While watching the original Apes film for the first time, one of the thoughts I remember having was "wouldn't it be cool to see exactly HOW the apes revolted against the humans?". Well, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" gives us exactly that.
For a basic plot summary, "Conquest" continues the story of the offspring of Cornelius and Zira, sheltered on Earth by circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalbon). Now branded as Ceasar (Roddy McDowell), the advanced-intelligence chimpanzee bristles at the slave-like treatment of apes in the "future" (1991), eventually leading the revolt that will change the world.
The key "drawing card" of this movie is the last half hour, when we actually get to see the apes revolt against their human masters. Worth the price of admission alone is the epic speech given by Ceasar as he leads the apes in their conquest. After all the ape history talked about in the previous three movies, it is exhilarating to actually SEE it transpiring.
"Conquest" is also strange, though, in that it is unfortunate that it had to come after "Escape", which was, I believe, a commercial failure (because of its satirical nature). This movie gets back to more serious roots, but it seems like the damage had already been done. The budget is paper-thin, and the run-time clocks in at just under 90 minutes. Of all the movies in the Apes franchise, this is the one that could have been expanded into something much more epic. Instead, it gets a rather bland, low-budget treatment.
Overall, though, I can still enjoy "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" because of those ape revolt scenes and the great character of Caesar. By this point, if you haven't "bought in" to the series you won't even be watching, so it is for the true Ape-heads.
For a basic plot summary, "Conquest" continues the story of the offspring of Cornelius and Zira, sheltered on Earth by circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalbon). Now branded as Ceasar (Roddy McDowell), the advanced-intelligence chimpanzee bristles at the slave-like treatment of apes in the "future" (1991), eventually leading the revolt that will change the world.
The key "drawing card" of this movie is the last half hour, when we actually get to see the apes revolt against their human masters. Worth the price of admission alone is the epic speech given by Ceasar as he leads the apes in their conquest. After all the ape history talked about in the previous three movies, it is exhilarating to actually SEE it transpiring.
"Conquest" is also strange, though, in that it is unfortunate that it had to come after "Escape", which was, I believe, a commercial failure (because of its satirical nature). This movie gets back to more serious roots, but it seems like the damage had already been done. The budget is paper-thin, and the run-time clocks in at just under 90 minutes. Of all the movies in the Apes franchise, this is the one that could have been expanded into something much more epic. Instead, it gets a rather bland, low-budget treatment.
Overall, though, I can still enjoy "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" because of those ape revolt scenes and the great character of Caesar. By this point, if you haven't "bought in" to the series you won't even be watching, so it is for the true Ape-heads.