Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1970)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jeff "

  
  Decent first sequel to the Planet Of The Apes. Beneath The Planet of the Apes isn't as solid as the first film in the series, which is by far one of the all time Sci-fi classics of the genre. This sequel had a lot of potential, unfortunately compared to the first film; this is a… More
  Decent first sequel to the Planet Of The Apes. Beneath The Planet of the Apes isn't as solid as the first film in the series, which is by far one of the all time Sci-fi classics of the genre. This sequel had a lot of potential, unfortunately compared to the first film; this is a film that is quite disappointing considering how good the first film is. This film is mildly entertaining. But like I stated, this film is disappointed especially for the fact that it follows a timeless classic film. The filmmakers tried to outdo the first film with this film, and ended up with mixed results. The film is entertaining, and has some decent performances, but overall there's something missing to really make this an awesome Apes movie. The films story could have been better, and this is a step down from the first film. Despite the good cast, director Ted Post has a disappointing script to work with, and can't direct this good cast into doing a good film. The result is a decent entertaining film. But right from the start, you realize that Beneath The Planet Of The Apes isn't a standout sequel, and it's only decent, never great. This film could have been a wonderful sequel, but the studio seemed to rush to produce a sequel to cash in on the success of the first, and instead of taking their time with a great idea, they only did half a good job, and the scripts limitation definitely show on-screen.

• Aaron N

  
  Cornelius: If you are caught by the gorillas, you must remember one thing. John Brent: What's that? Cornelius: Never to speak! John Brent: What the hell would I have to say to a gorilla?

• Everett J

  
  Very campy and dated, but oddly very entertaining. The story starts the same as the first movie with an astronaut landing and dealing with the shock of the Apes. But the second half is where the movie goes into it's own. Cheesy effects and fight scenes are easily overlooked… More
  Very campy and dated, but oddly very entertaining. The story starts the same as the first movie with an astronaut landing and dealing with the shock of the Apes. But the second half is where the movie goes into it's own. Cheesy effects and fight scenes are easily overlooked with a good story. I really dug what happens towards the end with the bomb and the people using their mind control. Very ahead of it's time, just like the first one. Good campy sci-fi fun never hurt nobody.

• AJ V

  
  Pretty good, but not as good as the first one, of course.

• Conner R

  
  A lot more ambitious than most sequels get, this really takes the idea of self destruction to a new level. My only complaint with this movie is the downgrade in costuming, sets and make-up; other than that it's pretty amazing. Ted Post has great direction and moves the story… More
  A lot more ambitious than most sequels get, this really takes the idea of self destruction to a new level. My only complaint with this movie is the downgrade in costuming, sets and make-up; other than that it's pretty amazing. Ted Post has great direction and moves the story along perfectly. We get to see more of what was hinted at the end of the first movie. What makes this such an important series is its focus on the idea of humanity and who is good and evil. Fear of the unknown is this movies main purpose, the humans and apes both refuse to understand one another. The ending is extremely powerful and really deserving.

• David L

  
  First of the 'Ape' sequels, this sees a new loincloth clad all American hero, Brent, wandering around the Monkey Planet that used to be called Earth after being caught up in the same space / time flux as Charlton Heston in the original. Brent awakens next to his derelict,… More
  First of the 'Ape' sequels, this sees a new loincloth clad all American hero, Brent, wandering around the Monkey Planet that used to be called Earth after being caught up in the same space / time flux as Charlton Heston in the original. Brent awakens next to his derelict, burnt out spacecraft, confused, but it's not long before Nova from the first movie shows up, and leads him to the Ape City, where he is captured. After a fairly tedious sequence where the friendly monkey scientist Dr. Zira explains the situation (for those who missed Apes 1) Brent escapes captivity and follows a bizarre, auditory signal which leads him underground, Beneath the Planet of the Apes where he encounters a fresh horror: a race of mutants, almost human, who perform acts of worship to their deity, a still operational nuclear missile capable of bringing an end to all life on the planet, whilst singing a truly eerie rendition of All Things Bright and Beautiful. Seriously, this is freaky stuff. Unfortunately for Brent, these mutants are no more friendly than the simians above ground.... More action oriented than the original, I actually enjoyed this one more than most fans of the series, as the pace it sets keeps things ticking over rather nicely. With fine performances all round, yet more visually impressive set designs - the New York subway station, the derelict New York Library - using a combination of physical constructs and matte paintings to produce backdrops far more evocative than anything CGI is capable of, and staggeringly good make up work once more, as well as a nice line in social commentary, this is way above your average sci-fi fodder. A good sequel and worth a look for fans of the original

• Anthony L

  
  This sequel got a little bit silly towards the end and was verging on tacky 50's low-budget sci-fi but that?s fine, I love tacky 50's low-budget sci-fi!

• Michael G

  
  Beneath the Planet of the Apes is one of the the least inventive and creative sequel to one of the most inventive and creative sci-fi movies ever made. It's a lot like doing a connect-the-dots puzzle in pencil that someone already did with a bold magic marker. The only motivation… More
  Beneath the Planet of the Apes is one of the the least inventive and creative sequel to one of the most inventive and creative sci-fi movies ever made. It's a lot like doing a connect-the-dots puzzle in pencil that someone already did with a bold magic marker. The only motivation I can think of for this movie being made with this script is the Almighty Dollar. (Which is what I'm guessing to be the main reason that Charlton Heston came back.) If I saw this in 1970 I'd declare it the Worst Movie ever made out of sheer disappointment alone, but since I saw it almost 2 decades after I saw the original and was obviously in no rush, I'll just call it pretty bad, mainly because of the braindead story. There were a few themes and ideas that could've been expanded upon wonderfully, but apparently mutants with bad complexions worshiping the Doomsday Device from Dr. Strangelove took precedence. And Nova was so damn cute (even more so than the original) until she spoke. Yeesh. And the worst part is they made 3 more of these movies. Damn them all to hell!!!

• Stephen M

  
  The first half of this is just an uninspired rehash of the brilliant original. The story only really gets going after James Franciscus has tumbled to the truth of his situation -- namely that the titular 'Planet' is Earth, and that nuclear war has conveniently turned New… More
  The first half of this is just an uninspired rehash of the brilliant original. The story only really gets going after James Franciscus has tumbled to the truth of his situation -- namely that the titular 'Planet' is Earth, and that nuclear war has conveniently turned New York into California -- and the telepathic mutant tribe has been introduced. Even then it's not much fun, though grudging respect is due for the startlingly bleak ending. The film looks surprisingly cheap and the effects work is shoddy, the ape make-up being the only sign of quality craftsmanship carried over from the original. Hugely disappointing.

• Lafe F

  
  It's diminished without Charlton Heston as a leading man. It doesn't feel like the same planet we were at in the original. The missile cult is the hilight, with their creepy society underground. It's a powerful ending; I applaud them for that.

• xGary X

  
  A really lame sequel to Planet Of The Apes in which a one man rescue team (useful) happens to land in exactly the same place just after Taylor left (handy) and wanders around asking people where he is. A lot. It gets better when Hest reappears (although this is virtually at the end),… More
  A really lame sequel to Planet Of The Apes in which a one man rescue team (useful) happens to land in exactly the same place just after Taylor left (handy) and wanders around asking people where he is. A lot. It gets better when Hest reappears (although this is virtually at the end), but it's just so pointless. Cool veiny heads though...

• Dann M

  
  Beneath the Planet of the Apes is a fairly good sci-fi drama, but lacks the craft of the original. The story follows Brent, an astronaut sent to rescue Taylor, who ends up marooned on the same planet, but is taken captive by human mutants who live in the Forbidden Zone. James… More
  Beneath the Planet of the Apes is a fairly good sci-fi drama, but lacks the craft of the original. The story follows Brent, an astronaut sent to rescue Taylor, who ends up marooned on the same planet, but is taken captive by human mutants who live in the Forbidden Zone. James Franciscus, Linda Harrison, and Kim Hunter lead the cast and give solid performances. However, the poor effects hinder the film and (with the mystery of the planet revealed in the first film) it's hard to recreate the same suspense again. Still, the film finds an interesting place to take the story and expands the mythology. Ultimately, Beneath the Planet of the Apes fails to deliver on the promise of first film, and instead delivers a mediocre sequel.

• Cameron J

  
  "They finally really did it. You maniacs! You actually made a sequel!" No, it's not that bad, but man, Charlton Heston made a pretty good decision not returning for a major part in this. Not because it's a sequel and that ended up getting bad reviews, as you would… More
  "They finally really did it. You maniacs! You actually made a sequel!" No, it's not that bad, but man, Charlton Heston made a pretty good decision not returning for a major part in this. Not because it's a sequel and that ended up getting bad reviews, as you would imagine, but becuase, well, man, the years have just not been flattering on his performance out of the first one. I opened this review with a joke on the line that unveiled one of the biggest twists of all time: the legendary Charlton Heston screaming is horror does not hold up, or at least it doesn't for anyone that's not Eric Bana. Okay, maybe I went a little overboard, comparing a legend like Heston to Eric "Please, Don't Play Elvis" Bana, who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag... that was soaked... in acid... and wasn't actually on him, but the point is, Heston didn't really stand the test of time, but then again, a lot of things didn't hold up from "Planet of the Apes", and yet, that film looks like it came out yesterday, compared to the sequel. Okay, so this film's aging isn't as bad as the aging in "The Planet of the Apes", partially because even back then, Ed Wood looked at the visual effects and said "Man, that's spotty." Now, I'm not looking for "Lord of the Rings", but I know that the visual effects of any average film from the '70s were not this bad, let alone a "Planet of the Apes" film. Still, as luck would have it, the visual effects don't show up a whole lot, but what does, and is also spotty, is the writing. Now, the writing isn't terrible, but it's still covered in cliches that they try to cover up with by having them involve simians, which only makes it sillier. Something else really offputting about the writing is the lack of development and forced character personality changes in it, and that is a problem that hits even harder with weak, sometimes hollow storytelling. Now, his direction isn't consistently terrible, but there comes many points, especially after the development segments, where Post doesn't provide enough punch or tension in the action, or drama, making the film feel rather inconsequential. Still, although the film makes its deal of faults, and doesn't quite provide enough tension to power the compellingness, there's still plenty to this film - including things that have survived the test of time - that do leave this film to be, if nothing else, entertaining. The film is quickly paced; perhaps too much so for a film this lacking in impact, but the film still comes in and does its job in a certainly imperfect, but still rather entertaining fashion. Perhaps what makes this film so entertaining is the eye-candy, because although there's little that's too terribly inventive, the production designs are still rather elaborate and breathe much life into this world. What further gets you invested in this world is, of course, the makeup, which still isn't perfect, but still retain that life and believability they had in the original. Something else to enjoy is the action, which may be spotty on occasion, yet consistently bordering on devoid of compellingness, but still has enough slickness and boom in the choreography and staging, that although it's hard to invest yourself in what they're fighting for, you still find yourself entertained. Of course, to me, what carries this film the most is leading man, James Franciscus, who many not be a powerhouse, but is at least better than Heston. No, but seriously though, to me, Franciscus plays the Brent character with a strong presence and aura of mystery that's strong enough to brush past his lack of devlepment. I'm not saying that Brent is as compelling of a character as Taylor, but still serves as an interesting character, played fairly well enough by Franciscus to support the entertainment value in the film. When it's all said and done, there's plenty of spot in the technical value and writing, as well much vacancy of impact in Ted Post's direction, which, when mixed with his overly fast pacing, makes this film brief and forgettable, but for the time that you do spend in this world again, you still get plenty of entertainment value and dazzle out of the still fairly impressive production designs, as well as a reasonably charismatic lead performance by James Franciscus, ultimately leaving "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" to stand as an easily inferior, but still decently enjoyable follow-up to the classic. 2.5/5 - Fair

• Christopher J

  
  Rating : ★★★ After the brilliance of the original I thought the sequel would either be excellent or terrible. I was wrong, this is just a mediocre sequel that has some great parts and also some bad. Lets begin with the plot. Another spacecraft… More
  Rating : ★★★ After the brilliance of the original I thought the sequel would either be excellent or terrible. I was wrong, this is just a mediocre sequel that has some great parts and also some bad. Lets begin with the plot. Another spacecraft crashes on the planet ruled by apes, carrying astronaut Brent who searches for Taylor and discovers an underground city where mutated humans with psychic powers live. At the same time the Apes rise up to declare war against the humans and decide to expand in to the forbidden territory. The first half of the film is essentially the same as the first half of the original but with a new male character. It works at this point and you get a better insight of the ape community through the outside meeting of the chimps, gorillas and orang-utans. It was also nice to see a post apocalyptic New York and nice to understand that after the first film most of this was caused my nuclear fall out. But then you have the negative points. First of all why do the apes hate the humans so much? If they have no recollection of the history before 1200 years then they would have no idea of the relations with humans in the past. Whilst the mutated humans were fine and the idea, why did they have psychic powers? HOW did they have psychic powers? it is never explained and it just caused me to get annoyed. I did like how they just introduced magic and powers in to the equation without explanation. I also find it hilarious that the spacecraft lands in pretty much the same area of the planet as the one from the previous film. The performances are good this time around with the usual performances from the previous film and a nice introduction of the character Brent despite him being exactly the same as Taylor. Overall the film was ok but not a patch on the original. It had some good themes and some stuff that worked really well (the apes side of the film) but then some stuff was horrible (the mutant side) and was just like a really bad episode of 70's Doctor Who. The ending of this film was just as shocking as the original with some stuff that I liked and other sceptical about but it was a very nihilistic ending. I am interested to watch the next film to find out where it goes because I literally have no idea after that ending, lets hope it expands on the good points and rids all the supernatural and magical stuff.

• Chris B

  
  The sequel to the original "Planet of the Apes" is a nearly pointless and trivial film that succumbs to it's social commentary but rather than filter it through like the first film did, to great effect, this one slams it right in your face. The film features the ending… More
  The sequel to the original "Planet of the Apes" is a nearly pointless and trivial film that succumbs to it's social commentary but rather than filter it through like the first film did, to great effect, this one slams it right in your face. The film features the ending of the first film in it's beginning and goes on to show the fate of Taylor and Nova as well as the other poor astronauts that land here. The film is more hokey and absurd than the original and tries to be too serious for what it does to advance the story. The ending seems rather sudden and ends in a very fast and downing type of way. As a sequel this film can't stand up to the original even with Heston's role in it, and ultimately is unnecessary.

• Daniel P

  
  A better than expected first sequel, <i>Beneath the Planet of the Apes</i> largely ignores the first instalments concentration on social commentary and philosophy, and instead deals in thrills, violence and the nature of humanity, and has a decidedly more SF bent with… More
  A better than expected first sequel, <i>Beneath the Planet of the Apes</i> largely ignores the first instalments concentration on social commentary and philosophy, and instead deals in thrills, violence and the nature of humanity, and has a decidedly more SF bent with evolved, underground-dwelling humans who have developed psychic abilities. <p>Taking the lead, James Franciscus' Brent is a more likeable but blander hero than Charlton Heston's Taylor (who only has a small role here), and Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter are short-changed here as their ape characters are largely ignored. The plot mostly consists of Brent and Nova being caught and trying to escape until the tense final third and another, very different but equally downbeat finale.

• a b

  
  Eerie like the first one, but really pretty stupid. I loved it, though.

• Marcus W

  
  This film is so silly, I half expected John Cleese to turn up banging some coconuts together.

• Leo L

  
  Fantastic!

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