Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

Director: J. Lee Thompson

Starring: Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Ricardo Montalban, Natalie Trundy

More info: IMDb

Tagline: All new! The revolt of the apes. The most awesome spectacle in the annals of science fiction!

Plot: In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, Caesar, the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira, surfaces after almost twenty years of hiding out from the authorities, and prepares for a slave revolt against humanity.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Yeah

It's been a while since I've seen all of the APES sequels and I recall that part 3 was my favorite. It's ball's out insanely fun. CONQUEST continues the story in a logical fashion that leaves me adequately satisfied. I'm not exactly still hungry but I could go for some desert that isn't on the menu. It's great having Roddy McDowell back as well as Ricardo Montalban. They're two big pluses. Tom Scott's score harkens back to the previous film and the original in tone and orchestration. Probably my big beef is that the whole picture takes place in one location, the industrial complex. It looks cool and futuristic but it's overkill. We never get to leave. It's either inside the building or just outside. It's not quite a deal killer but damn how I wanted to leave by the end.


In a related story, I just watched an extended clip from the new film, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011) which hits theaters in a couple of weeks. HOLY CRAP! The studio is re-booting the franchise (we'll pretend the Tim Burton film doesn't exist) and from the looks of it, it's going to be one hell of a jump start. WOW! Although CONQUEST is the beginning of the APES saga in terms of the beginning of the end of mankind's civilization, the new film has only that aspect to share and nothing else.