The movie begins
with four astronauts traveling in space. They crash
land on a planet many centuries in the future and are
unsure of their exact location. Taylor as played by
Charlton Heston leads the group onto this strange
world. He has only two fellow astronauts as one
female died during their travels.
Taylor notices how similar this planet is to Earth.
It supports life and appears a bountiful garden full
of life. But will any of this life be intelligent.
Taylor and his crew discover primitive humans eating
from the trees while acting more like beast than man.
If this is the best this world has then it appears
these three astronauts will be running all affairs
here shortly.
Horses are heard and Taylor looks up and sees a
Gorilla on a horse. It appears that this Planet is
ruled by Apes. The story progresses slowly but surely.
Nonhuman primates run everything here. Gorillas,
Chimpanzees, and Orangutans can speak and even walk
upright. Human beings on this planet are treated like
cattle and are not much more brutish than cattle.
Gorilla soldiers use humans for target practice and
round up those they don't shoot to be put in huts like
prisons. Human Beings are a thing for the zoo on this
world. Taylor is seen as a threat by the council of
Ape City. Lawgiver Zaius, an Orangutan knows full
well the history of man's former dominance but defends
and furthers the lie that Apes have always been
dominant over man.
Only with the help
of chimpanzee doctors is Taylor able to escape the
wrath of this world. As the movie ends Taylor learns
something startlingly. In the horizon by the shoreline
he sees the head of the statue of liberty. It becomes
apparent that his travels in space led him back to
Earth in fact and this planet was his home. He knows
in his heart that nuclear war ruined his world and
allowed this Apes to take control. |