Amazon's 'Spider-Noir' Series – A Darkly Funny Comic Delight

 

In case you didn't know it, the Nicolas Cage led series Spider-Noir on Amazon Prime is just what you need – that is if your a fan of Cage's work (which I most definitely am) and of the era of the 1940s-1950s world of film noir classics like White Heat and The Lady from Shanghai. Both of these films get referenced in scenes in the series, which I appreciate because it shows an awareness of their influence on culture and film overall.

Spider-Noir is based on the comic book series Spider-Man Noir (2008-2018) created by David Hine and Fabrice Sapolsky, giving the story a 1930s Great Depression setting. In this universe Peter Parker works for newspaper reporter Ben Urich, and he gets his powers by being bitten by an ancient spider god. 

Spider-Noir was developed by Oren Uziel for Prime, making The Spider an aging superhero named Ben Reilly. Uziel and fellow showrunner Steve Lightfoot were able to secure screen legend Nicolas Cage as the lead actor, and this is the first time Cage has played a lead role in a television series.  

World Weary Anti-Hero

Cage plays Ben Reilly – a down and almost out private detective that would have found himself right at home in Humphrey Bogart's films. Reilly is more like a mixture of Sam Spade and Groucho Marx – his comic timing is awesome and yet Cage adds dramatic gravitas that gives substance to the proceedings. 

Ben is always supported by Janet 

Ben is truly a mess, but he is eeking out a living. Supported by his loyal and loving secretary Janet Ruiz (played by a terrific Karen Rodriguez), Ben tries to do the right thing even though the dangerous world of this alternate New York 1930s universe is making that very difficult. 

Robbie helps Ben with his cases

Ben once was The Spider – New York City's only superhero – who kept crime down and cops honest. Since Ben put away the costume, the gangs and crime have gotten out of control, and many of the cops – including Police Chief McNamara (Randy Olgesby) – are in the pocket of the local gang kingpin. His reporter friend Robbie Robertson (a hilarious Lamorne Morris) keeps encouraging him to get back to web slinging, but Ben is reluctant after he lost the love of his life Ruby (Amanda Schull) for which he blames his Spider persona. 

Ben Gets Some Work 

An older chubby man named Carmedy (Brian Howe) hires Ben because he suspects his younger wife of infidelity. Ben sees her picture and questions why the beautiful young woman would be married to the man. He is also hired by a secretive man named Winston (Lukas Haas) to find a man named Jimmy Addison (Jack Mikesell) who is a known criminal. Ben takes the cases because he hasn't had one in a while, and Janet hasn't been paid and has a hungry husband back home. 

Addison displays his powers

At the Redcliff Hotel, Ben spies on the wife who seems to be having an affair with the city's Mayor Morris (Michael Kostroff), but he gets entangled with another P.I. named Donegal (Cameron Britton) who is also looking for Addison. As they both chase the target, Addison displays an ability to set himself on fire, but Donegal shoots and kills him before he can inflict any damage. 

The Femme Fatale 

Femme fatale Cat Hardy

As Bogey would know intimately what to do, Ben seems oblivious to the fact that a beautiful woman wanting to pay him for a job usually means trouble. Into Ben's office walks a gorgeous woman named Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li). Cat wants Ben to find her missing boyfriend Flint Marko (Jack Huston).  Ben recognizes her as the "wife" that he was following at the Redcliff who had been in the room with the mayor the night before. 

Kingpin gangster Silvermane

Ben takes the case because she gives him a large retainer, but he is leery of her and then learns that she is a nightclub singer at the Alcove, a place run by the city's biggest gangster Silverman (enthusiastically played by the always excellent Brendan Gleeson). 

How He Became The Spider

In a flashback we see Ben as an officer in World War I leading a group of soldiers to liberate a POW camp. After an intense battle, Ben and others find a ward where German scientists were conducting experiments on the American prisoners.

Ben and the other soldiers are shocked by the horrors of what they discover in the ward. Ben tries to help one patient who he realizes is mutating into a spider. Before he can do anything, the creature bites Ben in the arm. This is how he gains his spider powers, but unlike others like Marko (who becomes Sandman), he is not adversely affected in other ways. 

Other Victims of German Experiments

Sandman and Tombstone 

Ben learns that Addison, Marko, Lonnie Lincoln (Abraham Popoola) who becomes the super strong Tombstone, and Dirk Leyden (Andrew Lewis Caldwell) who can generate electricity as Megawatt, were all victims in the German experiments and liberated from the camp. 

All of them were treated at a clinic by a Dr. Faber (Amy Aquino), and he decides to get into her office to investigate her files. He believes she is somehow connected to the mutations because only the vets who visited her have been adversely affected. 

The rest of the way is spoiler territory, but I will say that Ben does put on The Spider costume again to try to battle the gangsters and the mutated veterans who are now working for them.

Overall Experience

Great credit has to be given to Uziel and Lightfoot for crafting a visually beautiful look at 1930s New York. The number of period automobiles and other vehicles, the rainswept streets, the gritty alleys, and the old subway cars help create the essence of the time and place. 

Megawatt battles The Spider

Though the story is about our superhero and supervillains that he fights, gang kingpin Silverman and his crew of dirty rotten mobsters are also a factor. All of the characters are wonderfully realized, and there is an atmosphere of the slick, dark, and tenuous world that rings true.

In this world, cigarette smoke is clouding the rooms, and no matter where anyone goes someone is pouring whiskey into a glass. Sunlight creeps through Venetian blinds and shadows darken corners where danger lurks. Seduction, betrayal, and moral ambiguity abound, and the idea of love seems something that is in short supply.

Ben

Ben drowning his sorrows

Of course, all of this would not work if not for Cage's amazing performance as Ben/The Spider. He has enough ticks to populate a rose garden, and he is always grabbing a whiskey bottle and lighting up a smoke. He plays Ben like the classic film noir hero – cynical, tired, and almost about to give up – yet he keeps finding a reason to go on and make a difference in this bleak world because no else can. 

The Verdict

Spider-Noir is an excellent experience – for eight incredible episodes you will feel like you've been submerged in the film noir world. When I watched the last few minutes of the last episode, I was sorry that the show was over, but look for a subtle hint that there seems like that there is more Reilly and Ruiz to come.

I give Spider-Noir 4.5 stars out of 5 stars!

Fun Fact: Amazon gives you a choice to watch the series in either Authentic Black and White or True-Hue Full Color. After watching the first episode in color, I switched to black and white, and it did feel more authentic – like I was watching the old great film noir movies like Double Indemnity or The Maltese Falcon. I highly suggest that you do the same. 

Please check out the trailer for Spider-Noir. 

FIFA World Cup – Why Do Americans Call the Game Soccer?

Having traveled rather extensively when I was younger, I was always asked many questions about home (New York City/the United States), and invariably one question that always came up is this – why do Americans call football soccer when most of the world calls it football? 

Of course, at the time I would just say that we had the game of American football, so that it made sense that we wouldn't call another game "football" because that would be confusing. I did believe at the time that was the reason, but it is much more complex than that.

The Word "Soccer" Comes from Great Britain

The word "soccer" has British origins.

In the 1800s in Great Britain, there were two games of football that were very popular. There was Rugby Football (played with a ball that looks remarkably similar to the one that is used in American football today) and Association Football (played with what looks like a soccer ball today). 

To make a distinction between the two sports, elite university students started calling Association Football "assoccer." This was eventually shortened to the word "soccer." I know it seems unbelievable, but Americans did not come up with the word. The British did!

American Games

A typical NFL game

Across the pond during this time, Americans were developing their own games of baseball and football. Their football game became a combination of British rugby and soccer. This would evolve into the game we know as American Football.    

Since this game wasn't rugby or soccer, it was called football. While soccer players use their feet to move the ball – making the name football make sense –- American football involves minimal use of the foot. 

Use of Feet in American Football

Player kicking a field goal

While the majority of the time in the National Football League (NFL) a football is thrown by a quarterback or passed to a receiver, the feet are used in several ways. One team kicks off to another team to start the game and second half. If a team is not going for a touchdown (6 points), it can kick for a field goal (3 points). The team can kick for an extra point after a touchdown. Teams also punt the ball if they are on the fourth down to get the ball to the other team. 

Most of the time the ball is transferred by hands, and the receiver holds the football and runs with it to gain yards toward what will hopefully be touchdown. It is understandable why people in other countries don't know why we call the sport football, but feet are used in some important aspects of the game. 

The FIFA World Cup

It's called football for most of the world

The FIFA World Cup of Football (Soccer) has increasingly drawn interest in the United States over the years. This year there is a good deal more attention being paid since a number of the matches are taking place in the United States. 

Whether you call it football or soccer, the game is the most popular sport on Earth. There are approximately 3.5 to 4 billion soccer fans in the world. The FIFA World Cup is the most watched sporting event in the world. 

Soccer in the United States

When I was a kid, I had no exposure to soccer at all. None of my friends had a soccer ball. We always tried out for baseball, basketball, or football teams. Some kids went in for swimming, and a few went for tennis lessons. 

Probably the biggest reason we were not interested in soccer was the lack of it being on broadcast TV. I was told by someone who worked for a network that soccer was a hard sell because of two long halves with minimal breaks. Since television networks make money on advertising, there were not enough opportunities for commercial breaks the way there are with other American sports where there are innings, time outs, and quarters. 

Kids Love Soccer

In the USA little kids like soccer

The truth is I only got into soccer when my kids started playing. I enjoyed going to their practices and matches. It does seem like many kids like mine play soccer when they're younger, but they are more likely to go in for the popular American sports by the time they get to high school.  

Rating Show Things Will Change

With the exposure to soccer coming from the World Cup having some matches played in the United States, there is a chance that soccer will increase in its popularity here. I plan to watch the matches that interest me most, and many Americans are doing the same thing. 

For the United States vs. Paraguay (US won 4-1) match on FOX – the English-speaking World Cup television rightsholder in the United States – had 16 million viewers tuned in (on average) over the night, with viewership peaking at around 19 million late in the second half.

The Spanish-language U.S. broadcast on Telemundo and Peacock added another 9 million viewers, bringing the total figure for the match to around 25 million domestically.

Hopefully, these matches will increase the exposure of the sport and awareness of its world wide popularity. So, sit back, and enjoy some matches. Whether you call it soccer or football, it is an exciting game to watch on TV or in person.  

Please check out this video that explains why we call football "soccer" in a fun way.

John Lennon's Drawings for The Beatles' "I Feel Fine" – The First Music Video!

 

Imagine meeting one of the Beatles and ending up becoming a collaborator with him. That is what happened to Stephen Verona. "I met John Lennon in London while directing a commercial," Verona recalled in an interview. 

He went on to say, "We started doodling drawings on a table, and I suggested making a film from them." These doodlings would go on to be featured in the Beatles' first animated music video for the song "I Feel Fine."

First Music Video

"Basically, 'I Feel Fine' was Rock 'n Roll's first music video," Roag Best – founder of  the Liverpool Beatles Museum – told Local TV Liverpool. It's not surprising considering the Beatles were innovators when it came to creating their music and then promoting it.     

O'Donnell with the drawings

A Lucky Collector

Recently, collector Joseph O'Donnell acquired ten of the Verona and Lennon's original drawings at an auction where there was no one making a big deal about them. "I'm a big Beatles fan," O'Donnell said in an interview, and he was happy to loan them to the Liverpool Beatles Museum for a summer showcase. 

Why did O' Donnell make the purchase? He said, "It's nice to have something that is artwork, that you put on the wall." Of course not many people can say they have original drawings from a Beatle hanging in their home. 

Verona's Career

As for Verona, the film for "I Feel Fine" was screened at international film festivals, and he went on to make a career in Hollywood working with other musicians like Barbara Streisand, Roberta Flack, and the band Chicago. He also wrote scripts for movies and continued working as a painter and photographer. Verona held onto his copies of the original drawings until 2000, when he sold them through Christie's Auction House for $59,000. 

Visitors at Liverpool Beatles Museum

Plan to Sell Drawings 

O'Donnell also plans to sell his drawings after they are displayed in the museum over the summer. I would expect they will go for a lot more money than what Verona got for his drawings in the year 2000.

As an avid Beatles fan myself, I am always in awe of anything that is still out there and discovered anew. I cannot imagine no one making a big deal about old drawings connected to the Beatles. It makes me wonder what else can be out there that hasn't been discovered yet.

Can there be something in your attic or garage? A friend of mine found old 8mm movies of the Beatles at Shea Stadium in the basement when he moved into a new house. So, don't be afraid to explore all the places in your home, especially basements, attics, and garages. You never know what may turn up.

The Beatles Legacy

This story proves that the Beatles' legacy is everlasting. Besides the band's impact on culture and fashion, the thing I value most is their music. Fans of all ages have that to appreciate forevermore. 

Please check out the music video for "I Feel Fine" (original title "She Said So") below.

MLB's Automatic Ball-Strike System – The Rise of the Machines?

If you're a Major League Baseball (MLB) fan, you must have formed an opinion by now about the implementation of the Automatic Ball-Strike system (ABS) this season. My feelings about it were initially mixed – if a call went my team's (NY Mets) way, I was happy with it, but when it went against my team I hated it. Now that we've reached June, I've decided that I dislike it altogether no matter how the call goes.  

What is ABS?

What the ABS looks like on TV

ABS stands for Automatic Ball-Strike system. It allows players to challenge the home plate umpire's call of balls and strikes. The system uses Hawk-eye cameras and T-Mobile's 5G technology. This allows for precise tracking of the pitched ball to determine whether it is a ball or strike. The goal of using the system is to provide an opportunity to question a human umpire's decision if it seems that it is incorrect. 

How It Works?

Each team starts the game with two challenges. If the challenge shows a call is incorrect – say the human umpire's call of a strike is determined to be a ball – the call is overturned and the team retains the right to challenge another call. If the human umpire's call is found to be correct, the call stands and that team loses the ability to challenge during the rest of the game.

If the game goes into extra innings, each team is awarded an additional challenge. The idea behind this is that most players are using the challenge based on the notion that the game is nine innings long. Players cannot be expected to hold onto a challenge for extra innings when there is a reasonable assumption that the game will only go nine innings.

Who Challenges the Call?

Player tapping his helmet signal

The pitcher, catcher, and batter are the only players who can challenge a ball or strike call for an ABS system check. The players involved must tap the top of their hat or helmet within two seconds of the pitch being thrown. This is a signal to the umpire that they want the system to check the accuracy of the call. 

This is an important aspect of the use of the system because it is immediate in nature. A player has little or no time to check with the manager in the dugout, so it is on the player to make a split second decision about making a challenge that perhaps can change the outcome of the game.

Juan Soto of the NY Mets

There is a consideration of a discussion before a game between the manager and players about who can make a call. For an example using my Mets, manager Carlos Mendoza might want a star player like Juan Soto to be the one to challenge a call over rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing. There's a distinct possibility that this happens. 

Immediate Visual Availability

Umpire checking ABS challenge

Once the challenge is made, the challenged pitch appears (which includes a strike zone box and the ball) on stadium video screen and on the television broadcast of the game. The system shows exactly where the pitch crossed through the strike zone – allowing people in the stadium and watching at home to see whether the ball is inside or outside of the box. 

The ABS Strike Zone

While the human umpire's strike zone can vary every time a pitch is thrown, the ABS calculates the strike zone with accuracy for each individual hitter. Each player is measured during spring training with a player standing up straight without wearing shoes. 

The top of the zone is set by using the player's height as is the bottom of the zone. This makes the system player specific, and there's nothing arbitrary about it. It will be the same unique zone every time for each player, so this makes it seem like it is the perfect technology solution to the varying human umpire's strike zone liabilities.

The Red Flags

A home plate umpire

My number one red flag is the umpires of the game. Umpires – and all their human fragility – have been a part of the game since baseball began in 1876. Now, even though I've seen some umpires make bad calls, the majority are hard working people who want to get their calls right. 

ABS has umpires worried about the future. As I mention in the title of this article using a Terminator movie title, the rise of the machines is scary in baseball too. The ABS can make an umpire look bad, and in some cases – with an extremely wrong umpire call – it can humiliate them. Imagine having a job performance review available in seconds in front of 50,000 fans in the stadium and millions of fans on TV. That does not seem appropropriate.

Player arguing a call with human ump

There are also those baseball enthusiasts who enjoy when a bad call results in an argument between a player and umpire or the manager and umpire. This is all about human nature, and there is something about seeing a player or manager letting off steam that is cathartic because they are expressing what the fans are feeling. The ABS unrelentingly steals these memorable moments from us. 

Fear of Expansion

The embarrassment of umpires is bad enough, but the talk of inevitable expansion – and I've heard about this on talk radio, read about it online, and have had discussions in person – is that MLB will eventually expand ABS to cover every pitch of every game. In this NY Times article, you can get an idea about how players and managers feel about going full ABS – meaning many of them are not happy about every pitch being electronically tracked. 

If we have no umpire behind the plate at some point in time, what will happen to the other umpires on the field? Will the ABS ever be crew chief for a game – the crew chief is the most senior umpire on the field for a game. Over time it could happen that the ABS would be more senior than new umpires, so how would that work exactly?

Are there Robo-umpires in our future?

If they can replace the home plate umpire, will the other umpires be next on the list? Will we face a time when we have a full robotic umpire crew – meaning robots at first, second, and third base too. How does a manager or player argue with a robot? Wouldn't the robots always be right?

Moving Forward

As mentioned previously in this article, I was initially okay with ABS in its limited capacity in MLB as it is now; however, my opinion has changed. The human factor has always been important in the game of baseball, and ABS diminishes that more that it should be doing. 

A lot has changed in MLB over the years – for example, I still hate the designated hitter – but at least a DH is a human being. I don't think we want baseball to ever become a game where the rules are enforced by robots. If that happens, will robotic players be the next step forward? That will ruin the game beyond repair because robots don't go on injury lists and don't need to be paid, and they would break every record because they could play for an infinite amount of seasons.

I wouldn't watch that kind of game. Would you? I'm worried about your answers more than you can know.

Please check out this video for a very concise explanation of the ABS system.

TV Review: Netflix's 'The Boroughs' – A Senior Citizen Version of 'Stranger Things'

 

I will say this immediately – I loved this series! I will also admit that the executive producers of Netflix's The Boroughs are The Duffer Brothers – creators of the juggernaut television series Stranger Things, so it is not surprising that I am connecting the two series as kindred spirits. 

The big differences between the two series relate to time, locations, and characters. Stranger Things focuses on a group of young people dealing with extraordinary circumstances in Hawkins, Indiana, during the 1980s. The Boroughs deals with a group of senior citizens dealing with extraordinary circumstances in The Boroughs, a seemingly perfect retirement community in the New Mexico desert during the present day.  

The First Victim

The story begins on a very idyllic night in The Boroughs. Elderly Grace (Dee Wallace) is having a quiet evening at home. She speaks on an iPad to her husband Edward (Ed Begley Jr.) who is apparently in a facility and struggling with dementia. She promises him that she will see him tomorrow, even though he wants to see her right away. 

Grace hears a noise and checks around the house. She opens the front door to look outside in hopes of figuring out what is happening, and she is promptly entangled in tentacles and  dragged back into the house. This incomprehensible moment leaves us wondering what happened with no explanation.

A Grieving Man

Sam wonders if he's losing it

It is made clear that a good amount time passes after Grace's incident, and we see the recently widowed and still grieving Sam Cooper (an outstanding Alfred Molina) moving into what was Grace's house. He is there reluctantly because his daughter Claire (Jena Malone) can no longer handle him being at home. Sam does not want to be there, but Claire has signed a contract and used all of his savings to purchase the property. 

Sam is plagued by visions of his dead wife Lilly (Jane Kaczmarek). They are disturbing because they seem so vivid. Now he is in this place unconnected to Lilly, and he feels all alone. Sam believes he must break the contract and get out of there.  

He meets a friendly neighbor named Jack Willard (Bill Pullman) who tries to get him to see the good side of the community, and Jack even offers to throw him a welcome barbecue in order for him to meet his neighbors on the cul de sac. 

Corporate Office Visit 

Blaine and wife Anneliese have a secret

Sam goes to the corporate office to demand a way out of the contract. He meets with Blaine Shaw (Seth Numrich) – the CEO of The Boroughs – and, while he comes off as friendly, there is something about him that Sam doesn't like. Blaine asks Sam to give the place a chance.

Sam also sees some of the worst cases of senior citizens with dementia or other issues who are not able to live in houses. They are kept in a place called The Manor, and Sam gets a bad feeling about that place. 

Owl in the Walls 

When Sam returns to his house, he finds a visibly disturbed Edward there. Edward is scratching at the walls and trying to find the "owl in the walls." Sam tries to talk calmly with him, but then Edward grabs a kitchen knife and declares that Sam is "one of them." He stabs Sam in the arm, but then security arrives, and Sam receives medical attention.  A disturbed Edward is taken back to The Manor. 

The Barbecue

Sam bonds with his new neighbors

Jack makes good on his word and throws a party for Sam. Sam gets to meet his neighbors – former doctor Wally (Denis O'Hare), Judy (Alfre Woodard) and her husband Art (Clarke Peters), and Renee (Geena Davis). They are all warm and welcoming, and Sam feels better about the place after meeting the neighbors.

After the party, Sam returns to his house with a different perspective. He calls Blaine and lets him know that he has decided to stay. Blaine seems very pleased to hear this news. 

A Disturbing Occurrence

Later on that night, Jack hears an alarm, and then he realizes that it is coming from Jack's house. Sam rushes over there, but the door is locked. He breaks a back window to get into the house. When he walks inside he sees Jack lying on the floor under an obviously alien like creature attacking him. This is how the first episode ends. 

A Cover Up

Renee suspects a cover up

When the paramedics come, Jack is dead. They say that Jack died of a heart attack, but Sam explains that a creature attacked Jack. The paramedics and head security guard Hank (a creepy Eric Edelstein) try to dismiss what Sam is saying, but Hank's younger partner Paz (Carlos Miranda) is willing to listen. Renee reports to Paz that quartz items are being stolen all over the community, and she thinks there's a connection to Grace and Jack's deaths. 

Making Connections

Sam seeks answers from Edward

Sam goes back to The Manor to talk to Edward about what happened to Jack.  Somehow, Edward already knows why Sam came. Edward says, "You caught one!" Sam is shocked.  Edward rambles on for a while then he tells Sam, "The owl is in the walls. The key is in the light." 

Sam goes back home and searches the house. He finally finds a key to a storage locker in a light fixture. Sam searches the storage locker and finds a large stuffed owl. He disappointedly returns home thinking that Edward didn't know anything about the creature. 

A Discovery 

Sam is playing around with old televisions sets – he was an engineer and likes to tinker with things. Wally comes by and Sam shows him some inky blood that he found in Jack's house that must have been from the creature that killed Jack. When exposed to the lights from the televisions he's working with, the blood explodes in a burst of energy. Wally says "It's a miracle." 

What are these creatures? Why does the staff at The Boroughs downplay what Sam saw? There have been two deaths, but no one seems to care? What's going on here?

The Autopsy

Not satisfied with the official explanation of Jack's cause of death, Wally and Sam decide to find out what really happened. They break into the funeral home in order for Wally to perform an autopsy on Jack. Judy comes in and discovers what they are doing, so now she is involved.

Wally, Sam, and Judy looking for answers

During the examination, Wally discovers puncture marks in the back of Jack's throat that lead directly to his brain. He surmises that the creature killed Jack by sucking out his brain fluid. They figure this is what happened to Grace as well. 

They realize that Shaw and his staff are deliberately covering up what these creatures are doing. The question is why are they doing this? Do they not want everyone to find out because the seniors would all want to leave the community? Or is there even a darker motive – are Shaw and company somehow involved with what these creatures are doing for other nefarious purposes? 

No Spoilers Here

While the rest of the way is spoiler territory, I can say that we face a similar situation here that the kids deal with in Stranger Things. This time it's a group of fiesty senior citizens that won't take "No" for an answer. They are determined to find out what is going on at The Boroughs. 

The Cast

The main characters are all wonderfully realized, with Molina's Sam leading the way. Each one has a moment to shine in different capacities. As the clues add up, they become proactive detectives who are going to solve this puzzle. It's exciting to see the chemistry between the characters – it seems all of the actors are having a great time acting in this series. 

The Verdict

I really enjoyed this series. It may be for an older audience, but if young people give it a chance I think they would enjoy the show. Hopefully, the fact that the Duffer brothers are involved will attract a wider viewership.

I give The Boroughs 4.5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend the series. The episodes are all around 45 minutes long, so I was able to watch all eight episodes over the course of two evenings. So, if this kind of thing matters to you, you'll appreciate that. 

Overall, this a very enjoyable series with a satisfying conclusion. 

Please check out the trailer for The Boroughs below: 

'Planet of the Apes' (1968) – Ending Still Sends a Powerful Message

*There are spoilers throughout this article.

I think most people have a personal relationship with the movies that they watch. Sometimes there is an instantaneous connection with a film; at other time's there is a disconnect. There are those movies that I love – like Animal House for example, and there are those that I just don't like – The English Patient is one of those. Whether or not we connect to a film is a very personal thing, and that is how it should be.

My First Reaction 

When I first saw Planet of the Apes (1968), I was very young. I was watching Batman, Lost in Space, and Star Trek on TV, and I was entertained by these shows but certainly not understanding everything I saw. I enjoyed it as a kid watching something that was entertaining.

When I first saw this movie, it was something was very different. I knew what the title was, and I figured it was going to be about an alien world populated by apes. I was already hooked on space stories from my TV viewings, but this was a little more than I was ready for at such a young age.

The Apes Were Mean

Taylor (the amazing Charlton Heston) and his crew crash on the alien planet. They encounter humans, but they are like cave people. The astronauts take off all their clothes and swim in a lake. The cave people steal their things, so now they are physically reduced to being like the cave people. 

The ape soldiers

The apes – the soldiers are gorillas – appear, and in my kid's mind they are very mean. They treat the humans terribly, round them up, and throw them in cages. Taylor conveniently gets shot in the throat, so that means he won't be able to talk. All the other humans are mute, so it makes him like one of the crowd. 

Good Apes

Taylor in captivity

Taylor is taken to a place where doctors examine him. Here he meets good apes in Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter).  They are chimpanzees and apparently scientists too. They treat the wounded Taylor and are kind to him.  

As Taylor observes the society he realizes that orangutans are the officials in society – led by the zealous Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans).  When Zira tells Zaius that Taylor displays intelligence, he seems leery about it and dismisses anything that would mean the humans are more than just animals. 

Taylor Speaks

In a scene where Taylor escapes and runs wild through crowds of apes in the streets, the gorilla soldiers chase him and eventually get him caught in a net. With the treatment from Zira and Cornelius, he has gotten his voice back and speaks the famous line, "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" Humans are considered animals, but now one has spoken in public.

Taylor's hearing is a sham

A hearing is held to determine what to do with Taylor. Zaius and other officials listen to what he has to say, but it is obvious that they are not convinced by his story. Zira and Cornelius realize that they have to save Taylor. Along with their nephew Lucious (Lou Wagner) they help Taylor and his female companion Nova (Linda Harrison) escape. 

The Forbidden Zone

The group travels to the place that the apes have determined is off limits. The doctors are hoping to find evidence of an advanced human civilization that Taylor believes came before the apes' civilization. 

Zaius and the human baby doll

They find an archaeological site that has artifacts from a human civilization, and Cornelius presents them to Dr. Zaius as proof of Taylor''s claim. Their findings include a human baby doll that says "Mama." Zaius breaks down and admits that he has always known about the humans that came before them, and that they were a dangerous race. 

Taylor and Nova get on a horse with a rifle and provisions, and Zaius warns Taylor that he might not like what he finds out in that zone. Taylor ignores him and they ride away.

The Statue of Liberty Scene

The heartbreaking final scene

When Taylor rides the horse along the beach with Nova, he is fairly confident that he is going to find more humans somewhere. This is when the gut punch happens – Taylor finds the battered remnants of the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the sand along the beach. 

Watching this for the first time and being so young, I wasn't sure what I was seeing. I remember asking my father how could the statue be there on an alien planet. My Dad said that it was not an alien planet – it was Earth! 

Taylor gets off his horse, falls to his knees, and curses at those who destroyed the planet. Endings were not supposed to be this way in my young mind. It felt painful when I grasped that humans messed things up so much that apes would take over the world. It couldn't end like this. I remember crying because as a kid I was scared by the implications about what I had just seen.

Fun Fact: The idea for the action of the film not taking place on an alien planet but on Earth came from Rod Serling (creator of the Twilight Zone), and it was his idea that Taylor (and the audience) would find this out when he/we saw the Statue of Liberty in the last scene.

The Ending Today

I recently watched the film again, and it is still entertaining. I felt differently about it now; it was more devastating that the symbol of liberty that represented to the world what our country was like would end up like this. It is a shocking and powerful message that Serling wanted us to get from this final scene. 

Now I see that Taylor's heroism was based on the ideals that statue stands for, and seeing it broken like that makes him know it was all over. The arrogance of humans reached such an extreme that we destroyed ourselves. Seeing the statue knocks Taylor off his high horse – figuratively and literally. Were we any better than the apes if the world could end up this way? 

In 2026 I think the ending is a warning to us – considering the state of things in the world right now. We should not be so pompous and believe we are not vulnerable to an ending we cannot conceive. Maybe we will not be replaced by apes but perhaps something much worse – like AI or maybe Terminator style robots. 

I think the final message of the film is that peace is the answer, and that is something we should all work towards if we don't want an unhappy ending for the human race; otherwise, one day one of us humans may be kneeling in front of something that proves we did the unthinkable to ourselves, but by then it will too late to do anything about it.   

Please check out the iconic final scene of the movie here!