55 Years Ago, the Planet of the Apes Franchise Had One of Sci-Fi's Boldest Time Travel Stories

Planet of the Apes is a franchise that has always taken massive swings, as there’s not a single entry that didn’t pull off a major twist or develop complex philosophies. While the 1968 original featured one of the greatest reveals in cinematic history in its final shot, its sequels doubled down on the premise by giving more humanity to the apes themselves. 55 years after its release, Escape from the Planet of the Apes is a brilliant science fiction thriller that used time travel in an intelligent way, yet also managed to pull off a sincere love story.

'Escape From the Planet of the Apes' Took the Sci-Fi Franchise to Modern Times

Escape from the Planet of the Apes is the third film in the franchise, and takes place prior to the end of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, in which Earth was destroyed by a massive explosion. The ape couple of Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Zira (Kim Hunter) were sent back in time to Earth in the year 1973, where they hope to find a way to prevent war and destruction. By exploring how intelligent apes are treated at the time of the film’s actual release, Escape from the Planet of the Apes revealed how hateful humanity was, and offered a warning to its viewers about the consequences of bigotry. Although it was a dark theme to include within a sequel that was ostensibly intended to be a summer adventure film, Escape from the Planet of the Apes features one of the most powerful stories of marriage and parenthood in the sci-fi genre.

Time travel is an incredibly challenging concept to pull off, as there are inherent paradoxes that can easily make a film highly confusing. Even those that nail the logic might have to spend an excess of time explaining how it works, which can dampen the impact of the story. Thankfully, Escape from the Planet of the Apes utilized the infrastructure that had been set up in previous films, as it was in the first film that Taylor (Charlton Heston) was dispatched to space, only to wind up on Earth in the future. Since Cornelius and Zira use Taylor’s ship, they are able to go back in time to the moment in which humanity was sending its astronauts on exploratory missions, indicating that they were desperate. This sets up the perfect conflict between the apes and humans; humanity has been seeking answers, but they are shocked and disturbed about the future that Cornelius and Zira described.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes is able to invert the premise of the original film because it looks at a hostile environment in which the apes face discrimination. Cornelius and Zira had learned through their relationship with Taylor that humans are intelligent, and come to Earth with the understanding that they might be able to reach a peaceful treaty that would prevent the wars. However, they’re heartbroken to learn that Taylor was a novelty among the humans because of his progressiveness; the scientists that they meet can’t think past the idea of humanity being displaced by a more powerful species, and immediately decide to confine and mistreat Zira and Cornelius. On one hand, what they endure shows the type of cruelty that animals in zoos are treated with today, as Zira and Cornelius experience what “normal” apes of 1973 go through in captivity. On the other hand, it provides an explanation for why the cycle of revolution never ends; humanity tries to quash the apes by taking away their power, but it only gives them the incentive to stage a more elaborate and violent rebellion.

'Escape From the Planet of the Apes' Is the Most Political and Emotional Movie in the Sci-Fi Franchise

The Planet of the Apes franchise has always tapped into topical issues, but Escape from the Planet of the Apes is particularly charged because it offered a realistic look at the present. The silencing of characters like Zira and Cornelius, who seek peace in a world of violence, mirrors the backlash faced by protestors who were speaking out against the Vietnam War. Similarly, the way that indignities lead to systematic oppression with how the apes are treated felt particularly timely, given that Escape from the Planet of the Apes was released less than a decade after the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.

With its high-concept premise and some of the greatest makeup effects in the entire franchise aside, Escape from the Planet of the Apes is a love story that shows the difficult decisions made by Cornelius and Zira as they consider their future. While they have a larger goal of protecting apes from being subjected to genocide, they are specifically motivated by their responsibilities as impending parents, as they seek to create a future in which their child will not be burdened by their identity. The Planet of the Apes franchise has existed for decades because it is able to merge wonderful sci-fi ideas with thoughtful stories about compassion, and Escape from the Planet of the Apes proved that time travel, romance, and contemporary politics weren’t out of place in the iconic saga.