Laurie Casserly

Although I never was much of a fan of science fiction except for a one time obsession with HP Lovecraft and a bit of an intellectual snob even at fifteen when I first saw it, I was more than pleasantly surprised at how brilliant it was. It is best to see it without knowing anything about it especially the end, however, even if you know it, even if you’ve seen it, I recommend you see it again as I just did. There are so many things to recommend it. The music is very unusual and created I believe to enhance the tone of strangeness, with unusual instrumentation supporting the fearsome and ominous nature of the plot in scene after frightening scene. Three men have crash landed on what must be to them an unknown planet far from earth’s solar system. The only thing they actually know is that they left earth in a state of suspended animation sometime in the 1970’a and it is now sometime in the late third millennium. Surely they must be thousands of light years from where they came from. In so many ways the new planet resembles earth. There is an atmosphere which gently greets them. There are mountains, beaches, plants and trees. And waterfalls, giant lakes. And very soon they discover human-like creatures running through tended crops being chased by ape-like creatures on horseback who shoot some of the humans and capture others with nets. It’s what happens to one of the crewmen which with the story concerns itself. Played passionately by Charlton Heston , Taylor finds himself in a world where evolution has somehow reversed itself. His character is one just like his superior manly stubborn warrior counterpart on 1970’s earth. The writing concerning his and mankind’s horrific blunders is full of irony with brilliant and exciting plot twists with some really interesting jokes, too. Ultimately we all get a crazy comeuppance- not just Taylor but everybody in the theater watching with us. Lastly it is beautifully photographed with tip-top production values. Kudos to the production designer. For me most important was how intelligent it was and intellectually stimulating to a very old fifteen year old and a very young - sixty something. No scoffing at this one.