Escape from the Planet of the Apes is a 1971 science fiction film that is the second sequel to the Planet of the Apes movie of 1968, the first sequel being Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

The preceding film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, ends with a nuclear weapon destroying all life on the apes' future Earth.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes begins by establishing that three apes (Cornelius, Dr. Zira, and Milo, played respectively by Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, and Sal Mineo) escaped the Earth's destruction. They have managed this by repairing the astronaut's spaceship from Beneath and piloting it through the same rift in time that took the astronauts forward in time from the 20th century to the 40th. This is a retcon from the previous movies, in which no such rift was suggested, and instead it was implied that the astronauts survived the interim centuries in suspended animation.

The apes arrive on present-day Earth and are quickly captured by the human government. Milo is killed almost immediately, leaving the two remaining apes under the observation of two scientists, Stephanie and Lewis. Both discover the apes' power of speech. The apes then are put on trial, but are exonerated and are welcomed as guests.

The apes at first become celebrities, but they are soon watched by an evil scientist, futuristic consultant Dr. Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden), who discovers Zira is pregnant. Both are questioned under numerous means, and Hasslein learns for himself how the human race will eventually meet its downfall and be dominated by simians, and will eventually lead to Earth's destruction.

The government and the U.S. President order the two hunted down and captured. But after the ape Cornelius kills an orderly while imprisoned, Hasslein sees the future danger the apes possess, thus calls for the apes' murder. Running for their lives, Cornelius and Zira (assisted by Stephanie and Lewis) find shelter in a circus run by Armando (Ricardo Montalban), and there Zira gives birth to a son whom she names Milo.

Hasslein learns about the ape's birth and orders a search of all circuses and zoos. As a result, Armando must let the apes go. The drama climaxes aboard a derelict ship in an abandoned ship yard. Hasslein tracks the apes down. He shoots down both Zira and whom he thinks is the infant ape. Cornelius and Hasslein end up in a shootout. Cornelius kills Hasslein, and in retaliation a police officer returns fire and shoots Cornelius in the heart. Stephanie and Lewis watch in horror as Cornelius gasps a final breath before falling three stories down.

The survivors, however, are unaware of the real fate of the infant ape; Armando switched babies before Cornelius and Zira's final escape. Armando now watches over the infant Milo, who will grow up to become Caesar, the main character in the third and fourth sequels, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. The film ends by showing the baby monkey Milo sitting in a cage, plaintively speaking the words "Mama? Mama?" with the voice of a human child.

External links

• Description of Escape from the Planet of the Apes