While this movie lacked the same "coolness factor" of the second ape movie (BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES),it was every bit as good and was a big improvement over the last film (ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES).

This was a very strange movie, because while it was the fourth movie in the series, technically speaking #3 and 4 both occurred BEFORE #1 and 2, BUT #1 and 2 needed to occur first sequentially because,...well, never mind,...it's all too confusing to try to explain in only 1000 words! But trust me on this, #4 occurred 2nd---or did movie #5?!? I dunno--it's all a giant time loop thing.

Cornelius and Zira's baby, thought to have been killed in movie #3 was secreted away by the well-meaning Ricardo Montalban and raised to adulthood by the time the movie starts. Since movie #3, a lotta bad stuff has occurred on Earth. Apparently, some people saw a loophole in the 13th Amendment (to those who failed Civics, that's the one that freed the slaves)--the Amendment did not apply to apes!! So now we have chimps, orangutans and gorillas doing slave labor all across the globe. How these three types of apes came to look NOTHING like chimps, orangutans or gorillas, we don't know--maybe there was some sort of cloning or cool potion used to enhance them and make them look like people inside ape suits! Cornelius' nice life in the traveling circus is brought to an end when a zealous dude begins to wonder if MAYBE Cornelius' and Zira's baby had NOT been killed, so he goes on a personal Jihad looking for the baby. When questioned, Montalban chose death over betraying the offspring--thus confirming the baby MUST have survived. But finding him is a problem since by now the now-adult offspring has blended into the mass of slave apes.

This offspring soon is allowed to choose his name from a book. The people who let him do this think that maybe he'll pick a word like "apple" or "the" or maybe even "dookie", but he finds the word "Caesar" and so he is christened with this cool name. Now, at this point, you think someone would have realized that something was amiss--picking a name like this! But, the humans in this film are either totally stupid or bloodthirsty (much like real life, I guess).

Caesar lives up to his name and leads a slave rebellion--after all, he's appalled by the way humans treat these poor animals. And so the movie ends--finishing the series, right?! Well, no. The fifth movie and a spin off TV series were to follow--along with a crappy remake of the original that recently was dumped on the public.

I've got to say that this movie was really good--mostly due to the excellent character played by Roddy McDowell. Yes, we know he had played Cornelius but this time he plays his own son and does an excellent job--combining great humanity with his character. Great stuff.

Back when I first saw Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes I thought that the filmmakers had been influenced by the Stonewall Rebellion of three years earlier. Seeing it once again reinforced that opinion and the havoc and destruction wrought by the apes reminded me so much of Greenwich Village after the riots brought on by that legendary bar raid.

It's been a generation since Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter were killed by the forces of fear and in the interim their son also played by Roddy McDowall has grown up under the kind care of Ricardo Montalban, a circus owner. In the interim a plague came to earth and wiped out all the dogs and cats in the world, so people starting to take apes as pets. It wasn't long before the more avaricious of human kind saw the possibility in exploiting the apes as a new slave class.

Those avaricious ones are symbolized by Don Murray who is the governor of I presume California. Note how he and all the folks like him and who work for him are dressed in black to symbolize both villainy and fascism. No subtleties in this film. Not all feel like Murray and one who doesn't is an aide played by Hari Rhodes. Why he feels that way about exploiting anyone is rather obvious when you see the movie.

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes may not be subtle, but it is very effective in putting its point of view across. It holds up very well for today's audience because its message is very relevant.

It's 20 years after the apes from the future landed. Apes are now trained to do all the menial jobs. Every cat and dog died 8 years ago in 1983. The world is a semi-fascist state where apes are no more than slaves. Senor Armando (Ricardo Montalban) is hiding the fact that Caesar (Roddy McDowall) is the intelligent offspring of Cornelius and Zira. An unguarded outburst leaves Caesar hiding among the regular ape population while Armando is interrogated by the authorities. MacDonald is Governor Breck's assistant and they buy Caesar only to discover his intelligence later on.

The setup is pretty stupid. It's too much to turn on the ape revolution so quickly. The whole thing is rather silly and lacks any believable whatsoever. I do have sympathy for the difficulties of closing out this circular story loop. Honestly, some of the apes seem highly inefficient and some of their work seem comical. The use of slavery images is good but the apes should do tougher jobs like mining. The battle for the city is pretty silly where guns are always overwhelmed and the guards never look behind them. The governor's speech is nonsense. Much of this movie is nonsense too.