Why is the Ending of PLANET OF THE APES (1968) No Surprise?
By Jon Therkildsen
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?
The surprise-ending is spoon-fed to us several times throughout the movie - so much so that I am now surprised the ending ever worked at all. Naturally, it is no surprise when watching it again, but is it a surprise how blatantly the whole story foreshadows the ending. This tells me how much we have evolved as an audience. I do not think it would have worked today, had it come out now instead of then.
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 scientists 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 chimpanzees all along.
Fantastic ending too and a great twist, 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:
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.
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.
His shipmates are not too convinced where they are or if it may be on Earth, and they debate this fact quite a bit.
The Apes speak perfect English and even write 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 storytelling. In this, the Apes speak and write The King’s English. No two ways around it. And they do so perfectly.
The world has apes, humans, horses, and vegetation precisely as on Earth.
Our hero visits an archaeological dig site, where they have found remains of advanced human cultures, 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-feeds 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 has arguably one of the greatest endings ever made.
One last remark: Of all the signs that this is his Earth:
Same atmosphere - Same vegetation - Mission was supposed to return to Earth - Time difference was according to the plan - Perfect English communication in both writing and speaking - There are Earth equivalent humans, apes, and horses, etc. - Remains of a past human culture, with medical known dentures and pacemakers - A human doll, with curly hair and speaking ability ….. and a weathered down statue.
Taking all of these hints into consideration, the big spiky head and a torch looking thing, is the one hint that would be most likely to have been reproduced coincidentally somewhere else. Yet, this is the straw which broke the Apes back
… maybe that was the twist?
Photos via Google - © 1968 APJAC PRODUCTIONS