Review – The Planet of the Apes

Here’s the barrel of monkeys that started it all (including four sequels, a short-lived TV series, and a reboot). Charlton Heston turns in one of the most furiously over-wrought performances of his career (which is saying something) as Taylor, an astronaut thrown off course and forced to crash-land on a planet ruled by apes. The main menu item of the day is social allegory, with ham-handed pontificating about everything from race relations to animal cruelty falling left and right. Still, that’s to be expected – or at least tolerated – in a movie from 1968. Though the apes are stylized and distinctly un-ape-like, their look and feel actually turned out to be more culturally iconic than the more realistic simians of the Tim Burton remake. Overall the end is still the best part. “Beware the beast man!” Mildly amusing