Discuss Planet of the Apes
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The twist... was spoon fed to us much sooner than the Statue of Liberty. To day, no one would be surprised. How could we have been???
posted by HAL 9010'STAFFMOD on January 31, 2018 at 7:24 AM
As most, this movie holds a dear place in my heart. But that being said, I just saw the whole series of 5 films over a week, and even though I adore the story etc, I have to say that the first one and the famous twist is not as clever as I recalled.
First off...
he starts the movie by explaining how there is a theory on how time on earth would have speed up tremendously compared to the time in their space ship. And we are directly shown that by then 700 years on Earth had already passed... this is even before the crash.
The mission was meant to arrive back far into the future on Earth. In fact several of thousands of years was planned - so it went according to plan.
When they crash he see that Earth time is several of thousands years ahead of them, and he makes a point of this (which is irrelevant with all due respect, unless of course it was Earth they were on)
His mates are not too convinced they arre on another Planet. In other words, they think this is Earth.
The Apes speak perfect english and even writs perfect english. Yes. this is classic Hollywood but they make a point out of the fact that he writes perfect "English"... I mean, this is one amazing coincidence, no? Normally when the Nazis speak english with a broken accent we suspend our disbelieve and hear it as their original language... well, in this the Apes speaks and writes english. No two ways around it. The story have them speak English. And they do so perfectly.
He visits an archaeological dig, where they find remains of advanced humans, with medical dentures, pacemaler etc... AND they also find a doll, which we can buy in any plain toy shop here on earth, together with curly hair and a white dress...(he should have looked for "Made in Taiwan") even including the "flip it" and it talks.... well, had it been me, this might have been it... to Heston, he hardly cared.
And yet... despite all these remarkable things, he AND we are all SURPRISED when the twist appears to us just before the credits... was it all the time Earth? Get out of here....
Great as this scene was and is, the movie did spoon feed us this ending even before we got it. And yet, it worked damnit. However, surely it would not work in todays cinema.
And as a side note; of all the signs that this is in fact Earth (atmosphere, that the space computer was programmed to land on earth, the time future was according to plan, perfect english communication in both writing and speaking, humans and apes and horses, remains of a past human culture with medical known denture and pacemakers etc and a damn plastic doll including its clothes, speaking ability and curly white hair) and the weathered down Statue of Liberty.... well, then a statue of such features (big head with spikes and a torch) is the ONE HINT of all of those that would be the most likely to have coincidentally been recreated on another planet and in another culture, no?
Paradoxically, of all the obvious and specific hints the hints that is the most likely to have been recreated elsewhere is the hint that broke the camels back.
Reply by Jetfire59
on June 21, 2018 at 6:01 AM
Begging your pardon, friend, but you are so far off the mark as to be ridiculous. To quote Nomad in "Star Trek", "Your facts are uncoordinated.".
His mates are not too convinced they are on another planet. In other words, they think this is Earth.
No, they don't. Dodge speculates that they may be on a planet orbiting Bellatrix. There is not one single line of dialogue suggesting that either Landon or Dodge believes they are on Earth.
When they crash we see that Earth time is several thousand years ahead of them, and he makes a point of this (which is irrelevant with all due respect, unless of course it was Earth they were on)
How could the results of the most important experiment in history be irrelevant? Since the original plan was to return to Earth, they would need to know how much time has passed. They think they are on a planet in the Orion constellation.
The Apes speak perfect English and even write perfect English.
Star Trek and numerous old science fiction films had depicted aliens speaking English, so it wasn't all that notable to a 1960's audience.
Lastly, the ship's computer was not programmed to land on Earth. Where did you get that? Landon says "We weren't programmed to land in the water". This is the ONLY line in the film referring to the ship's programming. Landing back on Earth was caused by some unknown glitch in the space-tie continuum. In the next film, Astronaut Brent calls it a 'Hasslein Curve".
Your post almost sounds like someone who hasn't actually seen the movie but is going by what others have told him. Although I wasn't able to see this film in the theater when it came out, I clearly remember people talking about it. Yes, there are clues and some may have figured it out before the reveal, but it was NOT the give-away you claim it to be.
Reply by HAL 9010'
on June 21, 2018 at 8:22 AM
True, but in their bickering Landon especially was more keen on verifying if it was so or not and Taylor was riding his tail about it.... my take from their dialogue was that they were not as convinced as Taylor.
My point is not in respect to their Scientific quest, but in line with the story telling to us the audience. But I think you knew that. Let us say that we today tell this story, we would perhaps keep this fact a bit more ambiguous not to spoil the great reveal?
Sweety, I already gave my reasoning in my OP about this. And as you can see, I do not disagree. It is more coupled when english writing becomes a pivotal part of the tale too, not because it is Klingon but because it is Earth... and yet, this spikes no wonder. And I then ask.... hmmm.
I am also too young but as I write, my recollection is the same as yours. The final twist was a mindfucx. So I was quite surprised when I saw it again recently with all the tell sign of this twist through the movie which I am sure would not work on a today audience. For me it was the archaeological dig-site and the doll that did it.... and in hindsight, I wonder why not much sooner.