Things about Dawn and Rise of the Planet of the Apes that Left Our Jaws Dropped

Have you noticed this about these two instalments of the chimpanzee Caesar’s story- the Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes? Why does dawn come after rise, isn’t it the other way round usually?  Anyways! That is not what we are here to talk about. We are here to talk about some of the lesser-known facts about the Dawn of the Apes. Curious yet?

Apes Firing Machine Guns, like really?

This lasting impact or like we say the climax of the movie is always the last scene of the movie. Eeerr! Well this was supposedly meant to be a terrifying scene but we cannot help but ignore the amusement here. So the scene goes like this, the ape in question advances towards two armed men. Much to their delight, the ape starts entertaining them acting drunk. They were so caught up in the act that they forgot all about their armour- the big mean machine guns. The next thing we know is the ape is with the machine. And not forgetting to mention, those apes can operate those machine guns as if they were born for it.

Wait Can those Apes Talk….and Read too?

We went holly molly when Caesar finally spoke to James Franco’s character in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Now after watching Dawn of the Apes, we feel that apes are evolving at a rate that is unimaginable. In one particular scene, we notice an ape reading out a book along with a human child. And by reading out, we do not mean ‘trying his hand at reading’. The ape is at peace reading out and talking at length about the main plot of the book story. In another scene, where the humans and the apes meet in a pivotal scene, Caesar speaks out in clear words that his comrades do not want to fight, but they mean war if it comes to defending their land- the forest.

The Visuals that Makes us go WHOA!

We don’t really muddle our heads in knowing what goes behind the scenes. But when we do take a moment to unravel things, it is amazing. Like the one right here. Of course, the visual transformation of the ape civilization has to be given full credit. It is a combination of strong ape-like performances and the brilliant use of the visual effects. We cannot help but use the word ‘but’ here. The actual images or visuals can really tickle your funny bone. The actors are seen using arm’s stretchers to emulate the ape’s walk and it is just too hilarious for words. We can literally see them transform into apes right in front of our eyes.

The Giant Army of Apes

When you notice the lot number of apes presented in the movie, it will really make you say that the sky is truly the limit. The scene where a human opens the door and much to his astonishment notices an army of apes assembled for a conference. Hold on! Flashback! Did we just mention ‘army of apes?’ The fleet looks even bigger than the living beings that gathered to Noah’s Ark. The ape count is appalling and too blinding for the eyes.

Behind the Scenes madness!

We all know that the movie contains serious content but that did not stop the crew from having their share of fun. Here are some goof up’s that happened on the sets. This is a funny tale behind the scene of the apes shown riding their horses. The horses would really freak out every time Andy would scream ‘APES’. They would trod over the side and due to that one of the actors got scared to work with the horses. So in the end, they ended up having to shoot that scene with all of their eight characters on step ladders from Home Depot. It was definitely a silly affair to see the finest actors saying out their lines standing in step ladders. These are some of the amazing moments of the movie.

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Anoop Chaphekar

Last updated: October 4, 2024

A Fine Arts Graduate, Anoop brings 20+ yrs experience in the VFX and Animation industry. He brings his expertise in Animation-VFX for Television Commercials to Visual Effects for feature films, TV and Web series.