If one day, some kind of plague from outer space took the lives of all dogs and cats on Earth, but fortunately humans and other primates are immune to the virus. If so, I don't know how pet lovers will choose. Maybe it has little impact on raising birds and lizards, but those who like to raise mammals, will they consider monkeys or gorillas? That's what people did in 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes anyway. In the background setting of the film, the mutation of the plague gene has greatly improved the size and intelligence of the apes. Humans not only use them as pets, but also set up a special ape management center to train them harshly to achieve the level of serving human beings, from serving tea and water to sorting documents and other affairs at different levels. seeds of revolution.
Time comes to 1991, that is, eight years after the plague, the orphan "Caesar" of the ape doctor Cornelius and his wife who was killed in the last movie has grown up. Although the head of the circus, Armando, who has been raising and sheltering him, tried his best to prevent humans from discovering the existence of Caesar, but one hundred secrets eventually came to an end. After Caesar uttered a curse and cursed the government, not only did Armando die unfortunately, but he was also imprisoned in the Ape Management Center. Even though he gained a certain degree of freedom due to his outstanding intelligence, he was immersed in the abuse and enslavement suffered by many ape compatriots, which eventually led him to fight back, summoning a large number of ape tribes to launch an uprising, capturing the management center and killing the opposite apes. The class holds Governor Blake with extreme vigilance and hatred.
In terms of plot, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" should be an important turning point in the entire series. The representatives of the ape family, Dr. Cornelius and Dr. Gila, who appeared in the first three films were replaced by a new generation of representatives of the ape family, their child "Caesar", and the part related to crossing came to an end, and a new era of revolution began. The development of the story also confirmed the prophecy of the Cornelius couple. The enslavement of apes by humans aroused the resistance of the other party, so an armed riot was launched to overthrow the rule of humans. It is a pity that the quality of such a significant film is difficult to compliment, especially in the foreshadowing of the story and the portrayal of details, which is quite different from the previous work.
Of course, such a work still has strong practical significance in the context of the times at that time. The 1960s and 1970s were at the peak of the black civil rights movement in the United States. As a minority who had been oppressed and discriminated against for a long time, black Americans fought a large-scale struggle for economic and social equality. Among them are non-violent forms of activities such as boycotts, sit-ins, and marches, as well as groups such as the "Black Panther Party" that insist on armed self-defense and community autonomy. The birth of the "Black Panther" character in the popular superhero movie "Black Panther" some time ago clearly bears the characteristics of the era, so it is very popular among African-Americans.
Therefore, the apes in "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" who have been under the government's long-term authoritarian rule and long-term oppression and abuse are exactly the projections of what black Americans have encountered. At the same time, the plot not only arranges a black character named "McDonald" to help Caesar escape the death penalty, but also completely transforms the ape tribe with villainous characteristics in the first and second films into a positive image of pursuing freedom and resisting oppression , this design and change are clearly targeted and very consistent with "political correctness".
And, just as the Gettysburg Address was to Lincoln and I Have a Dream was to Martin Luther King, great leaders always have great speeches. After leading the ape tribe to capture the ape management center, Caesar also delivered a passionate and generous speech: "If there is war, there will be gunpowder smoke. From now on, my subjects will crouch in the gunpowder smoke and work together to plan the inevitable destruction of mankind. One day. The day he finally suicidal and throwing his weapons on his own kind. The day the heavens bear witness that your cities are buried under radioactive rubble, the seas become the Dead Sea, and the earth becomes a desert. I will lead mine Our subjects will go to freedom, and we will build our own cities, where there is no room for human beings unless they serve us to the death. We will build our own armies, our own religion, our own dynasty, and that day is approaching you!"
In the videotape of this film, the two endings of the film are preserved. In the original ending, the oppression and anti-oppression between humans and apes with violence against violence will never end, and although the apes have become more civilized and knowledgeable creatures, they will inevitably succumb to violence. Because this ending is too dark, it was opposed by the audience during the test screening, so it has the current ending, making it the bloodiest and most bright one in the entire series.
In addition to the reference to racial issues, the despicable nature of human beings is an inescapable topic of this series. The film's main villain, Governor Blake, viciously said to Caesar when he was arrested: "Because your kind was our ancestor, man evolved from orangutan, and in the depths of everyone's heart, there is still a curled up Orangutan. This beast must be subdued with a whip, and the wild must be shackled with chains. You are the beast, Caesar, you have corrupted our morals, you have made our hearts cruel. When we hate you, we hate our dark side .” This is not only cursing the apes represented by Caesar, but also directly attacking the human soul.
The apes and humans in the "Planet of the Apes" series are like two sides of the same body. After you sing, I will appear. Sometimes you are the villain, and sometimes I am the villain. But no matter how the plot is manipulated, it is nothing more than an insinuation of human history and human beings themselves. Human gravediggers will never be another species, but ourselves.
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