Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

Planet of the Apes
1968
****½
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Cast: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly, Linda Harrison

A spaceship has travelled far into the future where it crashlands on a mysterious planet run by anthropomorphic apes. You could take this as an allegory on racism, as a nasty jibe at creationism, or simply enjoy it as a very entertaining science fiction film. The impressive make-up earned an honorary Oscar. Followed by four sequels between 1970 and 1973, a dreadful remake in 2001 and a terrific franchise reboot in 2011. Based on Pierre Boulle's novel La planète des singes.