MovieChat Forums > Planet of the Apes (1968) Discussion > The twist... was spoon fed to us. To day...

The twist... was spoon fed to us. To day, no one would be surprised. How could we have been???


One of the most famous endings in cinema history is the end just before the end-credits of Planet of The Apes (1968).

It is revealed (spoiler alert) that our space adventure was actually on Earth the whole time, far into the future. Fantastic.

But was it really a surprise?

Watching the movie again, and with a more modern view on storytelling, this surprise ending is spoon-fed to us several times throughout the movie - so much so that I am now surprised the ending worked at all.

The movie is based on the book; ”La Planète des Singes” (1963), known in English as ”Planet of the Apes” or sometimes ”Monkey Planet” by French author Pierre Boulle.

The book tells a different tale about a wealthy space-faring couple who fall upon a message-in-a-bottle in space. The message reveals a story about how some Earth scientist had traveled to another planet that was run by Apes, and where humans were like primitive animals. Their adventures on this planet had similarities to the original movie from 1968. However, in the book, they manage to escape this planet and return to Earth. Earth had in the meantime also been taken over by apes (a bit like how the Tim Burton 2001 movie ends). The grand twist of the book, however, is that the wealthy couple from the beginning won’t believe this story as they find it preposterous humans could ever space travel, let alone write. As it turns out, the couple was chimpanzee all along.

Fantastic ending too, but different enough to not spoil the “based on” movie.

So knowing the book, we were bound to expect some sort of twist, but this is not what gives the movie away. The foreshadowing is entirely within the narrative itself. And I think it is massive.

Hear me out:

• The movie starts, with our hero vigorously explaining a theory by Dr. Hasslein, on how time on Earth would have sped up tremendously compared to the time in their spaceship. And we are directly shown that 700 years on Earth had already passed. Their spaceship has a dual clock that actually and precisely shows the difference.

• And after talking about how time on Earth is different, he says the following;

“The men [humans] who sent us on this journey are long since dead and gone. You who are reading me now are a different breed. I hope a better one.”

This is in the very beginning of the movie. But let us continue:

1: In the sequel, it is further elaborated that the mission was supposed to be a one-year return mission, testing the Dr. Hasslein theory on time dilation. In other words, they were supposed to return to Earth, into the future...as they did.

2: When they crash, and before the ship sinks, our hero sees that Earth time is several thousands of years ahead of them, and he even makes a point out of this.

3: His shipmates are not too convinced where they are or if it may be on Earth, and they debate this fact quite a bit.

4: The Apes speak perfect English and even writs perfect English. Yes, this is classic Hollywood, but they make it a point by the fact that he writes perfect English… and not “English.” I mean, this is one amazing coincidence, no? Usually, when the Nazis speak English with a broken accent, we suspend our disbelief and hear it as their original language for the sake of the storytelling. In this, the Apes speaks and writes The King’s English. No two ways around it. And they do so perfectly.

5: The world has apes, humans, and horses precisely as on Earth.

6: Our hero visits an archaeological dig site, where they have found remains of advanced humans, with medical dentures, pacemakers, etc... and they even find a doll, which we can buy in any plain toy shop here on Earth. It has curly blond hair and a white dress...(he should have looked for "Made in Taiwan"). It even has "flip it," and it talks.

And yet, despite all these remarkable things, he and we are SURPRISED when the twist appears to us just before the end-credits... was it all the time on Earth? Get out of here...

For those of you who say, he already knew at the dig site; this is his ending dialogue:

"Oh my God... I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it. [falls to his knees screaming] YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! AH, DAMN YOU! GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!! "

- he’s genuinely gobsmacked.

Excellent as this scene was and is, the movie spoon-feed us the ending through the whole story - yet, it somehow worked, dammit.

However, I dare say, it surely would not work in today’s movie tellings.

I love the movie. Please do not get me wrong. For any of its loose perspectives or other shortcomings, “The Planet of the Apes (1968)” is a landmark of science fiction cinema, and when viewed contemporarily; it and has arguably one of the greatest endings ever made.

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[deleted]

One did...

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where do you get they were supposed to return to Earth?

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[edit: it is revealed in the sequel]

I am not sure I am right with that one. I got the impression from his monologue in the beginning, and from the crews dialogue after they crash. But when I read the script, it seem not as clear as I remember.

Though, the duel-clock predominantly placed in the cockpit supports that Earth is part of their mission. If it was to just leave Earth and fly off to never return, such a clock showing how much faster earth time runs would be quite depressing :).... but it is not as clear what their mission Was.

What do you think?

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Yes you've finally made a monkey out of meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

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However, if I may jump in, Taylor does tell Nova "Did I tell you about Stewart? Now there was a lovely girl. The most precious cargo we brought along. She was... to be the new "Eve". With our hot and eager help, of course.".

That indicates some intent that this was a one way trip for them.

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What a ho. She signed on knowing was gonna be triple teamed all the time. It's probably good that she didn't survive. She would have started banging the gorillas in no time.

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Well, the jump from Landon to Julius wasn't all that great.....

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Naaa the dudes never told her what it was really about. As with everything, it was just an elaborate plan to get in her pants. I mean, did you see her? What a waste

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I think that settles it. Of course he could be talking metaphorical but that is me grasping for straws.

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I don't think so. In the opening, Taylor even says he is basically reporting to people centuries removed from his point of departure. What would be the point in having them return? True, we never hear about Hasslein postulating about being able to travel BACK in time, so maybe that was phase 2 of the journey...but everything seems to point towards this being a one way trip. And a pretty stupid one since they would have had no way of knowing if the ship would make contact with another world capable of supporting life at all.

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That is what I meant by settling it.

Although it was put to my attention that the sequel throws a wrench into it, as it strongly indicates their mission was a return mission of 1 year or so.

It is just not very clear what their mission was.

Indeed the settler mission is supported by the dialogue you mention, but then it does seem strange that a small ship like that with only one female was meant to populate someplace. Also, they only had food for a few days when they crash. It doesn't seem to add up.

And when we add the sequel (which obviously was written after) it makes it even muddier.

Taken the whole series into consideration, to me it seems the following makes the most sense:

* Mission was to test Hassleins theory of one year in space-hibernation.

* Hassleins theory is overly successful, and time discrepancy is vastly larger than estimated.

* Earth loses contact and sends another spaceship to track it down...

* In short, the effect of time dilation was the cause of confusion for both spaceships in both movies

... the only thing that speaks against it is that the Hassleins clock in the spaceship is already showing Earth is ahead 700 years when Taylor says nighty night.... but given his very doomy dialogue, he knew already then that the experiment was just too successful. But as a good scientist, he continued with the test, just as planned, and went to sleep.

?

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Sadly, in this series of movies (which I love to death), EVERY movie has big gaping plot holes.

The first one....Taylor never questions the astronomical coincidence not of the apes, or of the horses....but of the apes speaking English and holding very Christian doctrines.

The second one, as you point out, has a rescue mission for a mission that humans would have no way of knowing is in trouble since the opening of the first movie shows Taylor recording a message to Earth that is 700 years after their launch date.

The third one, well the biggie is how did they launch the ship after dredging it from the bottom of a lake or sea. But also, how did Cornelius and Zira know the secret history of the apes when they were not the top class and were up on heresy charges at one point.

The fourth one is based on the flawed concept that even after hearing the whole secret history, including the plaque that killed cats and dogs and the slavery of apes....the government STILL allowed this to happen even as all the signs were lining up.

The fifth one....if someone can explain the various age discrepancies in THAT movie (I'm looking at you, Mandemus!) they're a better fan than I am.


But, you just have to sit back and enjoy the ape goodness


And I agree it makes more sense if the mission was a round trip (including travelling BACK in time) and that the time jump was MUCH larger than the instruments showed.

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well said :) but always fun to speculate.

The spaceship in the third one is demanding a hell of a disbelieve.... just thinking they would know how to repair it, and fly it etc. and it would take them back in time... I think though the spaceship used in the third one, was the spaceship from the second one... this wasn't sunk. No?

What is wrong with Mandemus being an elder?

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You have to look at how many years he says he was in charge of the armory vs how many years they say it's been since the migration to Ape City and other time frames they talk about.


Mandemus was basically at that armory for a lot of years before Caesar and the group found him and built a city around him.

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[deleted]

The ships clocks bore out Hassleins theory that time would move slower on a ship travelling near light speed than on Earth.
I think their mission was to establish a colony somewhere in outer space, though this itself is only hinted at. Taylor says that Steward was meant to be the new Eve. They only had three days worth of supplies in there packs so there must have been more food on the ship and most likely seeds to plant foodstuff.
The sequel hints that they were supposed to return in the normal 6 - 12 months, hence the rescue mission. Escape says both craft just disappeared, but according to the original movie that should have been expected of Taylors craft, so best ignore that.

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Yeah, the Eve thing settles it. Of course, he could be talking metaphorical, but that is me grasping for straws.

then again bringing one girl and three dudes on a mission to repopulate, and in a small space ship like that, seem.... odd. Anyway.....

Yes, the sequel muddy this part, even that it agrees with my OP. Of course, we see that Earth is already 700 years ahead of them before he goes into ”cryosleep,” so if the sequel is right the mission had already failed by then, and nothing is indicated like that.

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I see the four of them as the advance party. They would set up the colony and others would be following. Again, there's nothing to indicate this though.

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The Hassleins theory put a stick in it though. If we completely ignore the sequels, then indeed this is a good explanation. But because of Hassleins theory, Earth should have just sent more up there right after Taylor... because Taylor's team would never report anything useful back in any reasonable period of earth time.

There is a discrepancy in there somewhere.

With only the first one in mind, your explanation works.

With also the sequels in mind, it was a return mission, connected somehow with Hassleins theory.

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Yeah. The sequels suggest it was a mission that should have taken a year more or less.

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And yet the first one opens with earth time being 700 years ahead of them already... so to combine the two movies it must mean the mission failed or rather surprising and very successfully confirmed the Hassleins theory, and the advanced future Earth would then learn of this on their return.... rather than a more immediate fuure

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Maybe because it was just a theory, they thought that the ship had just disappeared and sent the second ship to check the region where the ship was last known to be.

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Taken the whole series into consideration, to me it seems the following makes the most sense:

* Mission was to test Hassleins theory of one year in space-hibernation.

* Hassleins theory is overly successful, and time discrepancy is vastly larger than estimated.

* Earth loses contact for this reason and sends another spaceship to track it down...

* In short, the effect of time dilation was the cause of confusion for both spaceships in both movies

... the only thing that speaks against it is that the Hassleins clock in the spaceship is already showing Earth is ahead 700 years when Taylor says nighty night.... but given his very doomy dialogue, he knew already then that the experiment was just too successful. But as a good scientist, he continued with the test, just as planned, and went to sleep.

Something that supports this that we have not discussed. His dialogue, in the beginning, seems to be a captains log. And his speech is clearly aimed at Earth. Of course, he could simply be transmitting them... but it seem to be for the log, to be studied later.
...

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... the only thing that speaks against it is that the Hassleins clock in the spaceship is already showing Earth is ahead 700 years when Taylor says nighty night.... but given his very doomy dialogue, he knew already then that the experiment was just too successful. But as a good scientist, he continued with the test, just as planned, and went to sleep

Agreed.

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"The ships clocks bore out Hassleins theory that time would move slower on a ship travelling near light speed than on Earth"

How did the earth clock know what time it was on earth?

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Who knows

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I assume Hassleins theory can estimate the time dilation based upon the relative speed. And provided the clock mechanism knows the speed they travel by, it can calculate this difference.

But of course, we can add in science mumbo-jumbo, and say the clock mechanism measured the rate of tachyons and based upon these measurements it could calculate how much difference this speed actually meant in experienced time....

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so its not so much a clock as a prediction, like the ETA in your GPS?

so if they can build a clock that accurately measures time dilation by speed , surely they can actually avoid accidentally losing 700 years?

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There is evidence to suggest that their mission was to test this time dilation for one of their years. So we cannot say the 700 years was a mistake, just much more than expected. But given his very doomy monologue, he knew already then that the experiment was just too successful. But as a good scientist, he continued with the test, just as planned, and went to sleep.

So with this in mind, I think it makes more sense to say that the clock mechanism is measuring the effect of speed, as it happens. And not "pre-calculating it". We can add in science mumbo-jumbo, and say the clock mechanism measured the rate of tachyons while speeding, and based upon these measurements it could calculate how much difference this speed actually meant in experienced time....

What do you think?

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I too just recently watched the first two movies. My sense when they were in the cave he was already piecing together what was happening and where he was. The whole ape evolved from man, the doll and dentures etc. of course maybe that was just me reading too much into it knowing already where he was.


Oh and I remember thinking the same thing with the perfect English.

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I thought he was kind of supercilious and did not seem to care much about it.... and yet, falls crying to his knees when he sees the statue of liberty a bit later that day.

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Na, it was the 1960s. They'd no doubt been watching Star Trek episodes before they jetted off so Alien Monkeys speaking English would have been no more than expected...

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You mean you weren't surprised by something you already knew? How astonishing. Your post makes it clear you were surprised by the twist the first time you saw the movie. You're now complaining it's obvious, because you're now aware of it. Makes perfect sense.

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What on Earth are you on about? I am simply sharing how surprised I was when I saw this old classic recently again, about how the ending twist is spelled out (with several story elements) much sooner than the final reveal... that is all. No complaint, just fresh eyes on a classic. Cheers Bob.

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Exactly. It's easy to say something is "spelled out" when you already know the ending. So the claim holds zero water. You were originally surprised by the twist, but now that you've seen it, it was spelled out. Do you hear yourself?

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oh my, I am simply sharing my experience. I am not claiming anything.. You do not have to agree or like it, it is MY experience. And of course it is easy when you know the ending, that is beside my point...

I feel my point is lost. Let us take 6th Sense. Great twist in the end. And there are several subtle hints throughout the movie too, which is more clear when you rewatch it (obviously). Cool. Nothing wrong with that. Great movie. Now let us imagine, these hints were massive and not subtle at all - as I think they are for POTA - then I would have been surprised that I missed them the first time. This is my OP. I am just surprised I missed them when they are so spelled out the way I think they are. That is all.

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You didn't understand the setup and twist.

You were supposed to believe that the astronauts had landed on another planet where events paralleled earth, except instead of human beings rising to the top of the evolutionary ladder, it was apes. This is why they all speak English. It's a bit of a stretch that they would, but you have to suspend disbelief that it could happen.

The movie didn't spoon feed anyone. It added those details you talked about along the way so that when the twist was unveiled, no one would be ranting that it was illogical, contradictory or nonsensical. The audience members, in other words, wouldn't be left ranting, "That's bullshit. How could they have landed on earth." They could recall the earlier line in the movie about the theory of relativity and go, "I understand. Time slowed down for the astronauts but time passed as normally on earth."

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I did understand it like this. And it was exactly how I saw it when I saw it for the first time. I loved it. It worked. However, upon rewatch and with the pre-knowledge of the plot, and coupled with a more modern cinema telling style of the day (plot twists is almost expected in these days) - it seemed incredibly obvious. And it took me by surprise, a bit, that it was so much in your face as it is. That the ”archeological dig site” for example, was not the moment of ”damn you all to hell”, is... well, interesting :)

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You should be asking yourself why it initially worked on you instead of why it shouldn't have. It's just a long Twilight Zone episode. You know the rub is coming but you don't want to believe it. How it's presented is what makes it iconic. You know there's more coming beyond a slow ride down the beach. The eerie score tells you that. But you rationalize it all up until that last moment b/c you still have "How can apes can do this while humans can't do that??" on which to cling. Those two facts go against it actually being Earth. But a specific landmark is one notch further than all those other parallels that make you cry, "But it can't be true".

And none of it would work today. But that applies to a million old whodunnits as well. You have the groundwork of early films that leave you too savvy to be swept up in the same way again.

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That's a fair point

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When I first saw it, I still didn't realize they were back on Earth. I was trying to figure out how the apes stole the Statue of Liberty and took it to their home planet

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One thing that I was curious about was, did the apes lie and act like it was a new planet from Earth?

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The apes lied and acted like mans history never existed. They didn't have a name for the planet.

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It seems you were the only one surprised. Most of us knew in the very beginning they were on Earth 2000 years in the future

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No, no, not at all; the final scene where Taylor finally understands where he is, is among the most famous plot twists in cinema history. It fooled us all, back then. The movie, like the book that inspired it, is driven towards a profound plot twist in the end.

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So if you were Taylor, and the apes spoke perfect English, you wouldn't question why?

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In 1968 everybody was flabbergasted by this twist in the story.

Today's audience - me included - I doubt anyone is.

Was it me instead of Taylor in that predicament, I doubt strongly I wouldn't add the 2+2.

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Originally the Apes weren't supposed to speak English. Can't imagine the audiences of 1968 would have gone for that movie.

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It would have been a better story, I think (with today’s audience in mind). I mean, the apes do not just speak English.... they speak kings English. If you want to hide the fact, it is just too obvious.

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In Escape, Cornelius tells the authorities that he saw the Earth explode from the window of the space ship. How did he know to call the planet Earth? In this movie, when Taylor is talking to Zira and him in their home, Taylor tells them he is from Ft Wayne, Indiana. Its odd that the name of the planet was never mentioned by either of them

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since it is earth, and the apes learned English from humans in the very beginning, it explains why they call “earth,” “earth,” etc. They stole our language, so to speak. I can't remember which one, but I think the fourth Apes movie from the 70’is explorer this genesis.

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I guess my point is why did Cornelius not mention to Taylor that this is planet Earth they are on. The name of this planet should have come up in the conversation between them. I wanted to go a full day without posting it, but I just can't now. I found a plot hole

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Milo told Cornelius it was Earth. Also, Cornelius and Zira had access to the Sacred Scrolls after the first movie so now knew the truth.

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It does work today. I did not watch this on 1968, I watched it recently and the ending was great. The fact that it was hinted to made it greater. It's an ending you ponder and go over and over throughout life. The fact that these apes somehow stole the statue of liberty from another planet is mindboggling! Without the ending the movie is still strong in itself. It is really a satirical view of humanity.

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Watch the sequels. Then the ending will really shock you. I thought the same thing when I first saw this, but in the sequel, the ending that you thought it was here, will be entirely different

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