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| - Cornelius and Zira, the simian ape couple from the first two ape films, fled from their doomed planet (just before the events in Beneath the Planet of the Apes) in the same spaceship used by Taylor in the first film, and traveled back through the same space/time portal and landed on late 20th Century Earth where they are received with fascination and fear from the people they meet. As military personnel and civilians struggle to understand how apes managed to commandeer Taylor's spaceship, Cornelius, Zira, and Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo) attempt to understand how they came to Earth’s past. The reason given for such leaps in scientific capability is Dr Milo, a genius ahead of his time who somehow rescued and repaired Taylor's craft from the Forbidden Zone. While the three chimps are held captive i
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| abstract
| - Cornelius and Zira, the simian ape couple from the first two ape films, fled from their doomed planet (just before the events in Beneath the Planet of the Apes) in the same spaceship used by Taylor in the first film, and traveled back through the same space/time portal and landed on late 20th Century Earth where they are received with fascination and fear from the people they meet. As military personnel and civilians struggle to understand how apes managed to commandeer Taylor's spaceship, Cornelius, Zira, and Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo) attempt to understand how they came to Earth’s past. The reason given for such leaps in scientific capability is Dr Milo, a genius ahead of his time who somehow rescued and repaired Taylor's craft from the Forbidden Zone. While the three chimps are held captive in the zoo, Milo is quickly killed by a depressed gorilla, leaving the couple to grapple with humanity's inherent fear of the unknown. The middle part of the film showcases the couple's fifteen minutes of fame, in which the chimps are treated much like instant celebrities. Underneath all the posh parties, extravagant gifts, and barrage of speaking engagements works Dr Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden), the US president's (William Windom) science advisor. Using every trick he can muster, Hasslein discovers that the chimps come from the future, that they used humans as experimental lab-rats, and that one day the Earth will be destroyed by militant gorillas. Cornelius and Zira have extensive knowledge about man's history, and describe how a plague killed all the dogs and cats which led to the enslavement of all the apes as pets, who eventually revolted against man. Far more disturbing to Hasslein is that Zira is pregnant. Hasslein's solution is quite simple: destroy the talking chimps and their offspring and thus prevent this future. Cornelius and Zira begin to see what Taylor saw in them, savages. However, Zira didn't want to lie and she was glad to tell them, Cornelius tells her that the humans are going to kill them. Helping Cornelius and Zira as much as they can are Dr Lewis Dixon (Bradford Dillman) and Dr Stephanie Branton (Natalie Trundy). When Cornelius accidentally kills an orderly, the couple, with the help of Lewis and Stevie, escapes from a military compound and seeks solace with kind circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalban). Unfortunately, Hasslein is tenacious, and like King Herod in his search for baby Christ, he uses police and military units to search every zoo, pet shop, and circus for the talking apes. In the end, Cornelius and Zira are hunted down and brutally murdered, as is their baby. The coda, however, reveals that the talking apes' child is alive and well, living under the watchful eye of the animal-loving Armando. The film fades out as the baby chimp asks outloud "Mama? Mama??..."
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