Escape From the Planet of the Apes

Don Taylor
1971

The third installment in the Planet of the Apes franchise goes straight for the throat of camp with brainy chimp couple Cornelius and Zira traveling back in time to the present day where they are studied, celebrated, and eventually reviled by humanity. While the outlandish premise is not entirely hilarious in and of itself, director Don Taylor injects the first two acts with some undeniably tongue-in-cheek moments, which transforms the heavier third act into a supremely strange viewing experience. And this is all without mentioning the Terminator-esque self-fulfilling time travel paradox element. Nearly every line in the picture is a complete hoot (either intentionally or not), but the pleasure isn't so much derived from watching a movie "so bad it's good," because It's obvious that Taylor is in on the joke. Some awesome moments of the film include: the unfortunate third wheel ape being killed by a gorilla (man in a gorilla suit), Zira discovering a taste for wine, The apes being treated to wild Beverly Hills parties and designer couture (Cornelius in a limo!), and Ricardo Montalban as a lunatic circus ringleader. It doesn't really matter if you've seen the first two features or not, you should see this as soon as possible.