Zira and Cornelius have traveled back in time to the early 1970s centuries before the apes ruled the world.
Blaine: “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” became a surprising hit. It was the first sequel to become a success and that made FOX want to do another sequel after that, but the question was how can you make a sequel when the last one ended with planet Earth being destroyed? FOX suggested that the next movie take place in the past and show how the ape revolution began. Screenwriter Paul Dehn thought that Zira and Cornelius should be involved. He thought about them finding Taylor’s wrecked space ship and one ape being able to understand the technology in order to repair it so they can escape before Earth is destroyed.
The missile from the last movie activates at the end and destroys the Earth. Zira, Cornelius and Dr Milo manage to escape planet Earth before it’s destroyed. The explosion does something to the ship and causes it to go back in time. Zira and Cornelius now live a new life in 1970s Los Angeles, but it doesn’t last because a scientist is very nosey around them. The title was going to be “Secret of the Planet of the Apes” at first and it was supposed to open with the apes in space and they see planet Earth being destroyed. After they shot the footage of them on the beach, taking off their helmets, revealing their faces and the army officers showing these surprised faces, they felt that it should have a humorous opening.
Don Taylor was a former actor turned director. He was hired to direct “Escape” and it was a challenge for him to add humor, suspense and something dark into this movie. Don also wanted to add in a love story between Zira and Cornelius and show the audience how much they love each other. The first “Planet of the Apes” film was supposed to have a city that was more modern and apes would be wearing suits. “Escape from the Planet of the Apes” shows what the first one could have been. In one scene you see Cornelius sitting down while watching T.V. He is wearing pajamas and slippers made for him. Cornelius and Zira become celebrities in the 1970s and they go around wearing the clothes humans wear, like suits, dresses with a lot of color.
“Escape” was a new turn for the franchise because in the first two movies Taylor and Brent were the strangers in a world where apes are intelligent and man is treated like an animal. But now Zira and Cornelius are the strangers in a world ruled by man. The budget on “Escape” was cheap. They didn’t have to build sets, except for the court room and the White House room. They rented real places to shoot the movie. The third film was going to be called “Secret of the Planet of the Apes” at first and the reason was because in the story there is one human, Dr. Otto Hasslein, who is very suspicious about Zira and Cornelius and knows they are hiding something. He makes Zira tell him everything about the future by drugging her. Hasslein has made Zira and Cornelius prisoners. There are only three humans who Zira and Cornelius can be honest with. Dr. Lewis Dixon and Dr. Stephanie are the first humans who welcome Zira and Cornelius to the year 1970. The third human, who is trustworthy, is Armando, the owner of a circus. Ricardo Montalban really liked Armando’s compassion which is why he took the role. Armando lets Cornelius and Zira hide out at the circus and have Zira give birth to their child. But they can’t stay for long because Hasslein figures they might be hiding in a circus.
In the end, Cornelius and Zira are found by Dr. Hassiein and his men and they shoot and kill them in order to save the human race. The people who made “Escape” assumed FOX would want another sequel so they came up with an idea for how “Escape” should end. After Cornelius and Zira have been killed, it goes back to the circus and you learn that their son is still alive. Zira switched her son with another chimpanzee while they were at the circus. She probably assumed that both her and Cornelius might get caught and she wanted her baby to be safe because that’s all that mattered to her.
My rating on “Escape from the Planet of the Apes” is four and a half out of five stars.
