Farewell to the Planet of the Apes was the final of five TV movies that was made by combining episodes of the 'Planet of the Apes' TV series together. This one featured the instalments 'Tomorrow's Tide' and 'Up Above the World So High'. In the first half our human protagonists are captured (again) by apes who run a forced labour camp where men are made to fish in shark infested waters. In the second part our heroes assist a man who has built a hand-glider and wishes to discover the secrets of flight.
I suppose the two episodes used in this final TV movie are reasonably distinctive when set along-side most of the others. Fishing and hand-gliding aren't the most predictable subjects for this series to base its material around. In this respect the film is to be commended but in almost all respects it's as poor as the others in this series of films. It lacks decent characters beyond Roddy McDowell's Galen and some of the apes and the plots are never played out to very much dramatic effect. While, like all the others, this is essentially two separate episodes stuck together somewhat randomly and so it has two half-hearted story arcs as opposed to one decent one. In summary, these TV movies are no more than a curiosity. Their appeal is very limited, as any enthusiasts of all things 'Apes' would really be better simply watching the series rather than these clumsily constructed films. They're more worthy of a footnote in 'Apes' history rather than something that needs to be seen.
I suppose the two episodes used in this final TV movie are reasonably distinctive when set along-side most of the others. Fishing and hand-gliding aren't the most predictable subjects for this series to base its material around. In this respect the film is to be commended but in almost all respects it's as poor as the others in this series of films. It lacks decent characters beyond Roddy McDowell's Galen and some of the apes and the plots are never played out to very much dramatic effect. While, like all the others, this is essentially two separate episodes stuck together somewhat randomly and so it has two half-hearted story arcs as opposed to one decent one. In summary, these TV movies are no more than a curiosity. Their appeal is very limited, as any enthusiasts of all things 'Apes' would really be better simply watching the series rather than these clumsily constructed films. They're more worthy of a footnote in 'Apes' history rather than something that needs to be seen.