Wuchakk
Joined Dec 2004
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Twenty years after the deaths of Cornelius & Zira, their child (Roddy McDowall) has been raised by a circus owner in secret (Ricardo Montalbán). Meanwhile society has devolved into Nazi-like authoritarianism in which chimpanzees, orangutangs and gorillas are viewed as pets at best and, worse, trained servants. Don Murray, Hari Rhodes and Severn Darden are featured in key roles.
"Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" (1972) is the fourth entry in the original franchise. It's the darkest one and is pictorially unique with the focus on despotism and modern urban structures. Don't expect the desert wilderness or forests of the first two movies.
Regrettably, 20th Century Fox was struggling at the time and so each film in the series had a significantly lower budget than the previous. No matter how you slice it, this can be 'felt' while watching "Conquest," even though I appreciate the distinctive visuals.
Yet, for me, it's the story and characters that count and they're just not very captivating. The next movie, "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (the final one of the original five), had the lowest budget and, therefore, the weakest sets, but it made up for it with interesting characters and a fairly compelling story, despite the cheesy comic book tone.
This has its points of interest, for sure, but I find it the least of the original series.
It runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot at Century City, Los Angeles, with some exteriors done at the Social Sciences buildings at the University of California in Irvine, which is 51 miles to the southeast.
GRADE: C.
"Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" (1972) is the fourth entry in the original franchise. It's the darkest one and is pictorially unique with the focus on despotism and modern urban structures. Don't expect the desert wilderness or forests of the first two movies.
Regrettably, 20th Century Fox was struggling at the time and so each film in the series had a significantly lower budget than the previous. No matter how you slice it, this can be 'felt' while watching "Conquest," even though I appreciate the distinctive visuals.
Yet, for me, it's the story and characters that count and they're just not very captivating. The next movie, "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (the final one of the original five), had the lowest budget and, therefore, the weakest sets, but it made up for it with interesting characters and a fairly compelling story, despite the cheesy comic book tone.
This has its points of interest, for sure, but I find it the least of the original series.
It runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot at Century City, Los Angeles, with some exteriors done at the Social Sciences buildings at the University of California in Irvine, which is 51 miles to the southeast.
GRADE: C.
A dozen years after a nuclear war, Caesar (Roddy McDowell) oversees a village of apes mixed with subservient humans. He and his advisor (Paul Williams), as well as Ceasar's human assistant (Austin Stoker), make an excursion to the Forbidden City for important data, but this incurs the wrath of Kolp, leader of the underground mutants (Severn Darden). Meanwhile a militant gorilla is enthusiastic about the prospects of war (Claude Akins).
"Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (1973) had the lowest budget of the original five movies, costing around $1.8 million (which would be equal to $7.4 million today), yet it still made a respectable profit at the box office. So, technically speaking, it's the least impressive of the five flicks; however, it makes up for it with compelling dialogues and interesting characters, e.g. Caesar, McDonald and Virgil and their trek to the city.
While the script was written by the husband/wife team that wrote "The Omega Man" two years earlier, it was polished up by Paul Dehn, who wrote 90% of the thought-provoking dialogues and altered the ending (throwing in the bit with Ceasar's statue).
Critics complain about the straight-on military attack in the last act, but I guess they never heard of Pickett's Charge or similar military assaults. Besides, the mutants hadn't fought such a battle since the distant atomic holocaust and weren't in top health due to longtime radiation exposure (for instance, notice how slow they walk). The number of capable combatants available was understandably limited as well.
As noted in my title blurb, the sociological commentary is interesting throughout with its observations about war, pacifism, equality, sectarianism, subcultures and the corresponding legalism. A good example regarding that last one is how humans cannot say "no" to apes, but apes can say it to each other. Now relate that to the 'n' word today.
On the feminine front, blonde Colleen Camp has a small role as human Julie while brunette Heather Lowe plays the doctor of the village, also human. France Nuyen is on hand as well as Kolp's assistant. There are several notables in the periphery, female and male, such as John Huston, Natalie Trundy, Lew Ayres, Noah Keen and so on.
Despite the low-budget and comic book vibe, this is my third favorite of the original five movies, placing after the original and "Beneath." It's basically on par with "Escape" and "Conquest," I just prefer it over those.
It runs 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot at Fox Movie Ranch, which today is Malibu Creek State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains, a 33-minutes drive due west of Hollywood. The underground sequences in the Forbidden City were shot at Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey, Los Angeles.
GRADE: B/B-
"Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (1973) had the lowest budget of the original five movies, costing around $1.8 million (which would be equal to $7.4 million today), yet it still made a respectable profit at the box office. So, technically speaking, it's the least impressive of the five flicks; however, it makes up for it with compelling dialogues and interesting characters, e.g. Caesar, McDonald and Virgil and their trek to the city.
While the script was written by the husband/wife team that wrote "The Omega Man" two years earlier, it was polished up by Paul Dehn, who wrote 90% of the thought-provoking dialogues and altered the ending (throwing in the bit with Ceasar's statue).
Critics complain about the straight-on military attack in the last act, but I guess they never heard of Pickett's Charge or similar military assaults. Besides, the mutants hadn't fought such a battle since the distant atomic holocaust and weren't in top health due to longtime radiation exposure (for instance, notice how slow they walk). The number of capable combatants available was understandably limited as well.
As noted in my title blurb, the sociological commentary is interesting throughout with its observations about war, pacifism, equality, sectarianism, subcultures and the corresponding legalism. A good example regarding that last one is how humans cannot say "no" to apes, but apes can say it to each other. Now relate that to the 'n' word today.
On the feminine front, blonde Colleen Camp has a small role as human Julie while brunette Heather Lowe plays the doctor of the village, also human. France Nuyen is on hand as well as Kolp's assistant. There are several notables in the periphery, female and male, such as John Huston, Natalie Trundy, Lew Ayres, Noah Keen and so on.
Despite the low-budget and comic book vibe, this is my third favorite of the original five movies, placing after the original and "Beneath." It's basically on par with "Escape" and "Conquest," I just prefer it over those.
It runs 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot at Fox Movie Ranch, which today is Malibu Creek State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains, a 33-minutes drive due west of Hollywood. The underground sequences in the Forbidden City were shot at Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey, Los Angeles.
GRADE: B/B-
After a young woman in Portugal (María Elena Arpón) has a horrifying experience at some mysterious ruins by a remote graveyard, her two friends try to find out what happened to her (Lone Fleming and César Burner). Big mistake.
A Portuguese/Spanish production, "Tombs of the Blind Dead" (1972) was originally called "The Night of the Blind Terror" (translated from Spanish). It spawned three sequels in the next three years: "Return of the Blind Dead," "The Ghost Galleon" and "Night of the Seagulls." "The Ghost Galleon" is the only other one I've seen, which is wisely a standalone flick.
This is slightly superior. The story is interesting, but it basically rips off plot elements of the Dracula story, just replace Harker with Virginia and the undead Count with the Templar mummies. The structure also brings to mind "Psycho" and obviously so. Nevertheless, the Iberian locations are great, the characters interesting, the women lovely, the antagonists creepy and the locomotive a nice addition.
Unfortunately, I lost a little respect for the flick when the train conductor's assistant tries to help a distraught female get on the train. You'll see what I mean. Then there's the issue of the horses. I guess you're not supposed to overthink things.
While watching the skeletal Templars riding horses, I couldn't help think of the apes on horses in "Planet of the Apes." Some distributors thought the same thing and so reedited the film, releasing it as "Revenge from Planet Ape," to take advantage of the popularity of that franchise in the 70s. It played at various theaters in America and even Guam.
It runs 1 hours, 41 minutes, with an edited American version called "The Blind Dead" butchering it to 1 hour, 23 minutes. It was shot in Portugal (Lisbon & places nearby: Palmela, Setúbal, Sesimbra and Estoril) and Spain (Monastery of Pelayos in Madrid).
GRADE: B-
A Portuguese/Spanish production, "Tombs of the Blind Dead" (1972) was originally called "The Night of the Blind Terror" (translated from Spanish). It spawned three sequels in the next three years: "Return of the Blind Dead," "The Ghost Galleon" and "Night of the Seagulls." "The Ghost Galleon" is the only other one I've seen, which is wisely a standalone flick.
This is slightly superior. The story is interesting, but it basically rips off plot elements of the Dracula story, just replace Harker with Virginia and the undead Count with the Templar mummies. The structure also brings to mind "Psycho" and obviously so. Nevertheless, the Iberian locations are great, the characters interesting, the women lovely, the antagonists creepy and the locomotive a nice addition.
Unfortunately, I lost a little respect for the flick when the train conductor's assistant tries to help a distraught female get on the train. You'll see what I mean. Then there's the issue of the horses. I guess you're not supposed to overthink things.
While watching the skeletal Templars riding horses, I couldn't help think of the apes on horses in "Planet of the Apes." Some distributors thought the same thing and so reedited the film, releasing it as "Revenge from Planet Ape," to take advantage of the popularity of that franchise in the 70s. It played at various theaters in America and even Guam.
It runs 1 hours, 41 minutes, with an edited American version called "The Blind Dead" butchering it to 1 hour, 23 minutes. It was shot in Portugal (Lisbon & places nearby: Palmela, Setúbal, Sesimbra and Estoril) and Spain (Monastery of Pelayos in Madrid).
GRADE: B-