History YMMV / PlanetOfTheApes1968

* ItWasHisSled: The "Planet of the Apes" was really EarthAllAlong, following WorldWarIII. So well known that [[Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes five]] [[Film/BattleForThePlanetOfTheApes separate]] [[Film/RiseOfThePlanetOftheApes films]] [[Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes were]] [[Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes made]] to explain it.

* SignatureScene: The iconic Statue of Liberty reveal, one of the most famous {{Wham Shot}}s of all time.

** The only female among the astronauts is killed without a single line of dialogue, and later implied to have been intended as a brood mare for a new human colony. And the only black member of the crew is killed soon after, leaving only the two white males alive to see Ape City. Cringy as this is nonetheless, the fact that Stewart and Dodge are there at all, and treated as equals by their companions without a hint of inferiority, is rather commendable for a 1968 film. Consider that this expedition is said to happen in 1974, but NASA did not actually put a woman or an African-American man in space until Sally Ride and Guion Bluford both flew in 1983.
** Bringing the movie in casual conversation will invariably lead to a joke about how Taylor must have been a little dim to not realize sooner that an inhabitable planet with plants, horses, humans, apes, and even the English language must have been EarthAllAlong. However the sci-fi genre of the time was riff with CasualInterstellarTravel, HumanAliens, AliensSpeakingEnglish, and [[PlanetOfHats Planets of Hats]]; it wasn't until Soviet probes landed on Mars and Venus in the early [=1970s=] when they were found to be [[DeathWorld Death Worlds]] and the uniqueness of Earth entered popular consciousness. Thus the reason the TwistEnding is so well known and enduring in popular culture today is, partly, because it was a very unexpected and shocking twist at the time, not even present in the original book (where the astronauts do travel to a different planet that just happens to be very similar to Earth). The movie further tries to make things plausible by introducing TimeDilation, making the ship a SleeperStarship, having the astronauts check if the air is breathable before jumping out, and having them note that the planet has no moon (implying the Moon was destroyed at some point, and explaining why they didn't realize it was Earth's Moon as soon as night fell).

** Bringing the movie in casual conversation will invariably lead to a joke about how Taylor must have been a little dim to not realize sooner that an inhabitable planet with plants, horses, humans, apes, and even the English language must have been EarthAllAlong. However the sci-fi genre of the time was riff with CasualInterstellarTravel, HumanAliens, AliensSpeakingEnglish, and [[PlanetOfHats Planets of Hats]]; it wasn't until Soviet probes landed on Mars and Venus in the early [=1970s=] when they were found to be [[DeathWorld Death Worlds]] and the uniqueness of Earth entered popular consciousness. Thus the reason the TwistEnding is so well known and enduring in popular culture today is, in part, because it was indeed a very shocking twist at the time, not even present in the original book (where the astronauts do travel to a different planet that just happens to be very similar to Earth). The movie further tries to make things plausible by introducing TimeDilation, making the ship a SleeperStarship, having the astronauts check if the air is breathable before jumping out, and having them note that the planet has no moon (implying the Moon was destroyed at some point, and explaining why they didn't realize it was Earth's Moon as soon as night fell).

** Bringing the movie in casual conversation will invariably lead to a joke about how Taylor must have been a little dim to not realize sooner that an inhabitable planet with plants, horses, humans, apes, and even the English language must have been EarthAllAlong. However the sci-fi genre of the time was riff with CasualInterstellarTravel, HumanAliens, AliensSpeakingEnglish, and [[PlanetOfHats Planets of Hats]]; it wasn't until Soviet probes landed on Mars and Venus in the early [=1970s=] when they were found to be [[DeathWorld Death Worlds]] and the uniqueness of Earth entered popular consciousness. Thus the reason the TwistEnding is so well known and enduring in popular culture today is, in part, because it was a indeed a very shocking twist at the time, not even present in the original book (where the astronauts do travel to a different planet that just happens to be very similar to Earth). The movie further tries to make things plausible by introducing TimeDilation, making the ship a SleeperStarship, having the astronauts check if the air is breathable before jumping out, and having them note that the planet has no moon (implying the Moon was destroyed at some point, and explaining why they didn't realize it was Earth's Moon as soon as night fell).

** Bringing the movie in casual conversation will invariably lead to a joke about how Taylor must have been a little dim to not realize sooner that an inhabitable planet with plants, horses, humans, apes, and even the English language must have been EarthAllAlong. However the sci-fi genre of the time was riff with CasualInterstellarTravel, HumanAliens, AliensSpeakingEnglish, and [[PlanetOfHats Planets of Hats]]; it wasn't until Soviet probes landed on Mars and Venus in the early [=1970s=] when they were found to be [[DeathWorld Death Worlds]] and the uniqueness of Earth entered popular consciousness. Thus the reason the TwistEnding is so well known and enduring in popular culture today is, in part, because it was a indeed a very shocking twist at the time, not even present in the original book (where the astronauts do travel to a different planet that just happens to be very similar to Earth). The movie further tries to make things plausible by introducing TimeDillation, making the ship a SleeperSpaceship, having the astronauts check if the air is breathable before jumping out, and having them note that the planet has no moon (implying the Moon was destroyed at some point, and explaining why they didn't realize it was Earth's Moon as soon as night fell).

* FairForItsDay: The only female among the astronauts is killed without a single line of dialogue, and later implied to have been intended as a brood mare for a new human colony. And the only black member of the crew is killed soon after, leaving only the two white males alive to see Ape City. As cringy as this can be, the fact that Stewart and Dodge are there at all, and treated as equals by their companions without a hint of inferiority, is rather commendable for a 1968 film. Consider that this expedition is said to happen in 1974, yet NASA did not actually put a woman or an African-American man in space until Sally Ride and Guion Bluford flew in 1983.

* SpiritualSuccessor: As Creator/JamesRolfe pointed out in his review of the film, it's easy to consider this story a missing episode of ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}''. Many of the same themes pop up: a fantastical (and somewhat goofy) science-fiction situation, AnAesop about the follies of Man, and the MandatoryTwistEnding. It helps that the initial draft of the screenplay was actually done by Creator/RodSerling, and that a previous episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' ([[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E15IShotAnArrowIntoTheAir "I Shot an Arrow into the Air"]]) dealt with the same story situation and even had a similar TwistEnding. Additionally, a lot of ''Planet of the Apes'' actors would later turn up on ''The Twilight Zone'''s other Spiritual Successor, ''Series/NightGallery''.

* SpiritualSuccessor: As Creator/JamesRolfe pointed out in his review of the film, it's easy to consider this story a missing episode of ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}''. Many of the same themes pop up: a fantastical (and somewhat goofy) science-fiction situation, AnAesop about the follies of Man, and the MandatoryTwistEnding. It helps that the initial draft of the screenplay was actually done by Creator/RodSerling, and that a previous episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' ([[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E15IShotAnArrowIntoTheAir "I Shot an Arrow into the Air"]]) dealt with the same story situation and even had a similar TwistEnding. Additionally, a lot of ''Planet of the Apes'' actors would later turn up on ''The Twilight Zone'''s other Spiritual Successor, ''Series/NightGallery''.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The infamous twist ending would be nearly impossible to play straight nowadays, and much more often [[StockParody parodied]]. In fact, modern viewers might not even think the setting is supposed to be a twist, considering it would only work in a universe with HumanAliens, {{Intelligent Gerbil}}s, and AllPlanetsAreEarthLike, tropes which most contemporary sci-fi films have strayed away from.

* SpiritualAdaptation: As Creator/JamesRolfe pointed out in his review of the film, it's easy to consider this story a missing episode of ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}''. Many of the same themes pop up: a fantastical (and somewhat goofy) science-fiction situation, AnAesop about the follies of Man, and the MandatoryTwistEnding. It helps that the initial draft of the screenplay was actually done by Creator/RodSerling, and that a previous episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' ([[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E15IShotAnArrowIntoTheAir "I Shot an Arrow into the Air"]]) dealt with the same story situation and even had a similar TwistEnding. Additionally, a lot of ''Planet of the Apes'' actors would later turn up on ''The Twilight Zone'''s other Spiritual Successor, ''Series/NightGallery''.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: One of the big WhamLine moments of the movie occurs near the end when the group is investigating the cave with human relics and comes across a talking human doll. Everyone reacts in shock to this, with Taylor underlining the moment by asking Dr. Zaius, who up to this point had been dismissing the relics as ape-created in origin, if an ape would have made a human doll that could talk? At the time the film was made, talking dolls were a relatively new invention and limited to talking baby dolls like Chatty Cathy. The implication is you'd only making a talking doll of a species that could actually talk, therefore an ape society equivalent to 1960s American society would likewise only make talking ape dolls. Flashforward to the 1980s and beyond when talking animal toys are pretty much the norm, not the exception.

* IdiotPlot: How does Taylor not figure out he's on Earth after discovering that the apes not only speak English, but use the Latin alphabet? Because then the ending wouldn't work.

* {{Misblamed}}: Some people have accused this movie's producer, Arthur P. Jacobs of effectively stealing the Academy Award for Best Makeup from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' -- which had ape suits widely regarded as even more convincing than those from this movie -- as Jacobs was notorious for wining and dining the members of the Academy, which earned his previous film, ''Film/DoctorDolittle'' several Oscar nods despite it being a critical and commercial failure. One slight problem with this accusation, however -- the Academy Award for Best Makeup didn't actually ''exist'' until 1981, well over a decade after this film and ''2001'' were released. Even if Jacobs did somehow persuade the Academy to give this movie an Honorary Award for the make-up (which was what it actually won), he can hardly be blamed for conspiring to steal a non-existent award from ''2001''.

* SpiritualAdaptation: As Creator/JamesRolfe pointed out in his review of the film, it's easy to consider this story a missing episode of ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 The Twilight Zone]]''. Many of the same themes pop up: a fantastical (and somewhat goofy) science-fiction situation, AnAesop about the follies of Man, and the MandatoryTwistEnding. It helps that the initial draft of the screenplay was actually done by Creator/RodSerling, and that a previous episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' ([[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E15IShotAnArrowIntoTheAir "I Shot an Arrow into the Air"]]) dealt with the same story situation and even had a similar TwistEnding. Additionally, a lot of ''Planet of the Apes'' actors would later turn up on ''The Twilight Zone'''s other Spiritual Successor, ''Series/NightGallery''.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: While the character focus is more on Taylor and Zaius, Creator/KimHunter’s turn as Zira often steals the scenes she is in. This is confirmed by her small role in ''Film/BeneathThePlanetOfTheApes'' and then her major role in ''Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes''

* EnsembleDarkHorse: While the character focus is more onTaylor and Zaius, Creator/KimHunter’s turn as Zira often steals the scenes she is in. This is confirmed by her small role in ''Film/BeneathThePlanetOfTheApes'' and then her major role in ''Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes''

* HilariousInHindsight:
** Landon speculates that the ship could have landed on a planet orbiting the star [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellatrix Bellatrix]]. Nowadays, due to PopculturalOsmosis, most viewers who hear that name will think of [[Literature/HarryPotter a certain character named after that star]].
*** Similarly, the original novel sets the story on a planet orbiting the star Betelgeuse, the name of which is sometimes pronounced as Film/{{Beetlejuice}}. Coincidentally, the movie ''Beetlejuice'' was also directed by Burton just like the ''Planet of the Apes'' remake.
** Seeing the future NRA president heft a shotgun and declare "I'm pretty handy with this!" Or HarsherInHindsight depending on your view of the NRA.

* ItWasHisSled: The "Planet of the Apes" was really EarthAllAlong, following WorldWarIII. So well know that [[Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes five]] [[Film/BattleForThePlanetOfTheApes separate]] [[Film/RiseOfThePlanetOftheApes films]] [[Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes were]] [[Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes made]] to explain it.

* ItWasHisSled: The "Planet of the Apes" was really EarthAllAlong, following WorldWarIII. So we’ll know that [[Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes five]] [[Film/BattleForThePlanetOfTheApes separate]] [[Film/RiseOfThePlanetOftheApes films]] [[Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes were]] [[Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes made]] to explain it.

* ItWasHisSled: The "Planet of the Apes" was really EarthAllAlong, following WorldWarIII.

** Landon speculates that the ship could have landed on a planet orbiting the star [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellatrix Bellatrix]]. Nowadays, due to PopculturalOsmosis, most viewers who hear that name will think of [[Literature/HarryPotter a certain character named after that star]]. Even better, [[Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter the actress who played that character]] appeared in [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001 the remake of this movie]].

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:The "Planet of the Apes" was really EarthAllAlong, following WorldWarIII.]]

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The infamous twist ending where [[spoiler: it was EarthAllAlong would be nearly impossible to play straight nowadays, and much more often [[StockParody parodied]]]]. In fact, modern viewers might not even think the setting is supposed to be a twist, considering it would only work in a universe with HumanAliens, {{Intelligent Gerbil}}s, and AllPlanetsAreEarthLike, tropes which most contemporary sci-fi films have strayed away from.