The Planet of the Apes: Holes in the Plot

[BAYLOR]

I'm not sure that Planet of the Cockroaches or Planet of the Octopi would have put as many bums on cinema seats?

Unless they made it a war story, Cockroaches vs Octopi . In the end only one will rule the planet!

 

[Stuart Suffel]

Well there's probably a couple of billion years of habitable life on the planet. Given the vastness of time, just as has likely happened several times before, a cataclysmic event will occur, and when the Earth eventually recovers another species will be the dominant lifeform on the planet. Humans have currently managed around 6 million years, the last dominant species (the dinosaurs) lasted 20-30 times as long.

Yeah but the Dinos were more tough-skinned...

 

[Stuart Suffel]

Unless they made it a war story, Cockroaches vs Octopi . In the end only one will rule the planet!

Administered by the Dolphinari?

 

[BAYLOR]

I wonder will the Dolphins be their social scientist folk?

Dolphins posses a very large brain , brought about the same size as a Humans.


There was another speculative documentary also done a few back in which one group of apes went to the seas over time ,
became Merfolk.

 

[Stuart Suffel]

It's possible that the human species MIGHT be supplanted by some other intelligent life form as ruler of Earth someday.

Wait, is this a pre-marketing exercise from Alien invaders? Soften us up to the idea?

(I'd like to submit my admin experience CV, if you have an email address..?)

 

[BAYLOR]

Yeah but the Dinos were more tough-skinned...

Dromeosaur

 

[BAYLOR]

Wait, is this a pre-marketing exercise from Alien invaders? Soften us up to the idea?

(I'd like to submit my admin experience CV, if you have an email address..?)

Those aliens apparently read The High Crusade by Paul Anderson and learned from their mistakes.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Apart from the repair of the spacecraft and the time travel at the beginning of the third movie, I don't think there was much presented that wasn't unrealistic.

At the end of the day, the original was a terrific sci-fi movie. As a child, even given the title, it was one of film's memorable moments the first time you saw gorillas on horseback rounding up the primitive humans. And even for those who suspected that this was the future of Earth, the final scene is still one of the greatest in cinematic history.

Charlton Heston did these kind of dystopian movies so well, and the make up, special effects and acting are all entirely believable.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I suppose it's entirely possible that there was an intelligent species living on the planet prior to the dinosaurs, and that given the fact it would be hundreds - if not billions - of years since it existed, that all traces have been completely wiped out.

I wonder what evidence there will be of human existence on this planet in ,say, 400 million years' time?

 

[Venusian Broon]

I'd say Planet of the Octopus might work, although singular.
But Planet of the Dolphinari would definitely work!

There was a BBC program years ago (I think inspired by a book) that speculated what life on Earth could be in 50 million years or so. The hypothesised that some squid creatures become land dwellers and took to the trees and became 8 limbed "monkeys". Also I remember the last species of mammal was something that a species of giant spider farmed for food.

 

[BAYLOR]

I suppose it's entirely possible that there was an intelligent species living on the planet prior to the dinosaurs, and that given the fact it would be hundreds - if not billions - of years since it existed, that all traces have been completely wiped out.

I wonder what evidence there will be of human existence on this planet in ,say, 400 million years' time?

For all we know , an intelligent specie could have arisen before the Permian/triassic event of 255 million yers ago.

 

[BAYLOR]

There was a BBC program years ago (I think inspired by a book) that speculated what life on Earth could be in 50 million years or so. The hypothesised that some squid creatures become land dwellers and took to the trees and became 8 limbed "monkeys". Also I remember the last species of mammal was something that a species of giant spider farmed for food.

Yes, that's the documentary I saw abut the future evolution. . At one point in their evolution I think Octopi were called Swampus because they had evolved so that they could exist in the Swamps. This was before they took to the trees, which they did to escape a Giant land dwelling predatory octopi.

At one point Tortoises became giant dinosaur like herbivores grazing on the land.

The lLast Anthropoid species on the planet went extinct because of some flightless predatory Terror bird like predator.

The small mammal had big eyes and looked like a mouse. The Spider put out seeds to attract theses mouselike mammals .

 

[Dave]

I don't think there was much presented that wasn't unrealistic.

Well, it isn't quite how evolution works. If I understood the plot correctly then it was some kind of evolution more akin to the Jean-Bapteste Lamarck concept of evolution, rather than evolution by natural selection. IIRC there was a plague that killed off all the cats and dogs on Earth. People then began bringing apes into their homes as pets. Just being in the presence of intelligent humans caused these apes to become more intelligent also.

But maybe we are meant to believe that it was not purely evolution at all. Caesar the chimpanzee was taken back in time, and then every other ape (including the orangutans and the gorillas!!!) are all descended from him??? How does that work exactly?

one group of apes went to the seas over time became Merfolk.

The third problem is this concept of "over time" because if it were purely evolution by natural selection then the chronometer reading inside Taylor's spaceship only showed a date of 25 November 3978, which is quite an unreasonably short period of time, IMHO

 

[BAYLOR]

Well, it isn't quite how evolution works. If I understood the plot correctly then it was some kind of evolution more akin to the Jean-Bapteste Lamarck concept of evolution, rather than evolution by natural selection. IIRC there was a plague that killed off all the cats and dogs on Earth. People then began bringing apes into their homes as pets. Just being in the presence of intelligent humans caused these apes to become more intelligent also.

But maybe we are meant to believe that it was not purely evolution at all. Caesar the chimpanzee was taken back in time, and then every other ape (including the orangutans and the gorillas!!!) are all descended from him??? How does that work exactly?

The third problem is this concept of "over time" because if it were purely evolution by natural selection then the chronometer reading inside Taylor's spaceship only showed a date of 25 November 3978, which is quite an unreasonably short period of time, IMHO

The biggest problem was the ending of the second film and its seeming finality. Charlton Heston didn't want to do sequels which played a role in the ending of the second film . The problem was , the film made money and the studio wanted another film which was a bit of problem . What Arthur Jacobs and his team had to do was stretch things and come with the story like of taking Cornelius and Zira back to the present day . The problem is , they never explained how they got Taylor ships or how Dr Milo ( played by Sal Mineo) salvaged and got the ship working . Andrew Gaska's novel Conspiracy of the Planet of Apes provides an interesting plausible story answer as to how they got the ship.

 

[Tom Terrific]

Well there's probably a couple of billion years of habitable life on the planet. Given the vastness of time, just as has likely happened several times before, a cataclysmic event will occur, and when the Earth eventually recovers another species will be the dominant lifeform on the planet. Humans have currently managed around 6 million years, the last dominant species (the dinosaurs) lasted 20-30 times as long.

And what is the scientific definition of a HUMAN anyway? Were humans the same biologically speaking, or even intellectually speaking, as they were 6 million years ago? The word HUMAN itself is not enumerated in the American Constitution. Often man-made codes of law use terms like PERSON, PARTY and PEOPLE. Would our man-made law recognize intelligent (if not talking) living beings as PEOPLE, PERSONS or PARTY, other than humans? In theory, might a talking gorilla or an intelligent alien from outer space have the same rights, protections, responsibilities and penalties as a human in our courts of law?

 

[Robert Zwilling]

Could anything portrayed in Apes possibly come true someday?

Humans depend on superior brain power to remain above the fray as evidenced by on our wide spread dependence on advanced technology. Recent events have shown that the brain and mind are not immune to a negative impact from a widespread, easily transmissible pathogen. If we end up unable to properly operate our technology because of permanently impaired thinking, our position above other animals on this planet could be severely impacted. If the human version of "talking" proves to be a fragile advancement and not something on automatic pilot, the decline could be that much quicker, leaving clueless humans running around pockets of abandoned machinery. If things did turn out that way, would books be enough to get back on track again, or would they become good sources of dependable fire starter material.

 

[Tom Terrific]

Humans depend on superior brain power to remain above the fray as evidenced by on our wide spread dependence on advanced technology. Recent events have shown that the brain and mind are not immune to a negative impact from a widespread, easily transmissible pathogen. If we end up unable to properly operate our technology because of permanently impaired thinking, our position above other animals on this planet could be severely impacted. If the human version of "talking" proves to be a fragile advancement and not something on automatic pilot, the decline could be that much quicker, leaving clueless humans running around pockets of abandoned machinery. If things did turn out that way, would books be enough to get back on track again, or would they become good sources of dependable fire starter material.

Maybe our best hope then is to have some superior ET intelligence come to earth to save us maybe. I think human intelligence is diminishing already. People these days seem dumber the way they talk. Even plain English doesn't seem to be understood well by many young people and a few older people with Southern accents. Not too long ago, I asked a young punk working at the automatic car wash if air drying the car was included in the price of the wash and he didn't know what I meant. Some of those joints actually charge extra money to dry the automobile with those big blow guns at the end of the drive-thru tunnel. Our present day business culture is nickel and dime the consumer every which way. Over the telephone, I asked a woman (with a southern drawl) renting out an apartment three years ago if the unit had windows in it and she didn't know what I meant. Did she think I was talking about MS Windows Internet? Jesus! Not a single window was visible in any of the pictures of the unit online and it made me wonder if she was renting out dungeons. Baby boomers and the two generations before them seem the smartest of all the people I've ever known over my lifetime. Human intelligence starts to slip with the Xers. Some "naked apes" these days seem gorilla stupid.

The technology age has made the English language confusing. Too many common words like MOUSE and WINDOWS have taken on special meanings. I say COMPUTER MOUSE or MICROSOFT WINDOWS for clarification.

 

[Dave]

 

[BAYLOR]

Ive found another one and it a big really big and deep hole .... AAAAAAHHHHHHH !

Baylor hits bottom with a loud thud

" Help Ive fallen down a plot hole and can't get out , would somebody please send down a rope?! "

 

[farntfar]

Woodle wordle woodle wordle woodle wordle.