Escape from the Planet of the Apes marks a complete reset for the saga as it was bound to happen considering the world as we know was destroyed in Beneath. It is an amusing movie and quite fundamentally a comedy with some funny bits appearing throughout, serving effectively as a retread of the first movie. Zira (Kin Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) go back in time and instead of their intended destination, the date is set in the year 1971 where an intelligent population of humans speaks, but is at a loss for what to do with them.

And Zira and Cornelius show up with another chimp, Milo (Sal Mineo, Rebel without a Pause).

They first bring Zira and Cornelius to the Los Angeles Zoo, and place them in a cage next to a gorilla which tries to speak. However, both of them appear to comprehend the dialogue spoken by the humans, even though they remain mute. There are no humans in sight, and the duo talk about how their journey made them witness the destruction of Earth, and seem to have turned back in time to an epoch where apes don’t talk.

Zira makes her first utterance when Dr. Lewis Dixon and Dr. Stephanie Branton (Natalie Trundy, who played a mutant in Beneath the Planet of the Apes) are trying to gauge her level of intelligence. As the dignitaries walk out in utter disbelief, Milo is being strangled by the gorilla in the adjacent cage. After Milo’s corpse is removed, Dr. Dixon returns to communicate with what is left of the chimpanzees. They appear to be getting along.

The next scene is of the president and he has formed a US Commission for the Study of the Talking Chimpanzees because he does not know that they are capable of speech. From the President, we gather information that we suspected: The shuttle used by the apes was indeed Taylor’s.

Dixon sets the apes for the commission, telling them he will tell the world they can talk and then they will respond to a few simple questions. They use witty answers to capture the audience’s attention and sympathy. However, they do incur the animosity of one committee member, the President’s Science Advisor Dr. Otto Hasslein. He is incensed when Zira comes close to saying that she had done some dissection work on humans. Ultimately, they assert that they come from a future Earth.

Post meeting the commission, Zira and Cornelius informed Louis and Stephanie that yes, they were acquainted with Taylor, but there is no way he is alive because they witnessed the destruction of Earth.

In a television interview, Hasslein publicly states considering the theory of the apes coming from the future to be the only rational explanation left. Zira and Cornelius see it on the television and learn that they will be liberated from the zoo and moved to a hotel where they would be taken on a tour around the city. This follows an edit of the two wonder chimpanzees going on a shopping spree and throwing a party where they give countless interviews.

As with the previous film, the ridiculous approach to storytelling is very entertaining and perhaps the most welcome change the franchise needed after the last movie. It is quite an unusual film, and I’ll be honest, I do enjoy it.

However, circumstances shift when Zira discloses her pregnancy in the presence of Hasslein, who intoxicates her to satisfy his dubious inquiries. She explains to him that Earth was destroyed, which he records and subsequently presents to the President, who is markedly unconcerned. Hasslein desires the extermination of the apes, and the President makes the association to King Herod. Eventually, he does grant the apes permission to be subjected to what is termed ‘interrogation’ by Hasslein, albeit with less lie gentleness.

During the interrogation, Cornelius explains how the apes rose from a period in history when humanity was afflicted with a plague that resulted in the development of the primitive man's best friend. He continues to explain how over time, apes evolved into pets capable of responding to their owners and eventually leads to Aldo, the first ape ever capable of speech, exclaiming “No.”

Zira’s case, in the view of Hasslein, truthfully emphasizes the point she hovered on the word “dissected” with a gavel. He calls Dr. Dixon to administer a dose that boundaries Zira's consciousness and is free from any measurement of control. She is forced to talk about the dissections that were actually performed, amongst other things. That is the evidence that Hasslein brings to the commission and starts a vote that is passed unanimously that Zira’s child must not be caesarian and should be made into permanent nonparents.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes 1971 Watch Free on Fmovies

Zira and Cornelius manage to escape out of the camp—not far however before Zira begins labor. Cornelius returns to the barracks for medical staff, only to learn someone is claiming he murdered someone when he had actually overshot capturing someone with a gun who took an unintentional spill. With Dr. Branton's assistance, it becomes necessary to escort Zira to the liberated area.

We are then introduced to the best character of the movie about an hour and 12 minutes in, as Branton and Dixon enlist the assistance of a circus runner, Armando, played by Ricardo Montalban from TV’s Fantasy Island. Armando held captive two chimpanzees, a baby included, and plans to conceal the new baby he received.

They named the new chimpanzee Milo. While Mulligan had specifically instructed Hasslein to search all circuses and zoos, armando sees them off. Most enjoyable to see Montalban in anything, no matter how small the role is.

In his farewell to Lewis and Stephanie, Cornelius asks for a manner in which they could ‘self-destruct’ if caught, and Lewis provides a revolver. The plan is for Cornelius and Zira to lay low in an old shipyard until the police activity dies down, then rejoin the circus as it moves south to Florida.

The authorities come across Zira's suitcase and Hasslein is off to search for them without any help from Lewis and Stephanie, who have their own plans to aid. Hasslein pursues the apes after discovering them on a ship, armed.

Zira and her baby get shot by Hasslein, who is also confronted by cops, military forces, Stephanie, and Lewis. As Zira’s enraged husband, Cornelius retaliates by shooting Hasslein but pays with his life courtesy of police gunfire. In her final moments, Zira throws the infant overboard.

Before the circus shuts down, Armando tells the baby chimp said to be Zira and Cornelius's offspring to “Momma” over and over again, revealing his true identity in a weird looped shot.

It’s yet another very compelling conclusion. It’s grim, yet you can still feel a sense of optimism while leaving room for potential sequels.

The movie does change its tone quite often, but manages to remain witty. The blend of comedic elements with additional seriousness and subtly threatening undertones make the film much more dynamic and interesting to watch.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes 1970 Review