The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.Although Charlton Heston showed little interest in reprising his role as Taylor, studio head Richard Zanuck thought the actor was essential to the sequel. After some disagreement with the actor's agents, Heston agreed to briefly appear with the provision that Taylor be killed and that Heston's pay go to charity. The writers decided to have Taylor disappear at the story's start and only return by the film's ending, and have a new protagonist for the major part of the story.Strangely, the switching out of heroes does not seem to have much effect. Whether it is Heston or anyone else, the lone human idea remains just as good. Now, the new humans are a strange addition. Accepting ape-people is one thing, but then to add a second mysterious race takes this another step and begins to distort the allegory. But it also creates plenty of sci-fi opportunities.

Appropriately yet ironically titled, "Beneath The Planet Of The Apes" marks a steep drop-off from the indisputable sci-fi classic "Planet Of The Apes." When the original proved to be a major hit, striking a chord in the imaginations of audiences everywhere, a sequel was rushed into production. With half the budget and half the talent (a reluctant Charlton Heston agreed to appear only in cameo form and with the caveat that his character takes action to ensure there are no more sequels -- ha!), "Beneath" apes its predecessor in more ways than one. Not only does new leading man James Franciscus look and act a lot like Heston (so much so that even sympathetic ape lady Zira confuses the two characters) but the plot has a distinct whiff of been there, done that. Well, until that zany last act, anyway.It would be all to easy to dump on the film for all of its shortcomings. "Beneath The Planet Of The Apes" at least gets a few elements right. The attempt to push the narrative forward and pick up at the point where the original left off is a good start. Not too far into the film, Taylor (Heston) and Nova (the striking Linda Harrison) are separated, leaving room for newly landed astronaut Brent (Franciscus) to accompany her. As tensions among apes builds - - some of the film's most memorable images are that of a peaceful ape protest that is broken up with brute force -- the twosome are forced underground, where they discover the remains of their lost civilization. And mutants. Telepathetic mutants at that, hellbent on destruction and worshipping the atomic bomb. Yeah, that's right. This movie goes there.By far the most bizarre and inconsistent film in the franchise without Tim Burton's name attached to it, "Beneath" at least gets by on its bizarre digressions and admittedly chilling visions of a decimated New York City (condemned to the underground, "Futurama" style). If nothing else, it's never dull. Thankfully, the series would make a much needed course correction with the melodramatic but much improved "Escape From The Planet Of The Apes" and its even more politically-minded "Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes." But in the context of the original five "Apes" films, this one feels perhaps the most extraneous. Lots of good ideas lost in muddled execution. It's also -- for lack of a better term -- completely and utterly bananas.

Despite widespread condemnation on release and a dearth of originality I quite enjoyed this first follow up to the sci-fi classic. It's not a brilliant film by any means, but it has some fun, if dated effects and a second half that covers new ground in an interesting way. The film begins with a good recap reminding us of the ending of the first film before turning into a virtual retread of that movie, with Charlton Heston lookalike James Franciscus playing a new crash-landed astronaut captured and humiliated by the war-like apes. He even hooks up with the same cute mute girl from the first film, Nova.Then the plot moves underground and we're into new territory involving super bombs, a psychic society and outright warfare. Things lead up to an excellent, extended fight scene when Franciscus finally meets up with Heston for some seriously old-fashioned fisticuffs, and then there's time for a twist ending which brings new meaning to the word 'downbeat'. I really liked this bloody way of finalising the series once and for all, ensuring that there would be no sequels (except, of course, there were). The cinematography is the best thing this film has to offer: searing desert scenes that wouldn't be amiss in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and giant underground cities that were cutting edge in the late '60s. I've always liked Franciscus and he plays the action man hero pretty well; Heston steals his (few) scenes and Linda Harrison blows away memories of Raquel Welch as the sexy love interest. Not a great film by any means, but not a bad one either, this suffers from paling in comparison with the original.

Made two years after the original Apes movie, 'Beneath' spends the first half retreading old territory, before going off on a wacky tangent that leads to a unexpectedly downbeat and explosive finalé.After repeating the twist ending of the first film (Damn you! God damn you all to hell!), the film introduces astronaut Brent (James Franciscus), who has crash-landed on a desolate planet in the year AD 3955, having followed the trajectory charted by fellow NASA explorer Taylor (Charlton Heston). By a remarkable coincidence, Brent encounters Taylor's mute squeeze Nova (Linda Harrison), who takes him to Ape Town where chimpanzees Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (David Watson, replacing Roddy McDowell) inform him that Taylor has ventured into the wasteland known as the The Forbidden Zone.Nova and Brent leave the town as soon as possible, hoping to find Taylor, but are quickly captured by gorilla troops, who intend to use them for target practice; however, while being escorted to the shooting range, the pair manage to escape (with a little help from Zira), eventually finding sanctuary in a cave where Brent discovers the shocking truth: he is on Earth, the human race having finally 'pushed the button'.So far, so familiar. But then things take an unexpected turn…Following the strange noise emanating from deep within the cave, Brent and Nova discover a race of telepathic mutants whose first line of defence is the use of mental illusions, but who also worship an ancient and still primed Russian 'Doomsday' device. Brent also meets Taylor, who is being held prisoner by the subterranean freaks. When the gorilla army enters the forbidden zone and attacks the mutants, Brent and Taylor escape, but are shot during the mêlée. In a final act of defiance, Taylor activates the bomb.As much as I enjoy all of the entries in the original Apes series, 'Beneath' is must be considered a disappointment when compared with its excellent predecessor: the first half offers nothing absolutely nothing new, while the second half is just a little too silly for its own good, the most ridiculous moment being when the mutants take off rubber masks to reveal their true selves. Where exactly did they get the latex to make these convincing disguises? And more to the point, why did they make them?Beneath's apocalyptic ending suggests that this is the end of the apes, but they would soon be back by popular demand in the very enjoyable Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971).6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.