Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) on Netflix

G19701h 35mAdventure Mystery Sci-Fi

A ship crash-lands in the Forbidden Zone, and astronaut Brent is the only survivor. The mute Nova, wearing Taylor's dog tags, leads him to Ape City, where General Ursus calls for war.

Netflix2.4/5
IMDb6.0/1057,044 votes
Rotten Tomatoes34%

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Plot summary

Brent, the only survivor of a second spaceship that crash-lands in the Forbidden Zone, finds himself in the year 3955. He buries Skipper, a fellow astronaut, then meets Nova, who cannot speak and carries Taylor's dog tags, which gives him hope that Taylor is alive. Nova leads him to Ape City, where he sees the simian civilization for the first time. General Ursus rallies the apes to conquer the Forbidden Zone as a food source, against the objections of Dr. Zaius. Nova brings the wounded Brent to Cornelius and Zira, chimpanzees who tend his injury and recall their time with Taylor.

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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

Orson Welles was offered the role of General Ursus but turned it down, objecting to spending all his screen time in a mask and make-up; the part went to James Gregory.
SPOILER
Charlton Heston showed little interest in returning as Taylor, but studio head Richard D. Zanuck thought him essential. After disagreements with the actor's agents, Heston agreed to a brief appearance on condition his character be killed and his pay go to charity.
One of the story elements devised by Mort Abrahams and Paul Dehn was a half-human, half-ape child. It went as far as make-up tests before being dropped because of the implication of bestiality.
The producers turned to Planet of the Apes novelist Pierre Boulle, who wrote a sequel draft called Planet of the Men in which George Taylor leads an uprising of enslaved men against the apes. It was rejected as lacking the original's visual shock and surprise.
Fox halved the sequel's budget, from $5 million to $2.5 million, after a run of underperforming big-budget films including Star!, Hello, Dolly! and Tora! Tora! Tora!, though the studio still expected the film to restore its profitability.
The mutants' council chamber and the temple of the bomb were redresses of two existing sets: the Grand Central - 42nd Street station and the Harmonia Gardens from Hello, Dolly!.
For the soundtrack LP, Leonard Rosenman rearranged his score for a smaller orchestra, adding electric guitar and rock percussion; the re-recorded pieces were interspersed with dialogue from the film and featured bassist Carol Kaye and Moog pioneer Paul Beaver.
For the scene in the ruins of St. Patrick's Cathedral, where the telepaths sing a hymn praising the atom bomb, Leonard Rosenman set Cecil Frances Alexander's 1848 hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful" to discordant music with the lyrics altered to honor the "Bomb Almighty".