say that "Cornelius" (Roddy McDowall) and "Zira" (Kim Hunter) manage to find themselves a spaceship and travel back in time to an Earth when humans - here, more specifically, a bunch of rather numb-sculled Americans - rule their continent. On stepping out of their craft, they must sigh the sigh of all aliens whose first glimpse of man is a man with loads of braid and no brains. They are taken to a zoo, fed oranges (?) and then subjected to a presidential inquiry that brings them some fame and celebrity, but also keeps them firmly on the radar of the malevolent "Dr. Hasslein" (Eric Braeden) who becomes doubly suspicious of their portentous storytelling (remember, apes cannot talk in 1971!) when it emerges that "Zira" is expecting an apelet! Things become distinctly perilous for our visitors, but luckily they have allies in fellow scientists "Dixon" (Bradford Dillman) and "Branton" (Natalie Trundy) so maybe they can escape their guilded cage? This is much better than last year's effort. The story is stronger, the morals are there but not over-used and the two lead actors gel well. The visual effects are effective and though I did not particularly like the ending, it offers us some food for thought.