Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
”Astronaut searches for missing Taylor in a subterranean city with mutant humans and mind control.”
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Why watch this film?
Beneath the Planet of the Apes is the first sequel to the iconic science fiction saga, launched in 1968. The plot follows a new crew of humans in search of their colleagues lost in the first film, and addresses again the struggle between the civilization of apes and a variant of human beings who communicate telepathically and live underground. Inferior in almost every sense compared to the original, it is a perfect example of everything that can go wrong with a hastily made sequel: it is less ingenious, profound, and spectacular, diluting the powerful ideas of its predecessor in favor of banal entertainment.
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Plot summary
In the acclaimed sequel to Planet of the Apes, another astronaut (James Franciscus) crashes through the time barrier searching for the missing Taylor (Charlton Heston). The daring rescue leads to a subterranean city where mutant humans, who practice mind control, worship a weapon capable of destroying the entire planet. Both an action-oriented science-fiction adventure and a wry commentary on today's world, it's imaginative entertainment for fantasy buffs of all ages.
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