When Planet of the Apes was first being pitched to cinemagoers in 1968, it was billed as "an unusual and important motion picture event." And while I doubt anyone involved knew at the time how well this dystopian tale of evolution-on-its-head would end up faring, the description of "unusual and important" accurately cements Planet of the Apes in its place in movie history. The film is "Unusual" for how it managed to wrap so many culturally relevant topics into such a noticeably democratic way, and remains "important" for how it redefined going forward the notion of film-as-franchise that we take for granted today. Reflecting a shift from what we've come to expect from 50's era sci-fi film, Planet of the Apes propelled the science fiction genre into newfound mainstream notoriety with its groundbreaking special effects, heavy-hitting star cast, and political (read: racial) undertones. .
Franklin J. Schaffner's masterpiece is a solid example of world building, using landscape to create a world that feels entirely alien, but also maintains a sense of realism. Paramount to the film's incredible sense of realism is the width from which the frames are shot, giving the viewer an idea of both the vastness in size as well as innate peculiarity of the foreign planet. The incredible scope the landscape is shot within was greater than any in any film released beforehand. The film does a great job continually exposing the audience to new, foreign, incredibly believable sets, increasing the film's intense realism and gravitas. The cinematographer rightfully utilizes the cinematic technique of reserving close-ups for climactic scenarios in which strong emotions of fear or revelation are personified (e.g. the ape police force are shot close-up when they're chasing Heston). Planet of the Apes works beautifully as work of engaging science fiction because it doesn't settle for visual effects that were merely "acceptable" for its time, resulting in a look and feel that still holds up well even by modern standards.
