My interpretation of the ending of Planet of the Apes (1 Viewer)

[Morgan Jolley]

Spoiler:That is impossible. First of all, only one ape could fit into the pod, which means that even if it did get into the pod, go back in time, and lead a revolt, all of the other apes in existance from back then existed mainly on continents other than North America and were not as intelligent. If Thade had mated with some apes and then bred a species of smart ape and somehow lived for many many years or something, then it might be able to happen, but I still see it as unlikely. Second, the planet that the movie takes place on could be Earth from the far future, but not Earth from the past. We are shown the control panel on the pod as it goes back and forth through time, and it would be a simple cop-out for Burton to say that the time-warp effect was making the control panel inaccurate. One thing I could see happening is that Thade gets the pod and goes to Earth through the warp (gets to the planet in a time after Wahlberg), takes over the planet, then goes back in time with an army of apes and seizes the planet in the past. But even then, it would seem like overkill. Why would he take over the planet in the past if he has it in the present? Overall, the only way for the ending to be true is a different dimension theory, surprise ending for shock value, or if they use some cheap cop-out.
[Edited last by Morgan Jolley on August 16, 2001 at 04:50 PM]

 

[PhilipW]

The whole ending is just stupid.
Spoiler:If you notice that all the monuments look exactly the same as present day Washington D.C. These monuments were built due to wars fought hundreds of years ago and the changing of just one person's past could have change all of the earths future. What if George Washington chopped down the cherry tree and it fell on him and killed him. No more U.S. of A. So for this "Earth" to exist it must be a parallel universe of some sort (Sliders) to be able to completely duplicate our present day earth all the way down to the local cops uniforms etc.
However they try to explain this, if they even attempt to, will be so far fetched that a sequel will fail miserably. IMO
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[Jude Faelnar]

Is there a prize for this? because I'd like to take a crack at it with my own interpretation.

Spoiler: I agree with Seth that it is just like the original POTA... that is: the Ape Planet is actually the same as planet earth. The key is the time warp wormhole that Leo went through. This wormhole is totally random... without rhyme or reason. The first time he went through it... he went forward several years (I don't know exactly how many ). And he landed on earth of the future and the planet is now dominated by apes.
When he left, trying to go back in time and back to the earth as he knew it, he went through the same wormhole. And instead of going back in time, he went still forward into the future. And landed on earth which was now again dominated by the apes. But this time, the apes have acquired intelligence and technology the same as present day humans... this would explain the same appearance of present day Washington D.C. The controls on the ship/pod show the direction of his travel as going back in time but it is only relevant to the passenger (Leo)... but, actually, his movement through the totally random wormhole is in the opposite direction.
In the intervening years (between the 2 times Leo went through the wormhole), what happened was what we saw in the movie... and when Leo left the planet (to try and go home), there was, at first, a peaceful coexistence between apes and humans. Then, as they evolved, the apes (probably because of their superiority in physical strength) became the dominant species again. And their evolution and development became faster and parallel to human evolution and history because they have imbibed something from human intelligence (during the period of co-existence). Then, sometime during their history (and evolution), there emerged a great leader among the apes... and this was the ape represented by the Lincoln-like monument at the end of the movie. Now, who was that great ape? Your guess is as good as mine. Might be a descendant of Thade or maybe an altogether different progeny or pedigree. I don't think that Thade was able to escape, though, where Leo left him.
So what do you guys think?
JUDE
[Edited last by Jude Faelnar on August 17, 2001 at 12:38 PM]

 

[Phil O]

Tim Burton has recently just stated there will in no way be a sequel and he won't reveal what the ending means...if anything. Therefore, you can use your imaginations all you like to come up with your own version of an ending. I think this is how Tim wanted it.
For myself, I think it should have been left out but I think it has achieved what Tim Burton wanted...which is to keep people talking about his movie for a long time afterwards. If it was a joke and meant nothing, then Tim Burton is lame for doing it. Why put it at the end if it doesn't mean anything? Just ruined the film for a lot of people. Our hopes of a sequel to explain it have been squashed. So, it doesn't mean a damn thing. Since we will never know the true meaning, the speculation as to what it means amounts to much ado about nothing and a waste of all of our time. I, too, wanted to know what the ending means. Never, in my wildest imagination, would I think Tim Burton would be so low as to not provide his answer or a sequel to explain it. I have to go with what the studio exec. said about it...it was a joke and put in for no real purpose other than to be a lame, supposedly comical ending. The whole POTA movie was nothing but an excuse to show how far along make-up, ape effects, and ape city have come...which doesn't mean a whole lot if the plot sucks.
Funny how I just read a thread about a critic revising his review downward upon a second viewing. Everyone wants the end to be a well thought out, meaningful conclusion which has some purplexing answers and possibly answered by a sequel.
We will never have that. I care not to think about it ever again.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I'm too lazy to put the spoiler block on, so only read ahead if you've seen the movie.
When Wahlberg goes through the time warp, the first time he goes forward several hundred (maybe even thousand) years, and you can tell because it shows it on his console. The second time at the end, he goes back in time several hundred (or thousand) years. If you want me to believe that he was not really going forward or backward through time like the thing says, then that means that the movie just got even stupider because that is a far-fetched attempt at making something stupid make sense in a stupid way. They wouldn't show it to the audience unless it was relevant as fact. Also, the space ship in the beginning of the movie is not by Earth, I think it's by Saturn or something. This means that if the wormhole just dumped him out at the same spot where it sucked him in, then he landed on some planet other than Earth in the future, then went back through the wormhole and somehow was transported to near Earth.
People aren't talking about this movie, they are disgracing it, and that is not what Burton wanted. For some reason, he really seems to be a mean guy now from what I've heard.
The ape stuff in the movie was not that good. Sure, they looked like apes, but they were too human. They spoke English, they walked upright, the female ones had hair like humans, when they jumped it looked too fake...the only ape part was the makeup. Overall, the film wasn't good at all and Burton screwed it up.

 

[Jude Faelnar]

When Wahlberg goes through the time warp, the first time he goes forward several hundred (maybe even thousand) years, and you can tell because it shows it on his console. The second time at the end, he goes back in time several hundred (or thousand) years. If you want me to believe that he was not really going forward or backward through time like the thing says, then that means that the movie just got even stupider because that is a far-fetched attempt at making something stupid make sense in a stupid way. They wouldn't show it to the audience unless it was relevant as fact. Also, the space ship in the beginning of the movie is not by Earth, I think it's by Saturn or something. This means that if the wormhole just dumped him out at the same spot where it sucked him in, then he landed on some planet other than Earth in the future, then went back through the wormhole and somehow was transported to near Earth.

Spoiler: The reason why the console is shown to the audience is simply to portray what Leo was thinking... that he was going back in time to the earth as he knew it. But, the opposite was really happening. Ok, its a cheap trick but it makes sense that way. And not really STUPID if one only keeps an open mind.
The reason why I think that the Ape planet is actually the earth is I believe they wanted to be faithful to the original movie. There are several references to the original movie like 1] the quote: "Take your stinking hands off me, you damn dirty human!" Chuck Heston's character (Taylor) said a similar line in the original movie. 2] There is also a character named Nova in the original movie. 3] The ending also had a bizzare, unexpected twist featuring a well-known land mark or monument (the Statue of Liberty) to signify that the setting was Earth.
JUDE

 

[Patrick Sun]

Jude, if that's your theory, then mine (Leo as the delusional test "chimp" pilot on his way to crash land his pod) makes even more sense.
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PatCave; HT Pix; Gear; DIY Mains; DIY CC; Sunosub I + II + III; DVDs; Link Removed

 

[Jude Faelnar]

Patrick:

JUDE

 

[Seth Paxton]

Morgan,
You've mistaken my reference for my current theory. In ESCAPE 3 apes use the ship that 3 HUMANS did fly in.
In POTAnew I am only putting THADE in that pod, but having the process be exactly the same otherwise.
My point was that this has been done before in the POTA series and is therefore firmly established rather than being some wild, new speculation.
My theory is based on 2 firm things...what we saw in the original POTA series and what was shown in POTAnew (w/ a reference to the film Lost in Space as well).
It's much easier for me to see a writer or director borrowing something almost verbatim from previous films (especially the series of the film being "redone" than it is to just speculate on any crazy Outer Limits ending I can think of...simply because that's how people tend to be when something has already been established, especially H'wood).
However, I have gone on record plenty of times as saying that my opinion is that Burton probably had NO REASONING at all.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Jude,
They wouldn't show the console if it didn't have any relevance. Maybe Wahlberg didn't go to the exact year that he came from, but he went back in time at the end of the film. Also, there have been statements from Burton saying that the film does NOT take place on Earth. I don't have any sites to link to but I have heard this from many people. If it did take place on Earth, that would explain the horses (I don't get how they had them) but it wouldn't explain a lot of other things. Even if it did take place on Earth, it would have to be Earth from the future because they show Mark going to the future in the beginning of the film through showing the console. Why would they show it if it wasn't true? If the sequel (which won't be made, thank god) explained that it wasn't telling the truth and that he was really going back in time, then that would be an east cop-out and wouldn't be very creative.
There is no way to explain the movie or its ending without forgetting some elements. Am I the only one who noticed that the only life on the planet consisted of Apes, Humans, and Horses? They show no lizards or birds or anything else, which would mean that it wasn't on Earth or it was before humans came to be. Also, didn't all the humans on the space ship get killed by the apes? If not, then that means that the humans have been in-breeding for centuries, which would have its effects be pretty apparent. Also, Ca-Li-Ma was the stupidest thing I had ever heard, and the way in which they completely covered everything besides the CA, LI, and MA was too convenient. Also, the film was as falsely advertised as Final Fantasy (as some of you say it was) in that it looked like a great action film, but the big action scene was short, sucked, and was stopped in the middle. Add to that the fact that all of the special effects budget probably went to the makeup and CGI, considering they were the only somewhat good looking parts. Overall, the film sucked and there is no way to justify it.
Tim Burton is reimagining the movie, which means he wouldn't borrow off of ideas from movies that were in the original PotA series and use them, especially considering that those were able to make sense.
[Edited last by Morgan Jolley on August 18, 2001 at 02:05 PM]

 

[Geoffrey_A]

If not, then that means that the humans have been in-breeding for centuries, which would have its effects be pretty apparent.

Not neccesarily. You assume that the only humans on the Oberon were the ones we saw on the bridge or in the science lab. That space station was pretty huge, I think it's safe to say that there were a lot more crew members than we were ever shown. It's probably also a safe bet that there were more Apes than we were shown as well.
Anyways, I sure would like some input on the theory I put forth earlier in the thread, if anyone would care to go back to page one and comment

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Geoff
Now with Kung-Fu grip and realistic facial hair!

 

[Brad Porter]

Point of clarification: There are two electromagnetic storm cloud thingies - opposite ends of a "wormhole".
They are in different locations in the universe. Entering one end will always result in output of the object at the other end spatially, but at a different time. Seth's explanation of the mechanics of time displacement makes as much sense as any I've heard and also takes out the element of complete coincidence in Pericle's arrival.
Was the "entrance" at the beginning of the film located at Saturn or only the "exit" at the end of the film? It is presumably the same storm, but I don't recall seeing Saturn at the beginning of the film. The other end of the wormhole could be located anywhere in the universe, but several people have reported that the planet of the apes has satellites or neighboring planets that don't match the Earth (I can't confirm this from memory, sorry). The planetary geography (viewed from space) is also not recognizable as Earth. If you still want to believe that the planet of the Apes is Earth, the burden is upon you to explain these anomalies. I think it is an Earth-like planet which *conveniently* has a breathable atmosphere, potable water, edible vegetation, horses, and no other apparent animal life.
As for the ending, having it not be "explainable" is not a filmmaking technique which I have any respect for. It certainly has provided much fodder for discussion, but I doubt it has increased anyone's respect for Tim Burton or the film.
Brad

 

[Michael_UK]

Spoilers here.......
I just watched POTA, and I think the ending was quite good, with some films I like a nice round ending all rapped up into a neat ending, BUT some films are good when the ending is up to interpretation of the Audience.
Personly I don't think the ending had anything to do with Thade or old pod.
1)At the start of the film you see the Door to the ship IS ID coded to Wahlberg's hand.
So IMO Thade is "trapped" forever (poetic justice in my book for Thade bieng such a raceist, Nice bit of irony for Thade as he trapped humans LOL).
2)The Dials of the pods were Very haywire so who is to know if Wahlberg was going forward or back, in time.
3)IMO the storm could be thourght as a wormhole between universesrealities but the wormhole endings are not static so whenever Wahlberg traveled through the storm he moved into a alternate(mirror) universe, so when he left the POTA he got to an alternate Earth where ape's are the domenant species on Earth.
I was not expecting this film to be very good but I really enjoyed this one esspesially as the theater had surrprisingly good bass through out the film. (the bass is not great at the cinema normally)

 

[Morgan Jolley]

IMO, the only good part of this film was the opening credits. They were stylistic and set a good tone for the film, but the rest just sucked.
I don't think Mark Wahlberg is a great actor either. I'm probably not better.

 

[Steve Christou]

I would go with the Sliders concept, in our reality Leo goes thru the space storm and crashlands on the ape planet, and meanwhile in a parallel universe apes are already rulers of Earth.
General Thade manages to use technology from the crashed spaceship goes back in time to the Parallel Ape/Earth circa 1800's and the apes of that time come to revere him, he becomes their great leader, when Leo goes back to Earth he goes to Parallel Ape/Earth of the future.
erm hows that?

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I am now going to accept that ending because its the easiest one for the american public to comprehend, and we all know how smart the studios think we are.
I think that every possible ending will end up being some sort of easy way out, unless they make a sequel that is good and explains it all.

 

[Steve Christou]

WOW! So do we all agree that my interpretation of the ending to POTA is the most nearly logical?(if that word can possibly be used in relation to this film)
Do I win anything?

 

[Morgan Jolley]

WAIT!!! We still didn't explain the horses.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

IN the book, the apes are at roughly 1930-1940 level of technology, Pierre Boulle kept from introducing things like horses because they already had "cars". *Sigh*
You people should all read the book Then you'll realize that Heston blasphemed just as much as Burton did
Jeff Kleist

 

[David-alexander]

then ending the Earth is crazy and pure non sense.
Walhberg's travel through time (future) and the rest of the story could hold up somehow but true, where the horses come from ???
the original POTA is much better, and more logical. and more disturbing and chilling. the apes look more apes.
Her Burton wanted the mains characteres to identifiable, from Heston to Lisa Marie etc. Roth and Dunkan looked less identifiable though.
it's certainly an "order" from FOX who wanted to make younger generations rediscover the Planet of the Apes.... remakes remakes......
Some of you will remember that originally, Arnold Schwarzenegger was due to reprise the role of Heston. Might have been good... . Imagine him getting out the capsule, lighting up a nice Havana sigar and wondering: TO BE OR NOT TO BE ? ah ah
About time FOX releases POTA 1 and 2 in anamorphic and with a remastered track.
Anyway, no wonder the new POTA had such post production delays and stuff: the ending sucks big time.