Le Secret de la planète des singes

Very high quality sequel to the original. No, it was not quite as good as the original but the performances and the story were both strong. Just watched it on DVD and forgot about how creepy the underground mutant people were. Especially when they were chanting to their "god". James Franciscus gave a very good performance and Linda Harrison is simply HOT! The ending was a little too abrupt but the movie is well worth seeing and owning on DVD.

"Beneath" is a film that epitomizes the best and worst that a sequel to a masterpiece, as "Planet Of The Apes" was, could be. For me, it is the most watchable of the sequels only because it's the only one that stays in the familiar territory established by the first film. But oh that ending....

I really can not understand why the heck Richard Zanuck allowed Charlton Heston to talk him into going with that downer ending that has already been referred to by others. The only reason why Heston pushed it wasn't because it made for good cinema but because he wanted to singlehandedly see to it that he never have to do another Apes sequel again. It's a pity that Heston never realized that the best sequel story one could have explored was what happened to Taylor and Nova afterwards, and could have made for some equally compelling drama as the first film did. To me, the main appeal of the first film wasn't the Ape society, it was the character of Taylor and his fascinating odyssey from misanthrope to defender of the species, only to see his earlier feelings borne out in the shock ending. The question that should have been addressed next in a sequel was, what would Taylor do now that he realized he was on Earth? What other things were there to discover on the planet? (Heck, you could have easily made a sequel movie without the apes returning, as far as I'm concerned!) Alas, because of the plot device imposed by this film (and Heston's inability to realize what a good thing he might have had going for himself), the rest of the series had to veer off into what was for me, a more uninteresting story line focusing on the Apes and their inevitable rise to power.

Plot holes and depressing ending notwithstanding, "Beneath" is still worth watching to see the traces of what could have been a great film that are there. The mutant storyline and their dwellings underneath the remains of New York still has an irresistible viewing quality to it. I do not recommend watching it in tandem with its magnificent predecessor though, because that's only going to make you more angry about the ending of this film.

This film is a direct follow on from the original as we follow the journey on horseback by Charlton Heston (Taylor) and Linda Harrison (Nova). At the same time, astronaut James Franciscus (Brent) and his captain crash land on the Planet of the Apes, also in the Forbidden Zone. Only Franciscus survives to explore the territory and meets up with the solitary Harrison. They ride together as we see flashback memories from Harrison as to the fate of Heston and Franciscus discovers where he has landed and sees the local residents. This duo are captured but eventually discover another society living beneath the Planet of the Apes.

I like how this film follows on directly from the original but it doesn't make sense for Franciscus to be part of a search party looking for Heston. I assumed he was part of a fleet that set off at the same time as Heston. That's the way it would make sense. In this film the gorillas take charge from the orangutans (or however you spell it) and force a military campaign. The chimpanzees, who were the intelligent group of doctors and scientists in the original, have now been down-graded to student-type time-wasters who carry out sit-down protests. That was obviously meant to mirror the anti-Vietnam war protests going on in real life at the time, but I found it a crass touch to be put into this movie.

However, the ending, once again, makes you think. Whilst the original film left you wondering about the origins and timeline of mankind, this film guides you specifically to what our destiny is. It has a very strong impact, especially in these times with lunatic leaders like Putin and Little Rocket Man from North Korea in possession of nuclear missiles, and other societies like Pakistan on the verge of developing them for themselves. I'm afraid the outcome for the human race is inevitable as, in time, it just takes one maniac to take everyone out. I just hope it is not during my lifetime.

I watched this film and then realized there is no point in denying yourself things that you like or that you may never get the opportunity to experience again. So, I immediately ordered a Chinese take-away as I like the crunchy water chestnuts that you get. It could be my last!

James Franciscus gets top billing on this sequel, but producer Arthur Jacobs fortunately entrusted this (and the instalment that came after) to the sophisticated imagination of writer Paul Dehn, who nearly twenty years earlier had already shared an Oscar for his previous nuclear nightmare 'Seven Days to Noon'; and also wisely brought in Leonard Rosenman to write the new score.

'All Things Bright and Beautiful' will never be the same again once you've heard it chanted by the telepathic, cave-dwelling, bomb-worshiping mutants ("Glory to the Bomb and the holy fallout") who bear an eerie similarity to the ghouls Charlton Heston soon afterwards had to deal with in 'The Omega Man'.

Direction is by Ted Post, who also a good job on the underrated Harry Callahan dystopia 'Magnum Force'; while Linda Harrison once again resembles Raquel Welch's chic sixties cave girl in 'One Million Years BC'.

Beneath the planet of the apes is a continuation of the first.Astronaut Brent is sent on a rescue mission to find Taylor and his whereabouts.Brent ends up on the same strange planet that Taylor did and is captured by the apes and suffers the same faith as Taylor did only in a shorter version.Brent also discovers a mysterious under ground place where mutants worship an atomic bomb as their god.Little does Brent know the ape army is trying to track him down and kill him.Brent gets reunited with Taylor but the ape the ape army are getting closer and time is running out.

Some bad acting and stupid parts of this film made me give it a 6 rating.This is a classic but to me its losing some of its magic.Recommended to Planet of the Apes fans,sci-fi fans and people who finds Planet of the Apes interesting.This is enjoyable to some but not all.I hope the next sequels are as good as this.