Escape from the Planet of the Apes Movie Review

Reprising their roles as intelligent, English-speaking apes from a future Earth society, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter flee their world before it's destroyed, and travel back in time to present-day America. In L.A. they become the subjects of a relentless search by the fearful population, much like humans Charlton Heston and James Franciscus were targeted for experimentation and destruction in simian society in the earlier Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Although the “fish out of water” scenes of the apes reacting to our civilization are great fun, the heavy-handed messages drag down the latter half. Probably the least expensive of the series, since only three actors wear ape makeup, and there was no need for the extensive sets built for the previous entries. Sequelled by Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and two television series.

1971 (G) 98m/C Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Sal Mineo, Ricardo Montalban, William Windom, Bradford Dillman, Natalie Trundy, Eric (Hans Gudegast) Braeden; D: Don Taylor; W: Paul Dehn; C: Joseph Biroc; M: Jerry Goldsmith. VHS, Beta, LV FOX, FUS