# What was planet of the apes about **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871 "2004-05-31T02:19:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/1 "2004-05-31T02:19:04Z")
Yeah, i dont care if people give it away but i only caught the last 5 minutes of the mark walburg version on TV a few minutes ago and it got me thinking about the movie again, since i’ve never seen it. These questions are about the Heston version. How did the astronaut travel through time How far into the future was the movie taking place How did the apes get super smart was there a civil war between the apes & humans. why. What is the scene where heston sees the statue of liberty about what happens at the end of the original version. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/2 "2004-05-31T02:25:23Z")
You realize that there was a whole series of movies answering these questions, don’t you? 😃 The end scene in the Heston version has Chuck and his woman riding off into the wilderness down a beach. Chuck has been plagued by the same questions you’ve asked. As they round a headland, he sees Lady Liberty. He realizes that he is on earth, and that somehow, man has destoyed civilization and the apes (those damned, dirty apes!) have taken over. He then rides of into the wilderness…to die in the next movie, as per contract. Heston actually insisted that he be in only the beginning and end of the sequel, and that his character die. As far as Heston was concerned, his characters story was over in Episode #1. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/3 "2004-05-31T02:25:52Z")
As far as I can remember, one ape said to the other ape, “That was a silly story (tall tale, etc.)” and they ejected the bottle out of the spaceship, which by the way was propelled by a solar sail. Think about that, Wesley. 😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/4 "2004-05-31T02:34:36Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > How did the astronaut travel through time > How far into the future was the movie taking place > How did the apes get super smart > was there a civil war between the apes & humans. why. > What is the scene where heston sees the statue of liberty about > what happens at the end of the original version. They didn’t. They travelled through space, held in statis - and probably going near light speed for at least part of the trip. ~1,000,000 years, IIRC. Temporal paradox. Long story, involving movies 3-5. There was no civil war. No matter which of the two species were in power, if there was a war between them, it was a war between slaves with no rights and thier masters. That scene was when Heston’s character realised he was on Earth - his Earth - all along, and that the human race had appareneltly obliterated its own civilization. The SoL scene. Heston sees the statue, does his overacting, roll credits. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/5 "2004-05-31T02:37:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > You realize that there was a whole series of movies answering these questions, don’t you? 😃 Yep. [http://www.movieprop.com/tvandmovie/PlanetoftheApes/](http://www.movieprop.com/tvandmovie/PlanetoftheApes/) He needs to see the third, fourth and fifth films in the series, which are prequels to the first film. (The second film is a sequel to the first, and involves the astronauts finding some surviving humans worshipping a Doomsday nuclear bomb. That film ends with the bomb being detonated. Thus, at that point only prequels were possible follow-ups.) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/6 "2004-05-31T02:39:23Z")
> [@hlanelee](#): > > As far as I can remember, one ape said to the other ape, “That was a silly story (tall tale, etc.)” and they ejected the bottle out of the spaceship, which by the way was propelled by a solar sail. Think about that, Wesley. 😃😃😃 Aaah, and the book. PotA continuity #1 (‘original’ movies are continuity #2, new movie is #3.) And there was a scene after the SoL scene? Dang. I need to rewatch that movie sometime. Been too long, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/7 "2004-05-31T02:41:43Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > ~1,000,000 years, IIRC. No. IIRC about 2,000 years. The astronauts see the year on the ship chronometer before they abandon it. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/8 "2004-05-31T02:43:37Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > No. IIRC about 2,000 years. The astronauts see the year on the ship chronometer before they abandon it. OK, I DON’T RC. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/9 "2004-05-31T03:45:21Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > The second film is a sequel to the first, and involves the astronauts finding some surviving humans worshipping a Doomsday nuclear bomb. Yeah, but nobody was that observant. It was mostly a Christmas and Easter thing. ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Time\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/10 "2004-05-31T04:27:21Z")
I had no idea there were more than three PotA movies made! :smack: Are they worth renting, or are they really bad? ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/11 "2004-05-31T04:33:01Z")
> [@Time Stranger](#): > > I had no idea there were more than three PotA movies made! :smack: Are they worth renting, or are they really bad? #2 is quite bad. #3 is OK. #4 and #5 are much worse than #3. For those interested in trivia, there was both a PotA live action TV series, and an animated TV series. Both lasted but one season. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/12 "2004-05-31T06:30:52Z")
I’d recommend the original novel by Pierre Boulle which **hlanelee** alluded to earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Wasabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@Wasabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wasabee)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/13 "2004-05-31T06:40:00Z")
In my opinion 4 is the best of the sequels. The thing I like the most is that each of the sequels is almost in another genre. Beneath is sci-fi. Escape is a comedy thriller. Conquest is protest film. Battle is an action film. But the OP is asking about the Wahlberg version. The ending of the remake is purposely confusing. It has nothing to do with the rest of the film but it isn’t too hard to make a semi-coherrent timeline for the Thade as Lincoln reveal. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/14 "2004-05-31T07:07:14Z")
> [@Wasabee](#): > > But the OP is asking about the Wahlberg version. No, the OP is asking about the Heston version. Which is why he said ‘These questions are about the Heston version.’ ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/15 "2004-05-31T14:35:33Z")
\>What was planet of the apes about …? 2 hours! ---
**Author:** ![Wasabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@Wasabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wasabee)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/16 "2004-05-31T17:18:00Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > No, the OP is asking about the Heston version. Which is why he said ‘These questions are about the Heston version.’ Ah geez I miss one line… I thought since he mentioned the Wahlberg version first that that was what he was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/17 "2004-05-31T17:26:28Z")
> [@Wasabee](#): > > The ending of the remake is purposely confusing. It has nothing to do with the rest of the film but it isn’t too hard to make a semi-coherrent timeline for the Thade as Lincoln reveal. Y aknow, I’ve heard a lot of people say that but the only explanations I’ve seen have involved insane leaps of logic and a lot of fan wanking to come up with even a ridiculous explanation. If you’ve got a good one I’d love to read it. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/18 "2004-05-31T17:39:47Z")
Is the book any good, are there any major differences? ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/19 "2004-05-31T18:11:38Z")
The book is good. Not as good as “Bridge Over the River Kwai” but entertaining. The book bear no resemblenc to any of the movies as a matter of fact, the book was first published as “The Monkey Planet.” ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871/20 "2004-05-31T18:14:26Z")
In Beyond the Planet of the Apes they said the original cut of Conquest was more violent and the ending much bleaker (Roddy’s speech in the end was toned down with a redub). I wonder if that cut exists out there anywhere and whether it will ever resurface. Anyone have any ideas [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-planet-of-the-apes-about/247871.md?page=2)