Beneath the Planet of the Apes

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Beneath the Planet of the Apes

G

Released May 26, 1970

1h 35m

Sci-Fi

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Popcornmeter

37%

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30 Reviews

38%

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10,000+ Ratings

The second installment in "The Planet of the Apes" series. Here, an earthling sent to find the astronauts of the original film discovers not only a world of intelligent, talking apes, but an underground cult of grotesque "humans" who are the survivors of a nuclear blast years ago.

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Critics Consensus

Beneath the Planet of the Apes delivers more action than its predecessor -- unfortunately, at the expense of the social subtext that elevates the franchise's best entries.

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Ian Nathan

Empire Magazine

We've been there, done that, and bought the plastic orang-utan figurines.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 26, 2019

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Penelope Gilliatt

The New Yorker

The whole movie is often frightening in the wrong way -- not by force of satire but by weight of attitudinizing.

Mar 18, 2019

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Variety Staff

Variety

Hokey and slapdash.

Jun 4, 2007

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Scott Collura

IGN Movies

A world where it’s better to destroy ourselves than admit we’re wrong? There’s gotta be an answer.

Apr 4, 2025

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Don Kaye

Den of Geek

There's no question that with its mishmash of half-baked ideas, lack of strong characterization and clear budgetary issues, Beneath represents a steep drop in overall quality from the magnificent Planet of the Apes.

Mar 26, 2019

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Matt Goldberg

Collider

The ending of Beneath the Planet of the Apes has shock value, but it's hollow.

Rated: C-

Mar 26, 2019

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Mark B

Worth watching as part of the series. Some moral philosophy classic scifi but I liked the next one better.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/31/25

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Jace T

You know, the more I think about this movie, and the farther away from watching it for the first time I get, the more I actually like this movie. It is in many ways the weakest in the Planet of the Apes original franchise, but it is incredibly memorable and one of the wildest story lines in the entire series.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/29/25

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thiago s

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom, o filme inteiro não teve quase de interessante, mas o final salvou o filme, com a morte do protagonista.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/30/25

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Nik75 J

Not as good as the first one, but still has a lot of intriguing ideas and surprise plot twists. The surprise ending was Charlton Heston's idea.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/25/25

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Miguel T

A total disaster of a movie, especially remembering that we came form one of the best films of all time. Beneath the Planet of the Apes has the hard task of continuing after one of the best endings of cinema, and this is the reason why Heston charactee appears so little. Apes presence is still menacing, and the cult scene is really disturbing, but the film focuses more on our new and forgetable protagonist and on the underneath society (that is absurd) that on continuing the dilemas presented and discussed on the previous film.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/16/25

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Euan P

It may have been strange, to say the least, but great performances keep this movie afloat.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/06/24

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Ted Post

Director

James Franciscus

John Brent

Kim Hunter

Dr. Zira

Charlton Heston

George Taylor

Maurice Evans

Dr. Zaius

Linda Harrison

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Beneath the Planet of the Apes: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

The second installment in "The Planet of the Apes" series. Here, an earthling sent to find the astronauts of the original film discovers not only a world of intelligent, talking apes, but an underground cult of grotesque "humans" who are the survivors of a nuclear blast years ago.

Director: Ted Post
Producer: Arthur P. Jacobs
Screenwriter: Paul Dehn, Paul Dehn, Mort Abrahams
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: APJAC Productions, Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: G
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 26, 1970, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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