In the year 3978A.D. a spaceship with a crew of 4 crashes down on a distant planet. One of the crew members had died in space and the other 3 head out to explore the planet. They soon learn that the planet is much like their own. They then find the planet is inhabited by intelligent apes. One of the men is shot and killed and the others are taken to the apes' city. There, one undergoes brain surgery and is put into a state of living death. The other befriends some of the apes but is feared by most. After being put through ape trial he escapes with a female human native to the planet. After helping his ape friends escape a religious heresy trial he escapes out into the wilderness with the female. There he learns the planet might not be so distant after all. Lots of people give George Lucas all kinds of credit for being the first to see the licensing potential of a film, and milk it all the way to the bank. Au contraire, my friends, he was simply seeing what had happened with The Planet of the Apes, and was smart enough to know he could do the same thing with his films. Planet of the Apes was the first movie to suckle at the teat of mass market merchandise, and they did it with gusto. Lunch boxes, pillow cases, clothes, toys, food tie ins... They had it all. They also had five movies, a short lived cartoon, and an even shorter lived television show. And no, I did not accidentally leave off the Burton remake. As I recall, Dr. Zaius was only in two of the films, but he represented all that can go wrong with government. In his attempt to hide the truth from the masses, and in believing that the ends justifies the means, he reminded us how easy it is for people in power to become deluded as to right and wrong. Cornelius, Taylor, Zira, and Ape Enforcer. And if that's not enough for you, they also released Brent and the Mutant Leader. Most of the Planet of the Apes figure line is sold-out by the manufacturer, but can still be found at DarkFigures.com. Parts of thie review was supplied by IMBD.com, Michael Crawford Reviews and Wikipedia
