Reviews

Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes is one of five TV movies made in the early 1980's by editing together episodes of the canceled Planet of the Apes TV series. This one is made from two of my favorite episodes: The Gladiators and The Legacy. Some consider the editing of two episodes together to be a flaw of these TV movies, but I found all five TV movies to be quite entertaining. I especially enjoyed them when they were first shown on TV because they gave me a much wanted glimpse of the long canceled TV show which wasn't being re-run in the years long before the Planet of the Apes television series was made available on DVD. Roddy McDowall as Galen is my favorite character of the entire Apes franchise, but the entire cast of this version of the Apes series does a wonderful job. Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes stands out in my mind as one of my absolute favorites due to Ron Harper's sensitive portrayal as astronaut Alan Virdon who longs for the wife and child he left behind when he blasted off into space. Virdon's longing to return to his family is a highpoint of this series, and it really comes into play in The Legacy segment of Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes. Harper as Virdon really shines in this one, and he helped to make Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes a very enjoyable part of my youth. I still have warm feelings for it.

The complete Planet of the Apes TV series is now on DVD, but there was a time when that was not the case. Liberty, and Pursuit on the Planet of the Apes is one of five TV movies that were made by editing together episodes of the Planet of the Apes TV series. They had a great cast which included Ron Harper, James Naughton, Booth Colman, Mark Lenard as Urko and Roddy McDowall as Galen. McDowall said in interviews that Galen was his favorite Planet of the Apes role, and he is my favorite character of the entire franchise as well. Life, Liberty, and Pursuit on the Planet of the Apes is made up of the TV episodes The Surgeon and The Interrogation, and McDowall really shines as Galen in both of them. In the early 1980's the Apes TV movies were the only way that one could see the long canceled Planet of the Apes TV series, and I really enjoyed them.

These days the Planet of the Apes television series is readily available on DVD, but that wasn't the case in the early 1980's when five TV movies were made by editing together episodes of the Planet of the Apes TV series. At that time the TV movies gave loyal fans of the Planet of the Apes series a much wanted glimpse of the long canceled TV show, and I really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed Roddy McDowall as Galen. McDowall said in interviews that Galen was his favorite Planet of the Apes role, and he is my favorite character of the entire franchise as well. The TV series allowed McDowall to play a variety of different types of apes thanks to Galen's knack for impersonation, and we definitely get to see that in this TV movie. When taken on its own terms as two combined TV episodes, Treachery and Greed on the Planet of the Apes delivers solid Apes entertainment.