Time of the Apes (1987) (TV)

Sandy Frank does it again, 8 June 2007

Through a freaky set of circumstances, a woman and two children are accidentally locked in a cryogenic chamber just as an earthquake hits. Once revived, they find themselves in a strange world where apes are in charge. The three soon meet up with a man named Gono who appears to be the only other living human on the planet. If they are to ever find their way back home, the humans must stick together and stay a step ahead of the apes.

As the story goes, Time of the Apes began its existence as a Japanese television show in 1974. Producer Sandy Frank saw an opportunity and cobbled a few episodes together into this mess of a movie. And a mess it is! The rating I've given Time of the Apes (3/10) is really quite generous given how bad it really is. For example, Frank's plot makes little sense. Important plot points like the flying saucer are never explained. The quality of the ape costumes and make-up is all over the place ranging from acceptable to downright tacky. And even though I realize the dialogue is dubbed, it's horrible. The children come off as especially annoying.

With that being said, I simply cannot bring myself to rate Time of the Apes any lower. While it may not be very good, it is interesting to see the Japanese take on Planet of the Apes. It's one of the most surreal examples of film-making I've seen recently. In addition, there were a few instances during the movie that I found fairly entertaining. Unfortunately, these moments were too few and far between.

Time of the Apes is another movie that I watched courtesy of MST3K. The riffs from Joel and the Bots are pretty hit and miss – some are quite funny while others just miss their mark. On my MST3K rating scale, I give this episode a 3/5 – A wishy-washy average rating.

3/10