I recently re-watched the original Planet of the Apes movies. I always held this one in low regard, due in a large part to how bad it looked the first time I saw it on a rental VHS tape. All the NTSC red bleed from the jumpsuits made the poor makeup look even worse.
On second viewing by streaming I'm seeing it more clearly now so I can better evaluate it. I'd say this is stronger story than the other sequels in a a lot of ways. However it does have a lot of shortcomings.
If you can stomach the decline in makeup quality from earlier films the story of ape liberation is pretty good. Ricardo Montalban, Roddy McDowall and Hari Rhodes deliver believable performances which are above what is required by the script.
There are a few places where the production lacks. While the blocking and framing is generally pretty good, the lighting is noticeably poor. There are many scenes where just one more light or reflector would have made the result 100% better. Especially noticeable are how bad the night scenes look. They are about as bad as the worst 70's Kung Fu movie's night shots. But this was made in Hollywood!
There are also a few scenes of the developing ape revolt that are best thought of as symbolic or allegorical. Otherwise they strain credulity, even for an 'Ape' movie.
The music in particular elevates this movie from a tiresome sequel to a sequel. It's really more of a psychotronic/gonzo film. The wild scenes in the conditioning center are accompanied by some great tunes. And the music in the rest of the film, when it is present, is interesting and evocative. It's one of the places where money was well spent.
This along with the fact that the main bad guys wear blazers with turtle necks and the sheer chaos of the riot scenes really make this a great film to watch with a few friends over beers or a smoke.
The end speech by Roddy's Caesar is epic. Though I wish it had ended differently.
On second viewing by streaming I'm seeing it more clearly now so I can better evaluate it. I'd say this is stronger story than the other sequels in a a lot of ways. However it does have a lot of shortcomings.
If you can stomach the decline in makeup quality from earlier films the story of ape liberation is pretty good. Ricardo Montalban, Roddy McDowall and Hari Rhodes deliver believable performances which are above what is required by the script.
There are a few places where the production lacks. While the blocking and framing is generally pretty good, the lighting is noticeably poor. There are many scenes where just one more light or reflector would have made the result 100% better. Especially noticeable are how bad the night scenes look. They are about as bad as the worst 70's Kung Fu movie's night shots. But this was made in Hollywood!
There are also a few scenes of the developing ape revolt that are best thought of as symbolic or allegorical. Otherwise they strain credulity, even for an 'Ape' movie.
The music in particular elevates this movie from a tiresome sequel to a sequel. It's really more of a psychotronic/gonzo film. The wild scenes in the conditioning center are accompanied by some great tunes. And the music in the rest of the film, when it is present, is interesting and evocative. It's one of the places where money was well spent.
This along with the fact that the main bad guys wear blazers with turtle necks and the sheer chaos of the riot scenes really make this a great film to watch with a few friends over beers or a smoke.
The end speech by Roddy's Caesar is epic. Though I wish it had ended differently.
