Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

This pairing is what Jeff calls "The Myth of the Post-Apocalyptic Recovery," in that both films take place after an armageddon of sorts, when life has supposedly gotten back to an idyllic status quo. The first film in the pairing is a rarity on this podcast: A sequel! Only the third sequel reviewed thus far. It's 1970's budget-crippled "Beneath the Planet of the Apes." The film picks up at the final moments of the original, and follows Taylor (Charlton Heston) and Nova (Linda Harrison) as they head out into the wilds of the Forbidden Zone. After trying to confront something that could not possibly be, Taylor vanishes, and Nova stumbles upon Brent (James Franciscus), another astronaut who was part of the mission to find out what happened to Taylor and his comrades. Nova leads Brent to Cornelius (this time played by David Watson) and Zira (Kim Hunter), after which they escape capture and flee into the Forbidden Zone, only to find out there are other humans left alive as well, but not quite fully human any longer. An able attempt by director Ted Post, which would likely have been better had the studio not cut their production budget in half!