A Massive Sci-Fi Franchise Gave Us One Of The Most Bizarre Sequels Ever

Planet of the Apes is widely regarded as one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made — and with good reason. More than just a watermark moment in the genre from a critical standpoint, it was also a resounding success. Even in an era long before Hollywood became franchise obsessed, its success ensured a sequel would be made. But while many sequels in the realm of big studio franchises tend to play it safe, this one did not.

1970’s Beneath the Planet of the Apes is a bizarre, head-turning follow-up that goes (pardon the pun) fully bananas, quite literally blowing up the franchise in the process. Though not necessarily beloved in its day, 55 years later, it’s hard not to respect just how crazy it really is. As the kids might say, it goes hard.

Directed by Ted Post, the film opens with astronaut John Brent (James Franciscus), who has crashed through a time barrier in search of Taylor (Charlton Heston). He is the only one who survives the crash, with his rescue mission leading him not only to this future society led by talking apes, but to a subterranean city where mutant humans with the ability to use mind control worship a strange god. Namely, a nuclear weapon capable of destroying the entire planet.

Decades before the Caesar trilogy and before Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, this was the first stepping stone in building what would become a shockingly enduring franchise. It also helped establish the idea that these movies might not always be great, but they would also never be boring.

Nobody in their right mind would accuse the original Planet of the Apes of being optimistic in its time but, even using that movie as a guide, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is a truly bleak film. It is greatly focused on political and religious panic as the apes are at ideological conflict with one another. Science and reason are losing that battle. Instead, panic and fear mongering are prevailing. It somehow feels distressingly relevant.

There are striking scenes of apes abusing humans to further their own weapons. Just as humans were cruel to animals, these apes are cruel to humans, whom they view as filthy animals. The cycle of cruelty is on full display. It also shows its age, offering up some distressingly sexist moments.

True to its name, the movie’s big hook is that it further explores the Forbidden Zone, with Brent and Nova making their way to the underworld in search of Taylor. That’s where they find these strange, advanced humans. The Forbidden Zone is forbidden for a reason, it turns out. Much like its predecessor, the sequel does not have an overly favorable view of humanity. Brent muses at one point after discovering the remnants of humanity underground, “Did any good ever come from all of that talk around all of those tables?”

What goes on underneath the Earth is so strikingly bizarre it’s honestly shocking that Fox gave this movie the green light. Through a modern lens, it’s staggering to consider that this was a theatrically released, studio sequel to a giant, mainstream hit. Operating under the assumption that a fair number of people reading this have not seen the film, I won’t spoil its big, eye-popping reveal but rest assured, things get weird. Delightfully so, in my humble opinion, but weird, to be certain.

But it’s more than just shock value. It may be a little slow leading up to the big finale. It’s hard to say whether or not the whole thing actually works. Yet, it’s downright daring. It knows it can’t repeat the big twist in the original. It instead takes a big, risky, creative swing. (And boy, is it a big swing.) It’s very much a movie made at the peak of nuclear panic.

It’s also remarkable to consider that Post had to make Beneath for roughly half the budget of the original. These days, sequels tend to see their budgets balloon to unfathomably large amounts. Even so, it still very much looks like a Planet of the Apes movie, with impressive makeup, sets and craftsmanship in general, with one heck of a score to boot. That lower budget also probably calmed the studio brass, allowing the filmmakers to do something far less safe.

I’m not here to argue that Beneath the Planet of the Apes is necessarily a great movie. I’d personally argue that Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is the best sequel of the original series. What can be said definitively, upon reflection, is that this is a gutsy movie. It’s an interesting movie that wanders so far from the obvious path that it’s truly hard not to respect it, particularly in an era when franchise filmmaking can often feel so maddeningly vanilla. Love it or hate it, this movie is anything but vanilla.

In the here and now, the boldness of this movie stands even taller more than five decades later. Time has been kind to it, warts and all. Modern franchises could stand to learn a thing or two from this movie, in my humble opinion.