Planet of the Apes

That completes my final report until we touch down.

We're on full automatic, in the hands of the computers.

l've tucked my crew in for the long sleep, and l'll be joining them soon.

ln less than an hour we'll finish our sixth month out of Cape Kennedy.

Six months in deep space. By our time, that is.

According to Dr Hasslein's theory of time in a vehicle traveling nearly the speed of light,

the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it,

while we've aged hardly at all.

lt may be so. This much is probably true.

The men who sent us on this journey are long since dead and gone.

You who are reading me now are a different breed.

l hope a better one.

l leave the 20th century with no regrets. But one more thing...

lf anybody's listening, that is.

Nothing scientific. lt's purely personal.

Seen from out here, everything seems different.

Time bends. Space is boundless.

lt squashes a man's ego.

l feel lonely.

That's about it.

Tell me, though...

Does man, that marvel of the universe,

that glorious paradox who has sent me to the stars,

still make war against his brother, keep his neighbor's children starving?

Are you all right?

Stewart?

Stewart?

We're in the soup. She's sinking. Dodge, read the atmosphere.

Landon, get out a last signal.

- What signal? - To Earth. That we've landed.

The air's OK. Blow the hatch before we lose all our power.

- lt's no use. The power's gone. - Forget it. Abandon ship.

She's sinking.

Going...

Going...

Gone.

OK. We're here to stay.

Well, where are we? Do you have any notion, skipper?

We're 320 light years from Earth

on an unnamed planet in orbit around a star in the constellation of Orion.

ls that close enough for you?

- That could be Bellatrix. - lt's too white for Bellatrix.

You didn't have time to read the tapes. So you really don't know, do you?

What went wrong? We weren't programmed to land in the water.

The question is not so much where we are as when we are.

We've had enough sleep for a while. Let's start earning all that back pay.

Dodge, run your soil test.

- Got your sensors? - Right.

- Geiger counter? - Got it.

Let's see... One pistol, 20 rounds ammo, a medical kit, camera, TX9.

We've got food and water enough for three days.

- How long is a day? - That's a good question.

Landon...

Hey, Landon.

Join the expedition.

Sorry. l was thinking about Stewart. What do you suppose happened?

- Air leak. She died in her sleep. - You don't seem very cut up about it.

lt's a little late for a wake. She's been dead nearly a year.

That means we've been away from Earth for 18 months.

Our time.

You've gone gray.

Apart from that you look pretty chipper for a man who's 2,031 years old.

l read the clocks. They bear out Hasslein's hypothesis.

We have been away from Earth for 2,000 years, give or take a decade.

Still can't accept it? Time's wiped out everything you ever knew.

- lt's all dust. - Prove it.

- lf we can't get back, it's still just a theory. - lt's a fact, Landon. Buy it. You'll sleep better.

Nothing will grow here. There's just a trace of carbohydrates.

All the nitrogen is locked into the nitrates.

- No dangerous ionization? - No.

Well...

lf there's no life here, we've gotjust 72 hours to find it.

That's when the groceries run out. Let's go. Which direction?

- That way. - Any particular reason?

None at all.

Come on...

Everybody all right?

Water check.

Eight ounces.

lt doesn't add up. Thunder and lightning, and no rain. Cloud cover at night.

- That strange luminosity, yet no moon. - lf we could just get a fix.

What would that tell you? l've told you where you are and when you are.

All right, all right.

You're 300 light years from your precious planet.

Your loved ones are dead and forgotten for 20 centuries.

20. Even if you could get back, they'd think you were something that fell out of a tree.

Taylor, quit riding him.

There is just one reality. We are here and it is now.

You get hold of that, or you might as well be dead.

l'm prepared to die.

He's prepared to die.

Doesn't that make you misty? Chalk up another victory for the human spirit.

Clue me in on something, will you? Why did you sign on for this trip?

You volunteered. Why?

Never mind. l'll clue you in. You were the golden boy of the class of '72.

When they nominated you, you couldn't turn it down.

Not without losing your all-American image.

- Climb off, will you? - And the glory. Don't forget that.

There's a life-size bronze statue of you standing out there somewhere.

Probably turned green by now and nobody can read the nameplate.

- But never let it be said we forget our heroes. - Taylor, climb off my back.

And there's one last item. lmmortality. You wanted to live for ever, didn't you?

Well, you damn near made it. Except for me and Dodge, you've lived longer than anyone ever born.

And with our lovely Lieutenant Stewart dead, it looks like you're the last of the line.

You got what you wanted, tiger. How does it taste?

OK. You read me well enough. But why can't l read you?

Don't bother.

Dodge, there. He's not like me at all. But he makes sense.

He'd walk naked into a live volcano if he thought he could learn something that no other man knew.

But you... You're no seeker. You're negative.

- And l'm not prepared to die. - l'd like to know why not.

You thought life on Earth was meaningless. You despised people. - So what did you do? You ran out.

- No. lt's not like that, Landon.l'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours.

l can't help thinking somewhere there has to be something better than man. Has to be.

Taylor, over here.

Life.

Where there's one, there's another. And another and another.

Let's find 'em.

Skipper.

Look.

Scarecrows?

Let's see.

To hell with the scarecrows.

Whoo-hoo.

Hey. Yay. Yay.

Ah.

Ah-hoo.

Whoo. Whoo.

Ah.

Taylor.

Look at this.

Taylor, look.

They didn't leave much, did they?

- Well, at least they haven't tried to bite us. - Blessed are the vegetarians.

They look more or less human, but l think they're mute.

We got off at the wrong stop.

You're supposed to be the optimist, Landon. Look on the bright side.

lf this is the best they've got around here, in six months we'll be running this planet.

Smile.

Which one was wearing the strange clothes?

This one.

- Will he live? - l don't know.

This beast has lost a lot of blood.

- There's no probe here. Find one. - Yes, sir.

This place is dirty, doctor. Doctor, these animals are dirty.

They stink. They carry diseases. Why aren't they cleaned up before they're brought here?

- You don't sound happy in your work. - l'm little more than a vet in this laboratory.

You promised to speak to Dr Zaius about me.

l did. You know how he looks down his nose at chimpanzees.

But the quota system's been abolished. You made it. Why can't l?

What do you mean - made it? l'm an animal psychologist, that's all. We have no authority.

You do all right getting space and equipment.

That's because Dr Zaius realizes our work has value.

The foundations of scientific brain surgery are being laid right here

in studies of cerebral functions of these animals.

They're still dirty, doctor. And their bite is septic. There. Look at that.

Hold his jaw.

- Good morning, Dr Zira. - Morning, Julius. How's our patient?

No change. The minute you open the door, he goes into his act.

Well.

And what do we want this morning? Do we want something? Come on. Speak.

Come on, speak.

Do we want some sugar, old-timer?

- You could get hurt doing that, doctor. - Don't be silly. He's perfectly tame.

- They all are till they take a chunk out of you. - Well, Bright Eyes. Our throat feeling better?

- Still hurts, doesn't it? - See? He keeps pretending he can talk.

That Bright Eyes is remarkable. He keeps trying to form words.

You know what they say. Human see, human do.

Now what?

He seems to want something.

l'd be careful, doctor.

What did l tell you? Try that again and l'll break your arm!

Good morning, Your Excellency.

Dr Zaius.

Good morning, sir.

Open up, please.

l'm so glad you could come.

Sir, he's over here.

Bright Eyes...

Show him. Go ahead. Do your trick.

Speak. Go on. Speak again.

There. Can you believe it?

Yes, amusing. A man acting like an ape.

- Dr Zaius, l could swear he's answering you. - He has a definite gift for mimicry.

Most unusual. He's using that old blanket as clothing.

l wonder how he'd score on a Hopkins manual dexterity test.

An animal? Look. He's moving his fingers.

- Only because he saw you moving yours. - But perhaps he understood.

Man has no understanding. He can be taught a few simple tricks. Nothing more.

l'm afraid l must disagree.

- According to my experiments... - Dr Zira, l must caution you.

Experimental brain surgery on these creatures is one thing, and l'm in favor of it.

But your behavioral studies are something else again.

To suggest that we can learn anything about the simian nature

from the study of man is sheer nonsense.

Besides, man is a nuisance.

He eats up his food supplies in the forest,

then migrates to our green belts and ravages our crops.

The sooner he is exterminated the better.

lt's a question of simian survival.