I’m a little slow on the draw here, but I had to throw in my two cents about the sad news of Charlton Heston’s passing. The news was especially disappointing to me because Heston is partially responsible for my love of sci-fi. My older brother is really responsible for introducing me to the wonderful world of science fiction and fantasy, but there was one weekend in particular where I stayed with him to go to my first convention, and every night when we got home, “Planet of the Apes” was on TV. Apparently there was a marathon going where they were supposed to be showing all 5 movies (this is before the Tim Burton re-imagining), but every time we tuned in, we were treated to another resounding “YOU BASTARDS! YOU BLEW IT UP!” It became something of an in-joke for us, but it was also the first time I had the chance to watch the movie all the way through. ”Planet of the Apes” opened my mind in a way I really hadn’t approached sci-fi yet, where I saw the plot device of species-reversal as a way of highlighting the conflict between reason and religion. It was the film that piqued my interest and got me to take a look at all of those classic pieces of sci-fi like “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “Logan’s Run,” films I had previously ignored because they looked “lame” (in my preteen assessment).
While a lot of people are going to remember Chuck for doing films like “The Ten Commandments” or “Touch of Evil” (still great films, don’t get me wrong), I’m going to turn the lights off and watch “Planet of the Apes” again, shout out my favorite lines in unison with the soundtrack, and say horrible, degrading things about our simian brethren. RIP Omega Man.
