That Statue of Liberty scene at the end is so iconic with such a powerful message. Easily one of the greatest twists in film history.

Taylor experienced the ultimate irony. He was disgusted by humans, so he gladly went on the mission. He was sure that he would find something "better than Man", but instead, he found something much worse.

Taylor...laughing at the other guy planting the flag. He is mocking his commitment to duty and formality in a seemingly hopeless and chaotic situation.

The sequels to this movie explains to some degree how the apes started to become more intelligent and were able to begin speaking (english, at least).

I strongly, STRONGLY recommend the other four of the original movies. This one may be lauded as the most iconic of the set, but the others add on to each other so well that by the time you get to the last one you feel like you've watched an epic. Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the second one, might be the weakest, but the third is incredible. Just try to keep in mind that the expectations of movies back then is very different than it is now. It'll be worth your time, I promise.

I used to love this movie, but because of the damn Simpsons I can't watch the ending now without laughing.

I was too young at the time but someone told me that in the theaters the whole audience erupted when Taylor first yelled at the apes.

I've always thought that his laughter, at the beginning when he sees that one guy planting a flag, is because of how ridiculous that action is. That flag no longer has any meaning. What it represents is long gone. So I think Taylor realizes that his colleague has not grasped the reality of it yet and Taylor thinks it's funny. This movie came out within 10 years of The Twilight Zone being on tv. I think this movie is doing the TZ 'science fiction as social commentary' thing. Don't look at it as hard science fiction. The sci-fi elements are just there to provide the framework for the message.

The original movie is what started everything!!

Eric, I am 63 born in 1960. I have seen these films countless times. The end to this film is one of the best endings I have ever seen, of course I did not realize it until I was in my 20's. There was also a Planet of the Apes T.V. show that was done quite well. But product costs forced it to only have 14 episodes.

The originals are all you need. The remakes just don't cut it. The sequels fill in the storyline

If you watch the film again, you will see clues about why the humans don't speak. We see Nova at times trying to get Taylor to stop talking. When he writes in the sand in the outdoor cage, Nova starts erasing his writing. Humans are physically able to speak, but they choose not to speak. They degraded into a non-verbal society. Centuries of being hunted by the apes made it necessary for them to be silent, just to avoid capture.

14:44 One of the most iconic lines in the history of cinema.

Thank God. You know it's rare for reactors to start with the first 'Planet of the Apes' film and, of course, you spoil the ending of this one if you watch any other 'Planet of the Apes' film first. Personally I would advise you to watch 'Escape from the Planet of the Apes' and 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes' before moving to the newer films. Although the 3rd and 4th films in a 5 part series, they are by far the most innovative and memorable sequels. I don't really want to spoil anything in either film, suffice to say that Conquest had many of its plot points repurposed for 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'. You will most certainly recognise a number of references to the original film in Rise. 'Planet of the Apes' was a novel first, set in a world where apes were technologically advanced beyond humans. Of course, they made them more primitive because it saved on the budget. And get this, it wasn't Earth. The idea to make it Earth came from Rod Serling (famous for creating and presenting The Twilight Zone). Without Serling's input then the series would never have been set on Earth, which is startling when you think about it.

If you're going to watch the entire franchise, there were 4 sequels to this movie, the 2001 reboot movie, & 3 (soon to be 4) of the current reboot movies.

The rest of the original movies aren't as powerful as this one. But, in my opinion, there are more backstory parts. Each has some strengths and problems.

I am old enough to remember the previews for this movie. When the previews for this movie came out in the theaters people were laughing hysterically when they saw talking apes. The laughter raised three levels when they said: staring “Dr Zeus” the Ape.

GIVE THE SPECIAL EFFECTS OF 60'S, IT'S A GENIUS IDEA FOR A MOVIE!!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

The apes speaking English is a standard conceit of the sci-fi genre in film. Otherwise, you would have a two hour movie where Taylor just wonders "What the hell are they saying for two hours?" In the novel, the astronaut is kept as a pet in an elementary school classroom and learns the language that way.

It's been a while since I read the original novel, but my memory is that the apes didn't speak the same language as the Taylor character (Ulysse Mérou in the novel) -- which would have been French at any rate. But the character learned the apes' language and taught French to Zira and Cornelius (don't remember if those names were used in the novel... I really should re-read it). The plot twist was different too... I can't remember if it turned out he was on Earth the entire time... but my memory is that that wasn't the case. The twist is revealed through a framing device. At any rate I think I always just assumed that the apes speaking English in the 1968 film was just a short-cut/dramatic license so a lot of screen time didn't have to be spent on teaching languages! I apologize if I've mischaracterized the novel... other commenters please correct me if necessary. Regardless... a terrific reaction! Of the original movie series, this is the only one that is a legitimately great movie... the sequels had increasingly smaller budgets and began to play like b-movie sci-fi fare of the day. The third film -- Escape from the Planet of the Apes -- which finds Cornelius and Zira time traveling back to Earth ca. 1973, is usually considered the best of the sequels.

This movie was surprisingly faithful to the book! Obviously due to its' run time there are a few things left out that I wish they explored. For example, after Taylor (Ulysse in the book) is revealed to be intelligent, the apes allow him freedom and rights and he lives among them for many months. It's so interesting because he actually starts to see the apes as the normal, higher beings, and sees humans as animals. In fact, he only leaves because his and Nova's child (from when they first caged them together) is being threatened by Dr. Zaius. I also wish they explored Zira a bit more. She's obviously the standout character in the book, and her relationship with our leading man is super complex. She's kinda everything to him. A mother figure, a sister, a best friend, a lover. She was the first one to see something in him and he never forgets that. It's really lovely.

A planet where apps evolved from memes? It's a madhouse! A MADHOUSE! No, wait... that's our world. Never mind.

Saw at the theater in 68, good movie! Thanks

This film is up there with 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars in terms of references. Now that you've seen it, you'll find it everywhere in pop culture. Also the remakes are all very great. The first is a good introduction, but Matt Reeves takes over the last two and makes some absolute masterpieces.

In the Forbidden Zone Dodge made reference to a "strange luminousity at night." Since it never rains in the Forbidden Zone it is safe to assume that there is some shroud that covers the sky that would block out the moon and stars since the Astronauts would have figured out they were on Earth looking at a clear night sky. As for the 3 men, 1 woman, I've wondered about that myself.

In the original novella, APE PLANET by Pierre Boulle,,the apes have a modern society with TVs, cars, planes, etc., Ulysses (the Taylor character) is not a prisoner, although Zera has to put a collar and leash on him to take him out, there is no Cornelius, Zaus is not a villain, and they are not on Earth, although when Boulle saw the movie he said he wished he had thought of it.

This is based on a novel. In the novel, the inventor who built the rocket & a journalist fly to a planet orbiting Betelgeuse. The humans have golden skin, since they're an alien species. The apes speak an alien language our heroes have to learn. Otherwise, the movie follows fairly close to the plot! The hunt at the beginning is a full blown safari with hunters dressed like noblemen, & their wives dressed like noble ladies admiring their husbands' prowess. Think of a novel making a sociopolitical point, the way Gulliver's Travels did, except with apes. The novel duplicates a lot of the science of the 1960s,including the implanting of electrodes in test animals' brains. The apes had 60s level technology, but it's a lot cheaper to rent horses, ect. The Statue of Liberty was a huge shock to movie audiences who, if they knew anything about the story at all, knew it was happening on an alien planet. You have to remember that this was made during the Cold War, when nuclear war was on everyone's mind. That's what Taylor meant with "You blew it up!" If you watch the remaining 4 films you'll see it's not so simple an explanation. We get backstory, including the rebellion of Caesar, whose ability to talk was inherited from his 2 chimp parents! How did talking apes go back in time? You'll have to watch the remaining 4 movies!

imagine watching this is the 70s, i know their minds were blown

They mention that their is a strange, luminous, cloud cover at night. It's weak, but explains why they can't see the Moon or the stars to realize they are on Earth.

Great reaction for a first watch, & an acute observation about how the movie comments on the way animals are treated - thanks!

Consider watching the rest of the original movies. They are worth watching!

It’s not uncommon in old sci fi for aliens and their planets to have impossible/unlikely similarities to Earth like language, environment, species, etc… with maybe small differences I’ve never heard the lack of a moon being called into question. I honestly never caught it. As to why there’s only 3 dudes and one girl for procreation, I don’t think that was the priority of the mission. We’re never actually told in-movie what exactly the mission is, just that it involved travelling to somewhere far away at speed faster than light for a long time and thus theoretical time dialation. Colonization seems implied, but so does returning to Earth if not for the loss of the ship. The PotA wiki says that the objective was exploration and to return with the data; colonization was plan B if they couldn’t return, but there’s no source for that

There’s no way that the STATUE OF LIBERTY would survive that long

In the sequel she (Nova) say "Taylor". Her first word.

You should watch the Planet of the Apes 1966 test footage. It's great. Taylor's name was Tomus.

I wonder how often that works, just throwing them in together. I know zoos in our world have to spend a lot of time trying to find couples who "match" together.

"Would an ape make a human doll that talks?" Why not? We humans have been making non-human dolls that talk for years. And we've been telling stories about anthropomorphic animals for centuries.

You never see any astronaut Taylor cosplays and I don't know why.

I'm an old-school fan, so all five of the original movies are worth seeing in my opinion. I also liked the Tim Burton, re-imagination of the world-building. I'm not a fan of the CGI reboots, but they seem to be pretty popular.

About the moon, they did say 'cloud cover' and 'strange luminosity' at night.

Supposedly the reasoning behind no moon is earth was put off ballance gravitationaly due to blast in the global nuclear war. Over time earth settled into a new orbit where the moon was no longer viewed from earth. Of course the reason story wise is if the moon was shown the twist at the end of the movie would've been ruined.

Great post-film commentary! Yeah, it fakes us out, it plays on the fact that we're going to say to ourselves "it's just a movie, I'll suspend my disbelief", turns out they've got it all covered. I do agree with sending three men and one woman was funny, and I thought that was interesting what you said about Nova, and her perspective on things. That said: one of the things I love about this movie is that it's a pretty tight story, it doesn't have too much fat on it! Subscribing, that was a lot of fun! I'm a classics fan, so hit "the greats" any time you feel like it!

You really should watch up until the 3rd movie. But after that, I think you will want to watch the whole series. No, I don't remember them saying there was no moon. I do remember they talked of cloud cover at night. No, the book is very different. In the book, they actually are on another planet.

The way Cornelius & Zira kissed was not because of any limitationsbof their prosthetics & make up. Rodey McDowall who played Cornelius & Kim Hunter who played Zira, spent many, many hours at the zoo over a long period studying the behavior & mannerisms of chimpanzees & the kissing style came out of that. Also, take a look at a typical gorilla mask which one might wear for a costume party or Halloween, & you might better appreciate what a great achievement the prosthetics & make up were for "Planet if the Apes" (1968) enabling facial expressions & not looking ridiculous. Remember, CGI is essentially glorified cartoons. Something is usually lost there.

The writers initially planned for Taylor to get Nova pregnant. But the studio demanded that be written out because they felt it was to like bestiality.

How the heck did this movie get a G Rating?

1. Ratings weren't all that back then. This was rated G. 2. See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil = Clueless apes (Except Dr. Zaius) 3. I was just a child when this came out and I was amazed at how well the main apes looked. 4. There was a very short lived (budget) tv series in the early 70s. 5. The next movie isn't as good. IMVHO "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" was the best. Cornelius and Zira go back to the early 70s. Ricardo Montauban is featured. 6. Dr. Zaius/Maurice Evans played Samantha Steven's warlock father in "Bewitched" 7. The scene with the deep canyon must have been for visual because only half of the party on one side doesn't make sense. 8. Charlton Hesston played in "The Omega Man" (early I am Legend) and "Soylent Green". Both of which are good first time/shares. 9. At the time one of the best twist endings. NOTE: The difference between monkeys and apes is apes don't have tails.

It is next to impossible to convey to an audience in 2024 what a shock that ending was in 1968. The immediate sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, gives you much more of the remains of New York City, but it's an awfully wild movie in its own right. For movies with a strong sense of 1970s New York City, it's typical to look to Taxi Driver -- but I highly, highly recommend the rousing crime thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (the original). Old New York is also prominent in the paranoid thriller Marathon Man. Thanks!

Taylor's Laugh is because the other astronaught is planting an American flag. A country that is very unlikely to exist 2000 years in the future.

"BEYOND THE PLANET OF THE APES" IS AN OLDIE GOOD ONE!!!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

The MOON moves 3/16th of an Inch further AWAY from the EARTH each Lunar Cycle; around 2 and 1/2 Inches away from the EARTH every year. So, over 2010 years (from 1968 to 3978) by that time, the electro - magnetic gravitational bond between the EARTH and the MOON could’ve ruptured, sending the MOON off, and away from the EARTH at the time of it’s Aphelion. Very possible in Real Life, too, one day.

I really hope you’ll watch the Andy Serkis trilogy

In the beginning you thought that they landed on earth, my goodness guy why would they take a spaceship and travel to earth when they're already there? Also it was a mission to an earth-like planet.

Stewart was the female astronauts last name, not her first name.

Watch the whole original series. The rest aren't as good as this, but they're all good in my opinion. Memorable characters and atmosphere.

Taylor was laughing at Landon so hard because he realized how ridiculously funny and useless planting a US flag on a planet orbiting a star that no one cared about 2000 years into the future. But that's the way Landon thinks, he still believes in a United States of America, which no longer exists and his moot partriotism was there pretending they're conquering another planet.

it zooms in on him planting the us flag.. think about it.. try really hard...

You should definitely watch them all

The two scientists are Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowell.

You're not 20-30 mins in...but 5 MINUTES!!!!

wait... Statue of Liberty.... THAT WAS OUR PLANET!

Based on the original book the 3 astronauts landed on an alien planet. Not Earth. Like in the one with Mark Wahlberg.

Would love to see you do the sequels.

The Apes movie with Mark Wahlberg is good...especially TIM ROTH!!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

This is the first time I've seen your channel.Not bad..."where are the apes?I was promised apes!"Brilliant!

Oh my god PLEASE continue with the originals! I personally recommend doing those first and then the reboots. The reboots are amazing! The original sequels not so much, but still worth a watch. 3 and 4 are fan favorites. So you’ll experience a climb in quality when you get to the reboots

Love that twist in the end! So iconic. And you've actually seen a reference to it before: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/e66IeLCXurzYiWg.html Gotta love Futurama 😂😍

Please react to -Soylent Green -Logan's Run -Rosemary's Baby -Carrie

I have yet to see a reactor go past the 2nd film. I really like the 3rd and 4th ones. There is an R-rated Director's Cut of #4 on the Blu-Ray, but watch the theatrical version first...

❤! Now 2...just as good!

I was 13 when this originally was released. I recall seeing the trailer one time, and I was off to the theater the very next weekend. Too bad they had to ruin the franchise by making more of them.

Why are you nit picking a classic, just enjoy!

The only essential movie from the original "series"....is this one. All the other sequels are cheesy and inferior, don't waste a second of your time, those sequels were always jokes. Even the ones that come closest to being so-so, they're all a waste of time compared to literally hundreds of movies you could watch instead. They can be fun, hanging with your friends, goofing on 'em. That's what they're for. They were stupid when I was 10 and they're stupid now, I rewatched 'em all over the pandemic, just to make sure. This movie is great, the lame studio cash-ins that followed are not. In fact, sequels themselves got a bad name because of Planet Of The Apes, in part! (of course most sequels DO suck, to be fair, lol.....)

Check out the TV series (1974) too!

Do yourself a favor and watch all 5. Some will argue about that, but do understand that, as successful as each movie was, the studio kept cutting the budget because of other box office flops they put out. You'll notice more than a few details in these 5 movies that were referenced in the "Reboot" series. Although, as I've seen them all multiple times, I kinda think that the "Reboot" is more of an "original timeline" for the events of the original movies. That would make sense in many ways, and if you watch all 5 movies, I'll get into that more as the movies go along, because I don't like posting spoilers for what hasn't been seen in any given franchise. I first saw Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and Escape from the Planet of the Apes on television in 1973, at the age of 6 years old. I was hooked immediately. IIRC, the television series (a different timeline as well) aired the following year in 1974. I loved it, as well. I don't know where you might find it to stream, but I have it on DVD. It's only 16 episodes, as it was cancelled due to its budget. Kids at the time loved it, though. But being a fan of the franchise for so long, and watching the movies and shows as many times as I have, I have put together a lot of the lore, and I know my fair share of "behind the scenes" stuff, as I read every magazine that came out about the Apes series. Also, in more modern times, there is a KZfaq series called "Hangin' with Dr. Z" that is done in the old style makeup that John Chambers created. It's worth a watch. Also, I always tell people watching movies for the first time, to "make up your own mind" if you like something or not. You may like the sequels to this movie, where some people may not. But there's a full story being told along the way. So at least give them one viewing, and decide for yourself. OH! Before I forget! There's a video on KZfaq called "Project Liberty", which is a companion video for this movie. I only learned about it a few years ago, but it was produced back when this movie came out. I assume it was aired to promote the movie, along with the trailer for the film. It's also worth a watch, as it gives some background on the astronauts. Before getting on with your video, I'll mention one last thing: I still have many of the toys and trading cards from the Apes line of the 1970s. They aren't worth much, as they were "heavily played with" back in the day. 3:25 - Taylor is laughing like that, because he knows that the United States likely doesn't exist anymore. So, planting the flag to "claim the planet in the name of the USA" was kinda pointless. 6:20 - Naked butts. Remember, this movie is rated "G" for General Audiences. It was a different time back then. 15:17 - Heh. Behind the scenes factoid here: Charleton Heston had a cold the day that scene was shot. His voice was raspy because of it. It made the scene even better because of that minor illness. 28:00 - I can explain a LITTLE of this here. Dr. Zaius knew the truth about humans, and (while this isn't stated, I suspect) he was the latest ape "trusted" with the dark secrets of human's downfall and the rise of the apes. He may not have fully understood everything (such as nuclear war (which Taylor illuded to at the end) and weapons of that level of destructiveness), but he was sworn to keep apes at a technology level low enough that they couldn't/wouldn't repeat mankind's mistakes. "Harmless" tech was allowed, such as cameras, maps, etc.... notice that the guns were "single fire", and had low count magazines. Zaius also knew about "humans achieving space travel", which is why Zaius stated that he had awaited Taylor's coming and dreaded it. There are some subtle clues that the Icarus (the name of Taylor's ship) wasn't the first space craft to land in their history. We also don't know what Landon told the apes before his lobotomy. He was the "optimist" of the group, remember? So, he likely tried to communicate with the apes that he wasn't the kind of human they were hunting. Dr. Zaius was notified of this speaking human immediately, likely interrogated him (and only believed some of what he was told), then cut his frontal lobes (the part of your brain where your "personality" is kept). Something else, remember, when these movies were made, the Vietnam war was going on, so there was some subtle "Social Commentary" involved with the movies. Minor spoiler: Some of the "Social Commentary" isn't so subtle in the other movies. Just keep in mind the time period these movies were made in. Again, I do recommend watching the rest of this series before going on to the newer movies. Remember, there was no CGI back then (not for another 15 years at its most basic level). The "remake" starring Mark Wahlberg... is terrible, story wise. The makeup effects are well done (I give credit where its due), but the story is complete shite, and the ending actually needed explaining with an insert included with the DVD. The trilogy that came out most recently (and the 4th movie is coming soon) was actually REALLY good. But again, you should watch all of the originals first. You can skip that Marky Mark version, though... it's completely unrelated to either movie series. Basically, it was a makeup test, and to see if fans were still interested in the franchise. I say to watch all of the originals first, because of the massive difference between the old school makeup of them, and the CGI of the current movies. The CGI apes do make the originals look very dated, but they are 50-odd years old. The TV series.... if you're interested, is worth a watch, but again, it's a different timeline than the original movies, and is a product of its time. If you do the rest of the originals, I'll definitely subscribe, and offer up replies like this one. But again, I never post spoilers. Have a wonderful day!

whatever you do DO NOT watch the others in the original series back in the sixties and seventies⚛😀

I've only seen the OG and the 2010s trilogy, but from what I understand that's all you really need to watch, I've heard the old sequels get goofy and the 2001 version is just bad

I'm glad you brought up the plot point of a 3 male to 1 female ratio for astronauts not making sense for jump starting a population. i love this movie its one of my all time favorites, but that aspect of the story has always bugged me.

I have to say, I'm a bit relieved that you're not going to watch the entire original series before getting to the reboot. I've never seen the other 4 movies in the original series, but I've heard they're not as good as this one. I would say that the 2001 remake is worth checking out at some point only because it's directed by Tim Burton, but I know you didn't love Burton's _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory._

1,3,4. Are the best. The others are still good. Do em all. His laugh is the futility of claiming it as American America is about 400 years old. They are thousands of years passed. Most couldn't last that long. The reboots are for dumb people.

First 5 are the ones worth watching Other than that only marky mark and the monkey bunch very end of the movie is worth seeing the rest are garbage and cgi and bad forced polit. These are existential.

My favorite planet of the apes movie. Its much more scifi than action and I think they did a great job at making fun of humans with how nonsensical as civilization we where and perhaps still are just implemented on ape society. I would recommend stopping here, while there is an interesting story imo and way more scifi than might imagine. The execution, acting and directing drops significantly that its not as enjoyable as first movie. I do rec reading story synopsis of other 2 movies because it does go into detail on how things played out on earth. The last 2 are more silly and not necessary to understand the story.

The original and the reboot trilogy are the relevant ones to watch but personally i would skip the rest!