Beneath the Planet of the Apes
(1970)
Directed by Ted Post
Starring James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Charlton Heston
Rating: ******
4.5/6
In the last Apes film
An astronaut landed
On an ape-filled planet
And his team disbanded.
Now in the sequel,
He rides off alone
On a horse, with his girl,
Into the unknown,
To a place the apes call
The Forbidden Zone,
Where strange things can happen,
And are very prone.
The two travel along
When there’s a sudden fluke:
A wall of fire springs up
To block their route.
The man dismounts to investigate,
Then disappears.
We won’t see him again
Till the end draws near.
So the girl finds another
In compensation,
An astronaut named Brent,
Who had the same destination.
He had just landed
On this planet.
Now he seeks out his friend
On this very same planet.
This Brent fella
Meets the apes
And goes underground
To escape these same apes.
It’s a pretty good movie.
There’s tight suspense,
Death and war,
And the stakes get intense.
I’ll give it a four-point-five.
It was very well done,
Atmospheric, eerie,
Suspenseful and fun.