Expanded Notes for Planet of the Apes (1968) vs. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Andrew Lueker

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Adaptation: The original Planet of the Apes movie was adapted from a French novel of the same name by author Pierre Boulle (in Europe it is sometimes referred to as ‘Monkey Planet’), who also wrote the novel Bridge on the River Kwai, which was turned into an equally famous movie. Although Boulle was not involved in the movie adaptation, he was surprised at the success of the movie, stating that he thought the novel was ‘unfilmable’ (Wikipedia). There are very few differences between the original film and the novel, meaning that it follows the novel rather faithfully.

Ideology: The Planet of the Apes series has always been slightly more than your average sci-fi action movie in terms of social commentary. The first films major themes that make up its ideology are its religious, anti-war and most importantly racial commentary. Throughout the film the ape society’s religious beliefs are challenged with the appearance of Taylor, a human who can speak. Yet the leaders of the church stand by their belief and punish anyone who doesn’t believe in it, like the roots of Christianity in which the church had total authority. The films anti-war themes are largely in part to the apes’ rise to power as well as the film’s iconic and impactful twist ending. As for racism, the film is filled to the brim with allegories for racism from the ape’s treatment of Taylor as property rather than a sentient creature. The apes continue to treat Taylor as humans would monkeys throughout most of the movie.

Genre: Planet of the Apes has always been classified as a part of the sci-fi genre; maybe some would see it as sci-fi action/adventure (which is also what Wikipedia cites it as), but I’ve always found it to be a part of a subgenre of sci-fi movies that I’ve thought of as ‘political sci-fi’. These are sci-fi movies that have a political message or undertone attached to them. Some examples of political sci-fi that came before Planet of the Apes would be Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, a look into a Marxist interpretation of the future were the poor (proletariat) slave away doing menial work underground while the rich (bourgeoisie) live above ground in a utopian society, and 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, a Cold War inspired sci-fi thriller featuring an alien desperately trying to warn the Earth of its violent tendencies.

Social History: Much of the Planet of the Apes ideology is borrowed from the social issues of the 60’s. Racism was rampant all throughout the 60’s and even with the passing of The Civil Rights Act of 1964, racism was still a large problem throughout the U.S., even trickling down to discrimination within the state government. At the time the film was made, Americans were enamored with the social issues surrounding the Vietnam War, making sense of the films anti-war message. Lastly, although somewhat of a lesser issue, religion often clashed with 60’s counterculture and movements such as 2^nd wave feminism.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Adaptation: The Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy has very little to do with its original source material and instead acts as a retelling of the origins of the Planet of the Apes universe. None of the characters from either the book nor the original 1968 movie.

Ideology: The reboot trilogy maintains most of the themes and social commentary of its predecessors with a few exceptions. The anti-religious undertones of the original movie have been replaced with the dangers of science; a strain of an experimental drug escapes after a human is exposed to it, which ends up being the downfall of humanity in this version rather than centuries of war in the original. This film series focuses on how war between humans and apes harms each side, especially in Dawn in which anti-war ideals and pictures are littered all throughout. Also within the movie, the main character Caesar is portrayed with similar ideals to Martin Luther King Jr. whereas the evil ape Koba is like Malcolm X. Themes of racism are played around with but are not a focal point of the movie.

Genre: The reboot trilogy plays much more into the typical blockbuster sci-fi action genre than its predecessor. The original Planet of the Apes focuses far more on its social commentary then its somewhat sparse action scenes.

Social History: The change from religious to scientific themes is an appropriate change for the times, considering that there are far more modern controversies about science, such as vaccines and disease scares such as swine flu and Ebola, than religion today. The film’s anti-war themes are stronger than that of its predecessor, with bigger worries in modern society about nuclear war and terrorism, while its commentary about racism has been toned down as while racism is still a problem in America, its not as bad as it was in the 60’s.