Plot Summary
The preceding film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, ends with the apes' future Earth and everything on it being destroyed by a nuclear weapon.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes begins by establishing that three apes—Cornelius, Zira, and Dr. Milo (played by Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, and Sal Mineo, respectively)—escaped the Earth's destruction by salvaging and repairing the astronaut Taylor's spaceship (which sank in the first movie) and piloting it through the shock wave of Earth's destruction, sending the ship through a time warp. The salvage, repair and launch all happen within the brief period of the final act of the previous film.
The apes arrive on Earth in 1973, splashing down on the Pacific coast. They are transported to a secluded ward of the Los Angeles Zoo, under the observation of two scientists, Stephanie Branton (Natalie Trundy) and Lewis Dixon (Bradford Dillman). The apes' power of speech is revealed when Zira's impatience gets the better of her during an experiment. Soon after this, Milo is killed by a gorilla who becomes agitated by an argument amongst the three chimpanzees.
Meanwhile, a Presidential Commission has been formed to investigate the return of Taylor's spaceship and how the apes, which they already are aware are atypically intelligent, came to be aboard it. The apes are brought before the Presidential Commission, where they publicly reveal their ability to speak, and are welcomed as guests. Cornelius and Zira secretly tell Stephanie and Lewis that they knew about Taylor, how humans are treated in the ape dominated future, about the Earth's eventual destruction. Stephanie and Lewis are shocked, but they handle it and tell Cornelius and Zira to keep this quiet until they find the right people to talk to.
The apes become celebrities, being lavished with presents and media attention. They come to the attention of the President's Science Advisor Dr. Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden), who discovers Zira is pregnant and fears for the future of the human race. Determined to force the issue, he gets her drunk on champagne (which he assures her is harmless, calling it "grape juice plus"). The resulting interrogation enables him to convince the Commission that Cornelius and Zira must be subjected to more rigorous questioning.
Both are questioned using various means of interrogation; during this time, one of Hasslein's assistants refers to the apes as "monkeys", stirring Cornelius's anger. Hasslein defuses it, saying they simply want to know how apes rose in dominance over men. Cornelius reveals that the human race will eventually meet its downfall and be dominated by simians, which will later lead to Earth's destruction. However, there are still suspicions about how humans are treated by the future apes rather than the Earth's destruction.
Suspicion had already been aroused by Zira letting slip, during the original hearing, that she had dissected humans in the course of her work. Hasslein orders Lewis to administer a truth serum to her, while Cornelius is taken to confinement quarters. Lewis assures Zira that the serum will have the same effect as the champagne Hasslein convinced her to drink earlier. As a result of the serum, Hasslein learns for himself that Zira examined and operated on humans in the future.
Zira is taken to join Cornelius in confinement while Hasslein takes his findings to the U.S. President (William Windom). An orderly bringing food refers to the unborn child as a "little monkey;" Cornelius has heard enough of the epithet and knocks the tray out of the orderly's hands, thinking he has only knocked the orderly unconscious; he is stunned later to overhear that the boy died. Hasslein uses it as an illustration of the future danger the apes present and calls for the apes' execution. The president reluctantly orders that the unborn child's birth be terminated and that both be sterilized. Running for their lives, Cornelius and Zira (assisted by Stephanie and Lewis) find shelter in a circus run by Señor Armando (Ricardo Montalbán), where an ape named Heloise has just had a baby. There Zira gives birth to a son, whom she names Milo.
Hasslein, knowing that Zira's giving birth was imminent, orders a search of all circuses and zoos. As a result, Armando must send the apes away; Lewis gives Cornelius a pistol to use as a last resort. Hasslein tracks the apes down to an abandoned ship, and finds Zira resting with her infant. Hasslein shoots Zira after she refuses to hand over her infant and then proceeds to fire several shots into the infant; he is immediately shot to death by Cornelius, and falls overboard. After Cornelius kills Hasslein, he is shot by an unseen Marine Corps sniper and, as Stephanie and Lewis watch, falls to the deck of the ship. Zira tosses her dead baby over the side of the ship before crawling to lie with her husband.
The survivors are unaware of the real fate of the infant ape: Cornelius, Zira, and Armando switched babies with the common ape Heloise before their escape. Armando now watches over the intelligent infant Milo. The film ends with the baby Milo sitting in a cage, plaintively speaking the words "Mama? Mama?"
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