Project X Movie Review

Bemused Air Force pilot gets a strange assignment – training lab chimpanzees to pilot planes in a computerized flight simulator. He grows close to the appealing apes and is shocked to learn the true, cruel purpose of the experiments. High-tech tale falls somewhere between science-fiction drama and animal-rights fable, but some scenes possess the “sense of wonder” that sf at its finest is meant to evoke. Great performances by the primates, somewhat soured by persistent allegations by activists of real-life animal abuse on the set.

1987 (PG) 107m/C Matthew Broderick, Helen Hunt, William Sadler, Johnny Rae McGhee, Jonathan Stark, Robin Gammell, Stephen Lang, Jean Smart, Dick Miller; D: Jonathan Kaplan; W: Stanley Weiser, Lawrence Lasker; C: Dean Cundey; M: James Horner. VHS, Beta, LV FOX