The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic... Read allThe sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Lucius
- (archive footage)
- Gorilla
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJames Franciscus, who had spent most of his career playing doctors and lawyers, so welcomed the opportunity to wear a costume that could best be described as minimal. Franciscus was a natural athlete and keen tennis player, so was in great shape for the shoot.
- GoofsBrent was sent on a rescue mission to look for Taylor and his crew. This makes absolutely no sense for myriad reasons, including: 1) The first Planet of the Apes (1968) film specifically states that the crew was traveling near the speed of light. As such, decades or even centuries must have passed on Earth. Since the scientists who sent them on the mission would know, why would they send a rescue for a someone who they would never live long to "miss?" (the only way it would make sense is if Brent and his Skipper had been following Taylor's ship at a distance in case they needed assistance, and just never mentioned on the first film). 2) Where would they have "looked" for Taylor's mission? Space is a vast place and even sending a ship along the same route as Taylor would be no guarantee that they would ever find his vessel. 3) Even if Brent left the day after Taylor did, it would likely be decades or centuries before he caught up to Taylor, in which case the people who sent them both would be long dead before they knew if either mission was successful.
There was no need to sent Brent on a "rescue" or recovery mission as it would have taken place decades or centuries later than it would possible or necessary.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Ending Voiceover: In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe, lies a medium-sized star, and one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet, is now dead.
- Crazy creditsThe 20th Century Fox logo does not appear on this film.
- Alternate versionsWhen originally released in the UK, the film was heavily cut to receive a lower certificate from the BBFC. This version excised most of the violent and horrific scenes, most notably from the last third of the film, including both scenes where Brent is forced to attack Nova, the revelation of the underground humans' true appearance, the fight Brent and Taylor are forced to have in the prison cell, the killing of the mutant guard on a spiked door, and much of the shoot-out at the film's climax. This cut version was later shown on British TV, c.1991, even though all UK video and DVD releases have been fully uncut and rated '15' since 1987.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
- SoundtracksAll Things Bright and Beautiful
(uncredited)
Music by Leonard Rosenman
Lyrics by Paul Dehn
sung by choir of mutants
I really can not understand why the heck Richard Zanuck allowed Charlton Heston to talk him into going with that downer ending that has already been referred to by others. The only reason why Heston pushed it wasn't because it made for good cinema but because he wanted to singlehandedly see to it that he never have to do another Apes sequel again. It's a pity that Heston never realized that the best sequel story one could have explored was what happened to Taylor and Nova afterwards, and could have made for some equally compelling drama as the first film did. To me, the main appeal of the first film wasn't the Ape society, it was the character of Taylor and his fascinating odyssey from misanthrope to defender of the species, only to see his earlier feelings borne out in the shock ending. The question that should have been addressed next in a sequel was, what would Taylor do now that he realized he was on Earth? What other things were there to discover on the planet? (Heck, you could have easily made a sequel movie without the apes returning, as far as I'm concerned!) Alas, because of the plot device imposed by this film (and Heston's inability to realize what a good thing he might have had going for himself), the rest of the series had to veer off into what was for me, a more uninteresting story line focusing on the Apes and their inevitable rise to power.
Plot holes and depressing ending notwithstanding, "Beneath" is still worth watching to see the traces of what could have been a great film that are there. The mutant storyline and their dwellings underneath the remains of New York still has an irresistible viewing quality to it. I do not recommend watching it in tandem with its magnificent predecessor though, because that's only going to make you more angry about the ending of this film.
- Eric-62-2
- May 24, 2000
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Planet of the Apes Revisited
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $18,999,718
- Gross worldwide
- $18,999,718
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1