La conquista del planeta de los simios

Back when I first saw Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes I thought that the filmmakers had been influenced by the Stonewall Rebellion of three years earlier. Seeing it once again reinforced that opinion and the havoc and destruction wrought by the apes reminded me so much of Greenwich Village after the riots brought on by that legendary bar raid.

It's been a generation since Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter were killed by the forces of fear and in the interim their son also played by Roddy McDowall has grown up under the kind care of Ricardo Montalban, a circus owner. In the interim a plague came to earth and wiped out all the dogs and cats in the world, so people starting to take apes as pets. It wasn't long before the more avaricious of human kind saw the possibility in exploiting the apes as a new slave class.

Those avaricious ones are symbolized by Don Murray who is the governor of I presume California. Note how he and all the folks like him and who work for him are dressed in black to symbolize both villainy and fascism. No subtleties in this film. Not all feel like Murray and one who doesn't is an aide played by Hari Rhodes. Why he feels that way about exploiting anyone is rather obvious when you see the movie.

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes may not be subtle, but it is very effective in putting its point of view across. It holds up very well for today's audience because its message is very relevant.

This movie, CONQUEST OF THTE PLANET OF THE APES (1972) could easily have been discarded. It really didn't live up to the legacy that is the PLANET OF THE APES. A much weaker, cheaper production that doesn't hold the audience's attention for very long.

A very Dystopian, bleak future is what this film has to offer. An authoritarian Governor in the year 1991 has made apes into slaves and brutality between apes and man is a common everyday occurrence.

After torturing the future leader of the apes, Cesar leads a revolt against his human captors and wins out in the end.

Starring: Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Ricardo Montalban, Hari Rhodes and Natalie Trundy.

MORD39 RATING: *** out of ****

Roddy McDowall gives maybe his best APES performance as Caesar, an intelligent chimpanzee stuck in a time he was never meant to live in.

Nearly twenty years after ESCAPE..., Caesar has learned that apes have become household servants for humans to use. Their stature has increased, and their learning abilities too. Though no reason is given in the film (a typical criticism by some viewers) one may presume that the mysterious plague which killed all dogs and cats somehow had an effect on primates. Even Ricardo Montalban's character says "the pets became larger...and larger...until now......"

Soon, Caesar sees himself as a savior who can lead the apes out of their bondage and assert their independence. He leads the charge as the apes revolt and take over, apparently planting a seed that could eventually grow into the world we saw in the original PLANET OF THE APES classic.

The film again is intelligent, and action-packed. It's true that by today's over-blown standards, the ape revolt can't look as awesome as it did in 1972...but the focus here is on the character of Caesar, an ape from another time who is not responsible for what he is, and who has to stifle his anger over the state of his fellow simians and cope with his situation.

CONQUEST is good, solid science fiction.

4th movie in the series initiated by ¨Planet of Apes¨ that at time of its release regarded as the most extraordinary Scifi in years, in which he simians turn the tables when they carry out a riot in this acceptable but lackluster sequel in which humans battle the apes led by Caesar . Again the Apes along with a modern civilization of human beings living in future , a distant year 1990 and occurs twenty years after the deaths of Cornelius and Zira, the chimpanzees couple who fled the future destruction of Earth by traveling a spacecraft . Passable and stirring science-fiction movie with a first rate Roddy McDowall who plays here the son of the character he first created and special intervention of Ricardo Montalban as kindly circus owner who's hidden him from the humans for long time . This known story is the fourth of the primates sequels, saga that had begun little years before ; it starts on a culture where humans rule over simians and they are divided in three lineage : gorilla , chimpanzee and orangutan . A plague has murdered cats and dogs and people adopted apes as pets , began using them as workers, waiters and hard employments . Militaristic governor (Don Murray) wishes apes to be treated as animal of burden and regarded as scum , slaves and torturing them into submission. The chimpanzee leader named Caesar( Roddy McDowall) meets Lisa (Natalie Trundy replacing the usual Kim Hunter) and falls in love with her . Caesar itching a coup de état but at the ending he thinks otherwise and even agree a peaceful existence with humans . Caesar is son of Cornelius and Zira from ¨Escape from the planet of apes¨ and turns into leader in this ¨Conquest of the Planet of the apes¨ , attempting to ease disputes between apes and men . Meantime , mean gorillas murder violently every human in sight . At the ending happens a spectacular , fierce confrontation between a human army ruled by governor and the simians commanded by Caesar .

This is an average , lackluster sci-fi flick plenty of metaphysical significance with thoughtful reflexion about origin of human being , racism , political pursuit, apartheid, though also packs action, intrigue and entertainment . Although several elements of the screenplay strain credibility to the limit the story turns out to be pretty interesting and amusing . It happens a parallelism between US racial tension ( Kent State slaughter, revolts in York ,Pennsylvania, 1969, and Camden, New Jersey , 1971) and the events described on the flick . Roddy McDowall's distinctive features prove to be recognisable even under John Chambers' wonderful ape make-up . The performers , particularly Roddy McDowall who provides the sturdy central pivot the tale surely needs , Natalie Trundy and Don Murray are pretty good , the characters are well drawn and in spite of makeup they are still oddly convincing . In spite of time and being mostly a regular follow-up of the former stories , some moments of energy remain and results to be a B movie full of action, battles and suspense . Writing credits by habitual Paul Dehn based on the characters from Pierre Boulle novel , however his screenplay is not just clever and was cut , eliminating some violent revolt scenes and obligated to pacific ending . Nice production design with interior sets taken from ¨Voyage to the bottom of the sea¨ and ¨Time tunnel ¨ produced by Irwin Allen and with great visual effects . One of the important attributes of this work, is the magnificent and luminous cinematography by Bruce Surtees who previously did such a good job for Clint Eastwood . Phenomenal creative make-up design by John Chambers, a first-rate expert . Fine musical score though imitating sounds from the great Jerry Goldsmith .The picture is lack budgeted by usual Arthur P. Jacobs , producer of whole saga, along with 2oth Century Fox . It's full of fury and sound , being professionally directed by J. Lee Thompson during four weeks in Los Angeles , at University and a lavish commercial development , using sometimes a nice visual sense. It's followed by ¨Battle for the planet of Apes¨ and a short-lived TV series, in with Roddy McDowall is again on hand as simian to sustain our interest and feeling .

When the future looks bleak, it's very bleak! In "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes", it's like the 18th century only more primal. The slaves are not humans, but apes(Gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans) not only they are made into slaves, they are also taken over society's workforce by a tyrannical governor. The last surviving talking Caesar(Roddy McDowell) would be the chose one to rise above tyranny. Unknown o most of the crew Caesar is the only chimp who speaks. The reason for this kind of treatment to the apes, they are pets! They replaced the dog and cat, because of a strange plague that claimed the regular domesticated animals. Another reason for such actions is when the circus owner (Ricardo Montalban) sees the horror of everything, and he sacrifices himself to avoid further interrogations. Since Caesar is the hope for all apes, they rise up and gain the upper hand on Man. It's like when the slaves revolt against their masters, the pet revolt against the master who abuse it. We all hate slavery, but when it's not humans owning one another, ti doesn't seem to matter. This scifi movie isn't all stereotypical, it's just have their way of showing the evils of slavery, that's all! 2.5 out of 5 stars!