Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

SnoopyStyle Cornelius (Roddy McDowall), Zira (Kim Hunter) and Milo escape the Earth's destruction in Colonel Taylor's spaceship. They travel back in time 2000 years and arrive in present-day Earth 2 years after the spacecraft's disappearance. The military are shocked to find the apes in the space capsule and place them in the Los Angeles Zoo. Dr. Dixon and Dr. Branton are shocked when they start talking. Milo is killed by the gorilla in the next cage. They become media sensations. Senior White House scientific adviser Dr. Hasslein takes them on a tour around town. A drunken Zira lets out the truth about the future and Hasslein advises the President to kill the apes. Branton and Dixon help them escape and find shelter in a circus run by Señor Armando (Ricardo Montalbán). Zira gives birth to a son she names Milo.This is very silly compared to the first two movies. The comedic turns are fun. The initial testing of the apes is really funny. The switch in tone does make this a campy follow up. The flip between humans and apes is pretty good. However the logic of the space traveling apes is questionable. Also the humans need to be played by better actors. The decline in budget probably has a big hand in that. Eric Braeden plays the only human that is truly compelling.

Thomas Drufke Sometimes sequels try to be too much like the previous outing. Which was the biggest problem with Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Escape From the Planet of the Apes was a big improvement and a leap forward for the franchise. In a time where we now have 'Rise' and 'Dawn' of Apes it's pretty hard to impress me with the overwhelming effects that we have now. With that being said this film is a smart and refreshing take on the Apes franchise. It basically takes the premise of the original apes film and flips it on the other side. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie.Cornelius and Zira lead the film which was definitely the smartest decision the filmmakers could have made. Having the same male character for the first two outings grew a bit old and I liked that I was actually rooting for someone other than humans. That's how I fell in love with the new films. Caesar to the new films is exactly how you feel about Zira in Escape. I thought Eric Braeden was as equally as good of a villain as the franchise has seen. He was deceptively despicable and at times you understand his logic.Even though it's 1971, I thought the decision to switch from practical effects to real animals was an interesting one to say the least. The gorilla costumes were pretty awful and the movie does have it's fair share of over-the-top characters. Even with the film's great moments and the good choices the filmmakers made, it didn't lack the big mistake unlike Beneath. Beneath screwed up the franchise for the time being for it's gutsy ending and I have to say, Escape did the same. Without spoilers it ruins my excitement for the next installments after Escape. If it's not broke don't fix it.+Zira & Cornelius +Refreshing premise +Great Villain +Runtime is perfect -Switching between practical effects & real animals -Ending7.4/10

Leofwine_draca The third of the original PLANET OF THE APES series, following on from the classic original and the bombastic follow-up. This one's much lower-key and subdued, mainly because it was made on a budget clearly a lot lower than in the first two films. No futuristic worlds or societies here, just a simple fish-out-of-water story instead.It's also a disappointing movie, mainly because nothing much happens until the climax. The script is lacklustre, with hardly any moments of incident or excitement (even an early death seems to have been squeezed in just to get rid of an extraneous character). Instead, we get tons upon tons of exposition and lots of dumb light comedy scenes in which the apes attempt to be human by dressing up and getting drunk.The best thing about the movie is Roddy McDowall, who once more delivers a pitch-perfect turn as an intelligent simian; he was much missed in the last instalment, so it's great to see him back. Not so Kim Hunter, who's a bit irritating here. Still, the supporting cast is decent: Bradford Dillman, Ricardo Montalban and Eric Braeden all deliver solid turns. Then there's that ending, totally at odd with the rest of the film's spirit, but by far the best thing about it in my opinion. If only the rest of the film could have been like it...

Jamie Spraggon This is the 3rd chapter in the McDowell ape films this 1971 film stars Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter & Bradford Dillman. Roddy McDowell & Kim Hunter continue their roles as Cornelius and Zira in this film they travel to present day at first they are feared and imprisoned but at their court hearing they become sensations where they are taken from the zoo to a 5 star hotel, they are wined and dined and treated like celebrities until Zira falls pregnant then they have to fight for their lives but they have the help of Dillman and his colleague Natalie Trundy. A good entry to the ape saga much better then the 2nd one beneath the planet of the apes but for me the stand-out in the series is the 1968 classic Planet of the apes. ***/*****