The film that spawned the franchise whose every incarnation has proven to be an absolute box office blockbuster, Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1968 science fiction spectacle “Planet of the Apes” tells the distant future story of a group of astronauts landing on a mysterious planet inhabited by highly intelligent apes who use the human kind as a slaving work force. In year 3978, a group of astronauts led by George Taylor (Charlton Heston) crashes on an unknown planet, and one of them dies. Soil test shows that life is unsustainable on the planet. They set off through a desert and come upon an oasis and go for a swim. When they come back to the shore their clothes are stolen, and they pursue the perpetrators, who turn out to be a group of primitive humans. Taylor falls for one of the humans who he names Nova (Linda Harrison). Suddenly they are attacked by a group of armed apes on horseback. Most of the humans are killed and the remainder of them trapped, along with Taylor who is shot in the throat. The prisoners are taken to Ape City, where chimpanzee doctors save Taylor’s life. One of the chimpanzees takes interest in Taylor, and once they realize he is able to communicate they relay the information to their superior, an orangutan they call Dr. Zaius. Dr. Zaius wants Taylor castrated, but the astronaut manages to escape, but is again captured. The apes form a tribunal to determine where Taylor comes from. Taylor is freed by a group of rebellious apes and taken to the Forbidden Zone, an area outside of Ape City that the apes are forbidden from visiting. Once there, Taylor gradually begins to piece together the story of the planet of the apes.
Joan Rivers still in coma
