Beneath the Planet of the Apes - Journey to the Forbidden Zone (1970)

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Calarogus Shark Media. Welcome back to
TV in the Basement, where we continue

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our Simian Cinema retrospective with Beneath the
Planet of the Apes. Beneath the Planet

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of the Apes was the quickly produced
nineteen seventy sequel to the massively successful Planet

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of the Apes. It's a much
darker, weirder, and more action packed

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film that expands the Apes universe for
better and for worse. While not as

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groundbreaking as the first movie, it
still offers plenty of shocks and thought provoking

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moments. The story follows a new
astronaut named Brent played by James Franciscus,

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who is sent to rescue Taylor and
his crew from the first film. After

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crash landing on the future Earth,
Brent encounters the Chimpanzee scientist Zira and learns

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that Taylor disappeared into the Forbidden Zone. Brent soon discovers Taylor, held captive

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by a colony of mutated humans with
powerful SS psychic abilities, the result of

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nuclear war. As the Gorilla Army
marches on the mutant's underground city, a

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brutal battle ensues, with the fate
of the planet at stake. The cast

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sees the return of key players from
the first film, including Kim Hunter as

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Zira, Maurice Evans as Doctor Zais, and Linda Harrison as the mute human

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Nova. James Franciscus does an admirable
job stepping into the heroic astronaut role while

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still evoking memories of Charlton Heston,
and Heston himself appears again as Taylor,

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although only briefly in the beginning and
end. More on that later. The

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standout new character is General Ursus,
the ruthless gorilla commander, played with scenery

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chewing gusto by James Gregory. He's
a memorable villain who embodies the worst of

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the Ape's militarism and prejudice. The
telepathic mutant humans are in eerie addition,

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their powers conveyed through unsettling masks and
distorted voices. Some of the best scenes

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involve the apes religious hysteria as the
guerrillas whip up a holy war against the

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heathen mutants. It's appointed commentary on
how dogmatic belief can justify atrocities. The

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action is also ramped up with shootouts, brawls, and explosions galore as the

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Apes and mutants clash and the hallucinatory
sequence where the Mutants mentally assault Brent is

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a real trip full of disturbing imagery, but the film has some major flaws.

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The story feels disjointed, with jarring
jumps between the Ape and Mutant plot

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lines. The budget limitations are more
apparent, with extensive footage recycled from the

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first movie. Some of the new
Ape makeups are noticeably cruder, the Mutant

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city sets and costumes look cheap and
silly, and the shock ending where Taylor

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and Brent parish as the Mutant's doomsday
bomb destroys the entire planet is a real

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downer that seemingly wrote the series into
a corner. Now, let's address the

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Charlton Heston controversy. Heston had no
desire to return for a sequel, feeling

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that the first film ended perfectly,
but the studio demanded his presence to boost

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the box office, so a compromise
was reached where Heston appears briefly at the

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start, then vanishes until a memorable
cameo at the climax. Heston donated his

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reduced salary for the film to charity, but he insisted that his character Taylor

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be killed off spectacularly, so he
couldn't be brought back again. Thus the

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ending where Taylor detonates the doomsday bomb, taking the whole planet with him.

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It's an explosive way to go,
but quite the downbeat conclusion. The absence

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of Taylor for most of the run
time is definitely felt. James Franciscus tries

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his best, but can't match Heston's
magnetic presence. In dry Wit, the

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astronaut protagonist just isn't as compelling this
time around. A TV version of the

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film added footage of Heston and the
other original astronauts exploring the Forbidden Zone shot

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during the making of the first movie
to pad out his role. Another controversy

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involves the treatment of actress Linda Harrison. While her character Nova was given some

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agency in the original film, here
she's reduced to a completely passive object fought

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over by the male characters. Harrison
herself was going through a contentious divorce with

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studio head Richard Zanik, which some
speculate led to her diminished role. It's

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an unfortunate step backwards for the series
gender politics. The film's violence and gore

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also sparked some outcry, especially the
graphic scene of an eight being shot through

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the head. A few seconds had
to be trimmed to avoid an X rating.

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Between this and the downbeat ending,
It's a much harsher and more cynical

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film than its predecessor, fitting for
the era of Vietnam and political unrest.

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Behind the scenes, the makeup process
was streamlined a bit, but still grueling

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for the actors. James Gregory's general's
uniform was so tight he had trouble breathing

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and nearly passed out several times.
Linda Harrison twisted her knee during one action

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scene and had to perform the rest
of the film in pain. The desert

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heat also took its toll on cast
and crew. Despite the rushed production,

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Beneath the Planet of the Apes still
earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score.

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The music by Leonard Rosenman is appropriately
dissonant and apocalyptic, complimenting the harsher

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tone. The film also did well
at the box office, proving that the

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Apes brand had legs, even hairy
ones. It wasn't as big a hit

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as the first movie, but sold
enough tickets to guarantee further sequels. So

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is Beneath the Planet of the Apes
a worthy successor to the classic original.

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Well, it depends on what you're
looking for. As pure sci fi spectacle,

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it delivers plenty of action, suspense, and weird visuals. The Ape

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society is even more fleshed out,
The Mutants ad a creepy new wrinkle,

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and it all builds to an explosive, literally finale, But the story lacks

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the clean narrative drive and powerful twist
ending of the first film. The social

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commentary is a bit muddled, and
the nihilistic conclusion denies the audience any feeling

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of catharsis or hope. As a
nine year old watching this for the first

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time, that ending bummed me out
so much I didn't watch another Apes movie

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for years. Still Beneath the Planet
of the Apes is an ambitious attempt to

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expand the series universe and mythology.
It introduces lots of elements that would be

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explored in later sequels and adaptations,
like Ape religion, and politics, and

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it wasn't afraid to get dark and
challenge the audience. That's admirable, even

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if the execution is a bit sloppy. Fortunately, the series would rebound with

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nineteen seventy one's escape from the Planet
of the Apes finding a clever way to

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continue the story and lighten the mood
a bit, But we'll save that discussion

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for another episode. In the end, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is

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a flawed but fascinating entry in the
franchise that's worth watching for Apes completists and

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fans of apocalyptic sci fi. It
may not live up to the original,

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but it still offers plenty of food
for thought and some pretty wild images of

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machine gun toting gorillas on horseback.
So what's your take on Beneath the Planet

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of the Apes. Does the darker
tone work for you? Or is it

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too much of a downer? Would
you have liked to see more Charlton Heston?

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Should the mutants have been dealt with
in a less silly way? If

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Next time, we'll be going ape
again with Escape from the Planet of

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the Apes, as the adventures in
this universe continue. Until then, keep

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watching the skies and the screens.