The first of four follow-ups to the groundbreaking 1968 science fiction classic, Beneath the Planet of the Apes bears all the marks of a cheap, quickie sequel designed solely to cash in on the phenomenal success of the original. This wasn't entirely due to the edicts of penny-pinching studio execs, however. Charlton Heston, A-List star of the first film, loathed the idea of returning for a sequel. He was eventually cajoled into appearing in it by the suits at Fox, on the condition that he'd only be available for two weeks of shooting and that his character, Taylor, would not be the lead role. Heston also dictated the shockingly downbeat ending — shocking, that is, for kiddie-age fans like me at the time — which the actor believed would not just preclude his participation in any further sequels, but bury the notion of there being any additional Apes movies at all. Given such demands by the ostensible star of the then-potential franchise, it isn't so surprising that Fox hedged its bets and slashed the production budget in half.
At any rate, ol' Chuck was certainly right on the first count but very, very wrong on the second.
Beneath literally picks up where Planet of the Apes left off, using the famous final scenes of the original to pad its relatively short running time. Taylor, accompanied by his primitive mate Nova (the gorgeous Linda Harrison), rides off into the desolate Forbidden Zone to find his "destiny". Enter astronaut Brent (Valley of Gwangi's James Franciscus), sole survivor of a rescue mission launched on the same trajectory as Taylor's missing spacecraft. Beyond knowing that he's somehow been thrown forward in time to the year 3955 A.D., Brent has no idea what planet he's on or whether the same fate befell Taylor and crew. Luckily he encounters Nova, riding alone, when she approaches the wreckage of his crashed ship. Being mute she's unable to explain her history with Taylor — from the NASA dog tags she carries Brent knows that she's at least met him at some point — nor can she describe how he mysteriously vanished into thin air after experiencing weird phenomena in the Forbidden Zone. (Which we're made privy to via flashback.) Obeying Taylor's command to seek out sympathetic chimpanzee scientists Zira and Cornelius should anything ever befall him, Nova leads Brent to Ape City. Here the astronaut clandestinely observes the apes from a vantage point in the woods. Brent is staggered by what he sees: a swaggering military leader, the gorilla general Ursus (James Gregory), giving a speech to assembled ape officials calling for a preemptive war of conquest against the unknown beings said to exist in the Forbidden Zone. Extolling the virtues of "naked, merciless force" and making plain that "the only good human is a dead human," Ursus' harangue leaves Brent with little doubt that whatever planet this might be, it's going to seriously suck being stranded here. There's no alternative but to continue the quest for Taylor while avoiding the apes as much as possible.
Given a map and provisions by Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (David Watson, subbing for Roddy McDowell), Brent and Nova try to sneak away from Ape City but are caught by a security patrol. This merely sets up a plot-padding set-piece in which they escape captivity — narrowly missing out being used for target practice by Ursus' troops — and are subsequently chased by gorilla cavalry. The humans shake their pursuers by ducking into a cave which they soon discover leads into the ancient ruins of the New York City subway system. Brent, faced with the same chilling truth as Taylor at the end of POTA, takes the demise of civilization in comparative stride — no "Goddamn you all to hell!" outbursts of rage from this guy. Besides, there are more pressing matters afoot... He and Nova are taken prisoner by human mutants possessing formidable mental powers (telepathy, mind control, image projection), who've created their own subterranean society beneath the ruins of old New York and worship a nuclear missile as a god. The mutants have no empathy for the 'lesser-developed' members of their own species, looking down on the newcomers with as much disdain as would the apes. Joy at finding Taylor alive — he, too, is held captive by the mutants — is stillborn with the revelation that their hosts don't intend to let them live. And the ape army, led by Ursus and Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans), has found ingress to the mutant's underground lair...
When compared to its masterful progenitor, Beneath the Planet of the Apes looks pretty shoddy. The reduction in budget is principally reflected by lower quality special effects (some unconvincing matte paintings, dodgy front-projection) and the noticeably stiff pullover masks worn by many of the ape extras in lieu of more elaborate (i.e., expensive) makeup appliances. The episodic script plays as if hastily cobbled together from various drafts, as was apparently the case in order to meet Heston's conditions. Ted Post's direction is workmanlike and uninspired; it certainly lacks the artistry and visual force of Franklin Shaffner's original. Hunter and Evans, excellent performers returning from the first film, are pretty much wasted in their greatly reduced roles. As Cornelius, Watson does a surprisingly good job of imitating McDowell's voice and mannerisms, although you can still tell he isn't really the Cornelius. (If you're a fan of the '68 original it's actually a bit distracting.) Franciscus, a likable, athletic second-tier leading man, gives a fine physical performance but, as written, his character is so generic he could be called simply 'American Astronaut' instead of Brent. (Contrast this with the fascinating character arc undergone by Heston's Taylor in POTA.) The only performer to really make an impression is TV veteran Gregory, whose booming, gravelly baritone seems the perfect voice for the warmongering Ursus. Heston, of course, is Heston — Taylor may only have 20 minutes on the screen this time around but he's for damn sure going to have the final say on how things turn out.
Heavily flawed as it may be, the movie is still not without entertainment value. Beneath blows as the continuation of a landmark "SF" film but as pulp "sci-fi" it's actually not too bad — certainly as good if not better than any contemporary stuff made in that genre. Other than a disposable scene in which chimpanzee peaceniks vainly protest, Vietnam War style, against Ursus' military campaign, there are no stabs at social commentary or analysis. The film is purely content to show us what happened next after Taylor rode away from that statue on the beach, throwing in some action, adventure and bomb-worshipping mutants along the way.
