Planet of the Apes

Character mistake: A space traveler would not be "going to Orion." The major stars in Orion vary in distance from the earth from 243 to 1,360 light years. Orion is only a constellation as visible from Earth; once you get away that far, the stars would not be in the same alignment as they are from Earth. They would have been going to a specific star, probably Bellatrix at 243 light years, as Taylor mentions being at 320 light years.

apolloguy

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: I'm not sure what scene you're referring to, but I never heard anyone say they went to Orion. Taylor says they're on a "planet in orbit around a star in the constellation of Orion. That could be Bellatrix." To Taylor, who is from Earth, the star is still in the constellation of Orion.

Bishop73

I agree with your take, but I still think it could be interpreted as Orion's stars all being in close proximity. And I would hope they would know about the 320 - 243 light year issue.

apolloguy

More for Planet of the Apes

Mistakes

Continuity mistake: When the spaceship first springs a leak and begins to sink, the interior shots show it tilting to starboard; Taylor falls against the starboard bulkhead and the other two survivors need to brace themselves from slipping. All of the exterior shots of the ship show it level from port to starboard.

BocaDavie ★

More mistakes in Planet of the Apes

Quotes

Dr. Zaius: Don't go looking for it, Taylor. You may not like what you find.

More quotes from Planet of the Apes

Trivia

Trivia: During breaks, the ape makeup couldn't be removed. It is interesting to note that the chimps naturally hung out with other chimps during breaks, the gorillas natually hung out with other gorillas, and the orangutans naturally hung out with other orangutans.

More trivia for Planet of the Apes

Questions

Question: What caused the original nuclear devastation depicted in the movie?

Socks1000

Answer: I think that this is meant to be a mystery. Taylor/Charlton Heston, an astronaut, leaves a world set somewhat in the future after 1968 (when the movie was made) but still recognisable to cinema-goers at the time, to travel through a "time vortex" to arrive in a world in a distant future, which has changed beyond recognition. Taylor meets the orangutan Zaius/Maurice Evans, and Zaius hints that he has some idea of what had happened, but Zaius' knowledge is either limited, or else Zaius is not going to tell Taylor (or his fellow apes) the full story. At the end of the movie Taylor discovers that, at some point between his leaving his own time and arriving in the "Planet Of The Apes", the world had been devastated by a nuclear war, but I think that the exact time, causes of, and course of this nuclear war are deliberately left as a mystery. Sometimes I think a bit of unresolved mystery actually improves a story, and I think this is the case here.

Rob Halliday

Chosen answer: World War III.

Grumpy Scot

More questions & answers from Planet of the Apes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.