The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society, but one man believes them to be a threat... Read allThe world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society, but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society, but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film's villain, Dr. Hasslein, had been briefly mentioned at the beginnings of Planet of the Apes (1968) and Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970).
- GoofsThe ape world is an underdeveloped and primitive society that believe flight is not possible according to the first film. Yet, three apes were able to find Taylor's ship, raise it from the depths of a lake, dry it out completely right down to the electronic equipment, figure out how to fly it, then finally enter a time warp to bring themselves to 20th century Earth. (Note: Apparently, Dr. Milo - after raising the ship from the water (most likely with help) - studied the ship's technical manuals. Entering the time warp was accidental when the Alpha and Omega bomb had detonated while the ship had been in flight).
- Quotes
Chairman of the President's Committee of Inquiry: [testing Lewis's assertion that the apes can speak] What is your name?
Dr. Zira: Zira.
Chairman of the President's Committee of Inquiry: One might as well be talking to a parrot.
Dr. Zira: A parrot?
Chairman of the President's Committee of Inquiry: What did I tell you? Mechanical mimicry. Unique in an ape, vocally, without a doubt, but... does the other one talk?
Cornelius: Only when she lets me.
- Crazy creditsThe 20th Century Fox logo does not appear on this film.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
So the other day I got all five films on Blu Ray for about 15 dollars. And when I watched ESCAPE as a 55 year old I was very impressed. It's not really a kid's adventure film, or even a science fiction spectacle. This movie is a tragedy, in the most profound sense of the word. In spirit it's much closer to CHINATOWN than the original PLANET OF THE APES.
Everyone remembers Zira and Cornelius as a cute, fun couple. That's how I remembered them too. But when you actually watch the film you see that they are really tragic heroes. When they flee the hospital with their baby there are Biblical overtones. (The President actually compares himself to Herod!) But what's still more disturbing is the way Zira herself owns up to the savage things that went on in her own laboratory in the future world. Her self-knowledge is a grim component of her eventual tragic fate. Her insistence on truth only makes her more admirable after she reveals some truly terrible secrets.
It's a waste of time to point out that Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowell both give career best performances as Zira and Cornelius. But what astonished me after forty-five years was the incredible intensity of Eric Braeden as Dr. Otto Hasslein. (He was just as spectacular as the doomed werewolf in a classic episode of KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER.) Dr. Hasslein is clearly meant to remind us of Nazi scientists and doctors who did unspeakable things in World War II. But at the same time he's like the tormented Christian heroes in THE OMEN movies, searching for the Anti Christ before the earth runs out of time. Each chilling thing he does is made more chilling by the fact that he's sincere in trying to stop what he thinks of as real evil. On the other hand, William Windom is surprisingly affable and humane as the President of the United States. STAR TREK fans will remember his epic meltdown in "The Doomsday Machine," but here he plays the voice of reason, a decent man who refuses to become hysterical in the face of mankind's doom.
Superb script, intense, haunting drama, beautiful tragic characters . . . All that's missing is the action, excitement, and gorillas on horseback!
- Dan1863Sickles
- Aug 21, 2018
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Details
- Release date
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- Also known as
- Secret of the Planet of the Apes
- Filming locations
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $12,348,905
- Gross worldwide
- $12,348,905
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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