It completes my final report until we reach touchdown.
We're now on full automatic in the hands of the computers.
I've tucked my crew in for the long sleep,
and I'll be joining them soon.
In less than an hour, we'll finish our sixth month
out of Cape Kennedy.
Six months in deep space.
By our time, that is.
According to Dr. Hasline's theory of time in a vehicle
traveling nearly the speed of light,
the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it.
Well, we've aged hardly at all.
Maybe so.
This much is probably true.
The men who sent us on this journey are long since dead
and gone.
You who are reading me now are a different breed.
I hope a better one.
I leave the 20th century with no regrets.
But one more thing, if anybody's listening, that is.
Nothing scientific.
It's purely personal.
Seen from out here, everything seems different.
Time bends.
Space is boundless.
It squashes a man's ego.
I feel lonely.
That's about it.
Tell me, though.
Does man, that marvel of the universe,
that glorious paradox, who sent me to the stars,
still make war against his brother?
Keep his neighbors' children starving?
Here to stay.
Any notions, Skipper?
We're some 320 light-years from Earth on an unnamed planet
in orbit around a star in the constellation of Orion.
Is that close enough for you?
That could be Bellatrix.
It's too white for Bellatrix.
You didn't have time to read the takes.
So you really don't know, do you?
What went wrong?
We weren't programmed to land in no water.
The question is not so much where we are as when we are.
All right.
We've had enough sleep to hold us for a while.
Let's start earning all that blood test.
Got your sensors?
Right.
Geiger cutter?
Got it.
Let's see, one pistol, 20 rounds ammo,
a medical kit, camera, TX-9.
We've got food and water enough for three days.
How long is a day?
That's a good question.
Landon.
Hey, Landon.
Join the expedition.
Sorry, I was thinking about Stuart.
What do you suppose happened?
Air leak. She died in her sleep.
You don't seem very cut up about it.
It's a little late for her wake. She's been dead
in early a year.
That means we've been away from Earth for 18 months.
Aren't I?
You've gone gray.
Apart from that, you look pretty chipper for a man who's 2,031 years old.
I read the clocks. They bear out Hassline's hypothesis.
We have been away from Earth for 2,000 years.
Give or take a decade.
Still can't accept it.
Times wiped out everything you ever knew.
It's all dust.
Prove it.
If we can't get back, it's still just a theory.
It's a fact, Landon. Buy it.
You'll sleep better.
Nothing will grow here.
There's just a trace of carbohydrates.
All the nitrogen is locked into the nitrates.
No dangerous ionizations?
No.
Well, if there's no life here,
we've got just 72 hours to find it.
That's when the groceries run out. Let's go.
Which direction?
That way. Any particular reason?
None at all.
Come on.
What a check.
It doesn't add up.
Thunder and lightning and no rain.
Cloud cover at night.
That strange luminosity.
Yet there's no moon.
If we could just get a fix.
What would that tell you?
I've told you where you are and when you are.
All right, all right.
You're 300 light years from your precious planet.
Your loved ones are dead and forgotten.
For 20 centuries.
Even if you could get back there,
think you were something that fell out of a tree.
Our tale of quit writing him.
There is just one reality left.
We are here and it is now.
You get hold of that and hang on to it.
You might as well be dead.
I'm prepared to die.
He's prepared to die.
Doesn't that make you misty?
Shock up another victory for the human spirit.
Clue me in on something, will you?
Why did you sign on for this trip?
You volunteered.
Why?
Never mind. I'll clue you in.
You were the golden boy of the Class of 72.
When they nominated you for the big win,
you couldn't turn it down.
Not without losing your all-American image.
Climb off, will you?
Oh, and the glory. Don't forget that.
There's a life-sized bronze statue of you
standing out there somewhere.
It's probably turned green by now.
Nobody can read the nameplate.
But never let it be said that we forget our heroes.
Jeller, I'm telling you to climb off my back.
And there's one last item.
Immortality. You wanted to live forever, didn't you?
Well, you damn near made it.
Except for me and Dodd.
You'll live longer than anyone ever born.
And with our lovely Lieutenant Stuart dead,
it looks like you're the last of the line.
You got what you wanted, Tiger.
How does it taste?
Okay, you read me well enough.
But why can't I read you?
Don't bother.
Dodd's there. He's not like me at all.
But he makes sense.
You'd walk naked into a live volcano
if he thought he could learn something that no other man knew.
But you, you're no seeker.
You're negative.
And I'm not prepared to die.
I'd like to know why not.
You thought life on Earth was meaningless.
You despised people.
So what'd you do? You ran out.
No, no, it's not like that, Landon.
I'm a seeker, too.
But my dreams aren't like yours.
I can't help thinking somewhere in the universe
there has to be something better than man.
There has to be.
Life.
Where there's one, there's another.
And another. And another.
Let's find them.
Scarecrows?
Let's see.
The Scarecrows.
Well, at least they haven't tried to bite us.
Blessed are the vegetarians.
They look more or less human, but I think they're mute.
They're off at the wrong stop.
You're supposed to be the optimist, Landon.
Look in the bright side.
This is the best they've got around here
and six months we'll be running this planet.
This one, this beast has lost a lot of blood.
Find one.
Yes, sir.
This place is dirty, Doctor.
Doctor, these animals are dirty.
They stink and they carry communicable diseases.
Why aren't they cleaned up before they're brought here?
You don't sound happy in your work.
A little more than a bet in this laboratory.
You promised to speak to Dr. Zayas about me.
I did.
You know how he looks down his nose at chimpanzees.
But the quota system's been abolished.
You made it, why can't I?
What do you mean made it?
I'm an animal psychologist, that's all.
We have no authority.
You do all right when it comes to getting space and equipment.
That's because Dr. Zayas realizes our work has value.
The foundations of scientific brain surgery
are being laid right here
in studies of cerebral functions of these animals.
They're still dirty, Doctor.
And the bite is septic.
There, look at that.
How did you all?
Good morning, Dr. Zira.
Good morning, Julius. How's our patient today?
No change.
The minute you open the door, he goes into his act.
What's up, sugar old-timer?
You could get hurt doing that, Doctor.
Oh, don't be silly. He's perfectly tame.
They're all tame until they take a chunk out of you.
Well, bright eyes.
Is our throat feeling better?
It still hurts, doesn't it?
See? He keeps pretending he can talk.
That bright eyes is remarkable.
He keeps trying to form words.
You know what they say, human seed, human do.
Now what?
He seems to want something.
I'd be careful, Doctor.
What do I tell you?
They're getting up. Break your arm!
Good morning, Your Excellency.
Dr. Zayas.
Good morning, sir.
Open up, please.
I'm so glad you could come.
Sir, he's over here.
Bright eyes.
Show him.
Go ahead, do your trick.
Speak.
Go on, speak again.
You believe it.
Yes, I'm using a man acting like an ape.
I swear he's answering you.
He has a definite gift for mimicry.
In most unusual, he's using that old blanket as clothing.
I wonder how he'd score
on a Hopkins manual dexterity test.
An animal?
Look, he's moving his fingers.
Only because he saw you moving yours.
No, but perhaps he understood.
Man has no understanding.
He can be taught a few simple tricks, nothing more.
I'm afraid I must disagree, according to my experiment.
Dr. Zayas, I must caution you.
Experimental brain surgery on these creatures is one thing,
and I'm all in favour of it.
But your behavioural studies are something else again.
To suggest that we can learn anything about the civilian nature
from a study of man is your nonsense.
A man is a nuisance.
He eats up his food supplies in the forest,
then migrates to our green belts
and ravages our crops.
The sooner he is exterminated, the better.
It's a question of simian survival.
Is this the one you wanted, Doctor?
Ah, yes, thank you.
Bright eyes.
I've got a present for you.
You have to work tonight?
No.
Neither do I.
Cornelius.
The one I was telling you about.
What's so special about him?
Watch.
Hello, bright eyes.
How's our throat today?
Look, she remembers.
Remember what?
The blood transfusion.
Zero, really. You know, they can't.
Watch out. He comes number one.
Something's bothering him.
He's been prying around the lab for the last two days.
Good morning, Dr. Zaeus.
You know my doctor Cornelius, my fiancée?
Of course, the young ape with a shovel.
I hear you're planning another archaeological expedition.
With the academy's approval, sir.
The project will require my support, of course.
I hope I may count on it, sir.
Cornelius, a friendly warning.
As you dig for artefacts,
be sure you don't bury your reputation.
There's a more detail.
Oh, certainly, sir. I'll pick up my notes,
and I'll come right over.
I don't understand these animal psychologists.
What's Dr. Zero trying to prove?
That man can be domesticated.
I'll see.
I'm sorry, brother.
I told you what you'd get.
Julius, don't, don't, don't. It doesn't matter.
Natural-born thieves, aren't they?
Your collar and leash.
I'm taking him out of here.
He's vicious, doctor.
Besides, it's against the rules.
Do as I say.
You wouldn't hurt me, would you?
It's a stunt.
Ah, humans can't write.
Dear, you're a scientist.
Don't you believe your own eyes?
Where did you learn to do this?
Jefferson Public School, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Back on that planet you say you came from?
Maybe he is intelligent.
If he's also, uh, crazy.
Cornelius. Cornelius, please.
Dodge was killed in the hunt.
What happened to Landon?
I don't know.
They fell out of the sky with you.
Flight is a scientific impossibility.
And even if it weren't, why fly?
Where would it get you?
You have maps.
We're here. You were captured here.
You fell into the water here?
You came ashore, marched across the desert?
Mountains?
Many days and nights, and reached the jungle.
Out of the question.
Cornelius, why do you insist on provoking him?
No creature can survive in the forbidden zone.
I know. I've been there. I've seen it.
Then how do you account for me?
I don't.
And I'm not going to try.
But what about your theory?
The existence of someone like Taylor might prove it.
He's here. Do you want to get my head chopped off?
Don't be foolish.
If it's true, they'll have to accept it.
No, they won't.
Cornelius has developed the most brilliant hypothesis.
But I'm probably wrong.
That the ape evolved from a lower order primate, possibly man.
In his trip to the forbidden zone,
he discovered traces of a culture older than recorded time.
The evidence was very meager.
You didn't think so then?
That was before Dr. Zayas and half of the academy said that my idea was heresy.
How can scientific truth be heresy?
What if Taylor is exactly the proof you needed?
A mutation.
A missing link between the unevolved primate and the ape.
Touchy, isn't he?
I am not a missing link.
Well, if you were a missing link,
the sacred scrolls wouldn't be worth their parchment.
Well, maybe they're not.
Oh, no, thank you.
I'm not going to get into that battle.
Cornelius, show some strength!
Zira, listen to me.
Now we both have fine futures.
Marriage, stimulating careers.
I'm up for a raise.
Dr. Zayas.
Did you forget our appointments, Cornelius?
No, sir, I was just collecting my notes.
You know Dr. Maximus, of course.
I commission her for animal affairs.
Yes, I'd the pleasure to see you again.
What is that?
A man, Dr. Maximus.
I know it's a man.
And you know the rules.
No animals allowed outside the compound
and most especially not without a leash.
Yes, sir, but this creature is a special case.
Why special?
We're conducting a new experiment.
Wouldn't that more properly be done in your office?
Yes, sir.
Guard, return this beast to the compound.
What is this?
A toy.
It floats on the air.
A serum.
Try it.
Nonsense.
What's up, Lieutenant?
We're taking number four over to surgery in five minutes, having ready.
How come? The beast's throat's nearly healed.
It's not his throat this time. The vet's going to gild him.
Dr. Zero won't like it. She wants that pair to mate.
These orders come from Dr. Zayas himself.
There's nothing she can do about it.
If only you knew what they're going to do.
Stay still now. Don't give me any trouble.
You must, but make an end of sorrow.
He lives again.
Yes, he has found peace in heaven.
He was a model for us all, a gorilla to remember.
Hunter, warrior, defender of the faith.
Cherished husband, beloved father, generous master, yes.
He was a font of simian kindness.
The dear departed once said to me,
I never met an ape I didn't like.
You're sticking paws off me, you damn.
And lots of women, lots of love-making, but no love.
That was the kind of world we'd made.
So I left, because there was no one to hold me there.
Did I tell you about Stuart?
There was a lovely girl.
The most precious cargo we brought along.
She was to be the new eve with our hot and eager help, of course.
Probably just as well she didn't make it this far.
Do you love me, I wonder?
Can you love?
You're not as smart as Stuart, but you're the only girl in town.
Look at that, I... I taught you to smile.
Where have you been? Why didn't you come see me?
What is this?
I'm hearing.
Be clever, be quiet.
All right!
The National Academy is now in session.
The President of the Academy presided.
On my right, Dr. Maximus, commissioner for animal affairs.
And on my left, Dr. Jayus,
minister of science and chief defender of the faith.
And appearing for the state, Dr. Renourius,
deputy minister of justice.
You have instructions to clean up the beast.
Now these rags he's wearing give off a stance that's offensive
to the dignity of this tribunal.
You may proceed, Dr. Renourius.
By your leave, Mr. President,
that this tribunal has not yet defined the purpose
for this inquiry.
You ask for the opportunity to present your case.
Surely you must know why you're here.
At the very least, this man has the right to know
whether there's a charge against him.
Objection!
This exhibit is indeed a man.
Therefore, he has no rights under eight law.
Dr. Zilla, this is a man, is it not?
He is unlike any man you have ever seen
as we hope to prove.
Answer the question, Dr. Zilla.
Is it a man?
Sir, perhaps the question is the pointed issue.
Is he a man?
Is he a deviant or a freak of nature?
Objection!
Sustain now, Dr. Zilla.
In all fairness, you must admit that the accused
is a non-apin, therefore has no rights under eight law.
Then why is he called the accused?
Your Honour's must think him guilty of something.
Which is not being tried, he's been disposed of.
It is scientific heresy that is being tried here.
Well put, Dr. Zilla.
Let us warn our friends that they engage in their own careers
by defending this animal.
And I'll defend myself.
Dr. Zilla, would you tell me
right eyes to be quiet?
My name is Taylor.
Silence the animal.
You have seen, Mr. Prosecutor.
Learning judges, my case is simple.
It is based on our first article of faith
that the Almighty created the ape in his own image,
that he gave him a soul and a mind,
that he set him apart from the beasts of the jungle
and made him the Lord of the planet.
These sacred truths are self-evident.
The proper study of apes is apes.
But certain young cynics have chosen to study man.
Yes, perverted scientists
who advance an insidious theory called evolution.
Come to the point, Dr. LaNoise.
The state charges that Dr. Zilla
and a corrupt surgeon named Galen
experimented on this wounded animal,
tampering with his brain and throat tissues
to produce a speaking monster.
That's a lie.
Mind your tongue, madam.
Did we create his mind as well?
Not only can this man speak,
he can think, he can reason.
That can reason with the tribunal's permission.
Allow me to expose this hoax by direct examination.
Proceed, doctor, but do not turn this hearing into a farce.
Tell the court, bright eyes.
What is the second article of faith?
I know nothing of your culture.
I admit that.
Of course he doesn't know our culture
because he cannot think.
Tell us, why are all apes created equal?
Some apes, it seems, are more equal than others.
Ridiculous.
Tell us, bright eyes.
Why do men have no souls?
What is the proof that a divine spark
exists in the Simeon brain?
Since the defendant has been forbidden to speak
in his own defense,
he requests that the following statement
be read into the record.
No, doctor Cardin is reading.
I have come to you from a planet
in a different solar system.
I am an explorer in space.
Stop right there, let me see that paper.
This is a joke.
A very poor thing.
Is it a joke to seek the truth about this man?
Doctor, you stayed here.
There is ship from outer space,
sank in an inland sea of our eastern desert.
You also stayed the bright eyes
and two intelligent companions
with him at the dive he's captured.
That is his assertion.
Mr. President,
in addition to bright eyes,
I believe the prosecutor has reassembled
all the surviving humans
that were captured in the hunt.
That's true, Dr. Seuss.
I see.
I'll take a look at it.
That's him. That's Landon.
Which one?
The tall one in the back.
Do you acknowledge kinship
with any of these creatures?
With one of them, yes.
Identify him then, speak to him.
Did you know about this?
No, I swear, I never saw this man before.
But then,
put up his brain, you bloody baboon!
Stop it!
The human specimen you saw outside
suffered a skull fracture in the course of the hunt.
Two fine veterinary surgeons
under my direction were able to save his life.
But the beast could not speak, of course.
Nor will he ever speak.
You did that to him, damn you!
You cut out his memory, you took his identity,
and that's what you want to do to me!
Bailiff!
Gagly animal!
I'll grant you that this creature
cannot have come from another planet.
But this much is certain.
He does come from somewhere in the Forbidden Zone.
He's described the region to us
and described it accurately for...
I have been there.
You visited the Forbidden Zone?
Yes, sir.
A year ago.
With the special permission of the Academy.
He exceeded his orders.
His travel permit was cancelled immediately.
Yes, sir. That is true, thanks to you.
But not before I discovered evidence
of a simian culture that existed long before
the sacred scrolls were written.
Objection!
These remarks are profane and irrelevant.
So stay to your archeological theories
have no bearing on the disposition of this creature.
Let them talk, Mr. President.
Let them talk.
Sirs, our theories have a bearing on his identity.
How so?
Well, let us assume, as common sense dictates,
that the prisoner's story is false.
But if he did not come from another planet,
then surely he sprang from our own theological defect
to explain why humans are mute.
Objection! Sustained!
Those speech organs are adequate.
This missing link in an evolutionary chain.
Silence, sir!
You go too far!
I think an indictment is in order.
Yes, sir.
The state charges Dr. Zira and Cornelius
with contempt of this tribunal.
Malicious mischief and scientific heresy.
It's so ordered.
This tribunal will examine all the evidence presented here
and then do course render its verdict
as to the proposed indictment
and as to the disposition of the deviate in question.
This hearing is adjourned.
The leak is in.
At the moment, your two Simeon friends and sponsors
are free on bail,
but they'll soon be brought to trial for heresy.
What about me?
Your case was preordained.
Either way, you did the state of service
because you made it possible for us to expose Zira and Cornelius.
Now the tribunal has placed you in my custody
for final disposition.
You realize what that means.
Now.
Immaculation to begin with.
Then experimental surgery on the speech centers, on the brain.
Eventually a kind of living death.
I have it in my power to grant a reprieve.
That is why I summoned you here tonight.
Tell me who and what you really are
and where you came from,
and no veterinary shall touch you.
I told you that at that hearing of yours.
You lied.
Where is your tribe?
My tribe?
They live on another planet in another solar system.
Even in your lies, some truth slips through.
That mythical community you're supposed to come from, Fort Wayne.
What about it?
A fort.
Unconsciously you chose a name that was belligerent.
Where were you nurtured?
Then you don't believe that prosecutors judge
that I'm a monster created by Dr. Zira.
Stratton or not.
Ah, you're a mutant.
That's what Zira and Cornelius claim.
You're talking heresy, Dr.
Of course.
Well, suppose I am a mutant.
How can the appearance of one mutant send you into a panic?
Because you're not unique.
There's the one you call Landon.
Oh, then you admit that...
I admit that where there's one mutant
is probably another and another and another
or a whole nest of them.
Where is your nest, Taylor?
Where are your women?
Thank you.
Thank you for calling me, Taylor.
Dr. Zares, I know who I am.
But who are you?
How in hell did this upside-down civilization get started?
You may well call it upside-down
since you occupy it lowest level and deservedly so.
Our eastern desert has never been explored
because we've always assumed that life cannot exist there.
Taylor, save yourself.
Tell me, is there another jungle beyond the Forbidden Zone?
I don't know.
If you're trying to protect others of your kind,
it'll cost you your identity.
I'm not protecting anyone.
This whole thing is insane.
What have I done?
I do know who you are, Taylor.
I'll give you just six hours to make a full confession.
After that, I shall use surgery to obtain one.
Gotcha!
All right, you can cut pieces out of me.
You've got the power.
Return this creature to his cage.
But you don't have a fear.
Remember that! Remember that!
Because you're afraid of me! What are you afraid of, doc?
Are you Julius?
Who are you?
I'm from the Office of Animal Affairs.
That mail is to be transferred to the zoo.
At this hour, who says so?
Don't they tell you anything?
The anti-vivi section of society is up in arms.
They're going to save this beast from those butchers in the lab.
If he can speak, he belongs in a public zoo.
But what'll probably happen is that some money-mad grown-up
will put him in a circus,
and then we'll have to pay to see what we'll likely...
Stop making speeches and show me the order.
This order is no good.
It must be counter-signed by Dr. Zeiss.
Grab him!
So you can talk.
I'm Dr. Zira's nephew.
This abduction was her idea.
You're not really going to the zoo.
That's just our story in case somebody stops us.
Get me out of this.
You've got to move fast.
She comes along too.
Zira doesn't want your female.
I want her.
If you insist, but I'm not taking any orders.
All right, come on. Let's go.
Told you not to bring the other one.
He wouldn't leave her.
Oh, all right. Come on.
Put this on. Come on.
Do you have any clothes for me?
What do you expect, an ape's new suit?
Stuff stinks.
Well, so do you, like all men.
Taylor, remember, all men look alike to most apes.
So put it on and keep quiet,
and we may just get away with this.
Hurry!
Do you have any weapons, any guns?
For best, but we won't need them.
I'm glad to hear it.
I want one anyway.
Now, look here, Taylor. I'm in charge of this expedition.
Good for you.
But you're not in charge of me, not me more.
I don't plan to be caught again.
Oh.
As you wish.
Dr. Zira seemed to think there was another jungle
beyond the Forbidden Zone.
I'll try for that.
What about you?
Cornelius and I have been indicted for heresy.
Unless we can prove our theories,
we don't stand a chance of acquittal.
You're going back to the Forbidden Zone?
We're going back to the Diggings I worked at over a year ago.
It's a three-day ride across the desert,
near the place where you claim you landed
from that planet of yours.
You still don't believe me, do you?
It's a long detour to Dead Lake. What would we find?
Nothing much.
An empty rubber life raft, maybe a little flag,
the emblem of my countrymen.
The terrain around that lake is poisonous.
There's no fresh water, no vegetation, nothing.
Oh, to thank you for saving me.
You'll be in trouble for that.
We've been in trouble since the moment we met you.
What's she pointing at?
This must be close to home for her. She knows it.
Nova. Nova, you can't go there.
It's not safe, Nova.
We'd better get started.
If the model police pick up our trail, they'll come this far, at least.
Right. Let's get the water provisions into the wagon.
We've been to a sea some miles from here.
That's where we'll find the Diggings.
And beyond that?
I don't know.
You can't ride along the shore at high tide,
and we had no boats on our last expedition.
You never told me.
Why do you call this a forbidden zone?
No one knows.
It's an ancient taboo set forth in the sacred scrolls.
The Lord ever pronounced this whole area deadly.
Shouldn't we be moving on?
Time for that.
Creep off your hair.
In my world, when I left it only kids.
Here are age war beards.
Beards?
I don't go in for facts.
Somehow...
it makes you look less intelligent.
When will you show me what's in that cave?
Right now, if you like.
Good morning, Dr. Zeyes. You'll be the first to go.
You can count on it.
Taylor, you are not in command here. Put down that gun.
Shut up!
It wasn't difficult.
Only an upusk would flee to the forbidden zone.
And only a fool would give a gun to an animal.
I see you've brought the female of your species.
I didn't realize that man could be monogamous.
On this planet, it's easy.
I asked you to reconsider the rash course you've undertaken.
If you're convicted of heresy, the most you'll get is two years.
But if you persist in pointing guns in my direction,
you'll hang by treason.
We never meant to be treasonous, sir.
But up there, in the face of that cliff, there is a vast cave.
And in that cave, a fabulous treasure of fossils and artifacts.
I've seen some of your fossils and artifacts.
They're worth it.
There's your minister of science.
Donnerbound to expand the frontiers of knowledge.
Taylor, please!
Except that he's also chief defender of the faith.
There is no contradiction between faith and science.
True science.
Are you willing to put that statement to the test?
Taylor, I would much rather than...
Take it easy. You saved me from this fanatic.
Maybe I can return the favor.
What is your proposal?
When were those sacred scrolls of yours written?
1,200 years ago.
All right.
Now, if they can prove those scrolls,
don't tell the whole truth of your history.
If they can find some real evidence of another culture
from some remote past.
Will you let them off?
Of course.
Let's go up to the cave.
Sorry, Lucius. You've got to stay here and guard the camp.
Oh, he's giving orders.
Just like every other adult.
Relax. You'll get to see it all later on.
Present your evidence, Cornelius.
It was at this level that I discovered traces
of an early ape creature.
A stage of primitive barbarism, really,
dating back some 1,300 years, roughly.
It was at this level I discovered cutting tools
and arrowheads of quartz
and the fossilized bones of carnivorous gorillas.
But the artifacts lying here
were found at this level.
And date back as 700 years earlier.
That's the paradox.
For the more ancient culture is the more advanced.
Admittedly, many of these objects are unidentified,
but clearly they were fashioned by beings
with a knowledge of metallurgy.
Indeed, the fact that many of these tools are unknown to us
suggests a culture which, in certain ways, equals our own.
Some of the evidence is uncontestable.
Don't speak to me in absolutes.
The evidence is contestable.
I apologize, sir.
Begin with your methods of dating the past crew to say this.
There are geologists,
so my staff would laugh at your speculations.
But there's the dolls, sir.
What?
Oh, lying right there, the human doll.
What is this proof?
My granddaughter plays with human dolls.
The doll was found beside the jawbone of a man,
and no trace of simian fossil has been found in this deposit.
Your conclusion is premature.
If you've forgotten your scripture, the 13th Scroll,
and Proteus brought the upright beast into the garden
and chained him to a tree
and the children did make sport of it.
No, sir, I have not forgotten.
Well, for a time, the ancients kept humans as household pets
until our law-giver proved that man could not be tamed.
Keep digging, Cornelius.
You'll find evidence of the master of this house.
And eight.
What are you doing?
Reconstructing a past life.
You say these things were found at the same level as that doll?
Whoever owned them must have been in pretty bad shape.
He wore false teeth and eyeglasses.
He had a failing heart.
Towards the end, he had this prefabricated valve put in it.
I don't say it was a man like I knew at home,
but he must have been a close relative
because he had all the same weaknesses.
He was a weak, fragile animal,
but he was here before you,
and he was better than you are.
Touch, lunacy.
I can offer alternate descriptions
of every one of those articles,
which is just as ingenious as yours,
but it'd be conjecture, no proof.
Dr. Zayas would an ape-maker human doll.
Lucius!
You dirty Nova!
They took me by surprise,
sneaked up on me while I was feeding the horses.
What's happened to honor?
I got off two rounds to warn you.
They've taken everything.
Not quite everything.
They left a hostage behind.
How are you feeling?
Disillusion. You can't trust the older generation.
I know what you mean.
I want you to go round the rocks
and tell those gorillas I've got Dr. Zayas prisoner.
Yes, I can do that.
I want a horse, food and water.
Enough for a week for me and this female.
And 50 rounds of ammunition.
What if they won't agree to your terms?
Tell them I'll shoot him.
Taylor, you can't.
Ah, yes, he can.
He's a born killer.
Deliver the message.
Over here.
Feed him like that.
Why not?
It's humiliating.
The way I was humiliated by all of you?
You led me around on a leash.
That was different. We thought you were inferior.
Now you know better.
Cornelius was right, Dr.
He proved it.
Man was here first.
You owe him your science, your culture.
What a civilization you've got.
Then aren't you be this?
If man was superior, why didn't he survive?
Wiped up by a plague, some natural catastrophe.
A storm of meteors in the looks of some parts of this planet.
I'd say that was a fair bet.
But we can't be sure.
He is.
He knew all the time long before you found your chance, didn't you?
Defender of the safe.
Guardian of the terrible secret.
That's it, isn't it, Dr.
What I know of man was written long ago.
Sit down by the greatest ape of all, our law giver.
Cornelius, come here.
Reach into my pocket.
Breed to him the 29th scroll.
Sixth verse.
Beware the beast man, for he is the devil's pawn.
Alone among God's primates.
He kills for sport, or lust, or greed.
Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land.
Let him not breed in great numbers,
for he will make a desert of his home and yours.
Shun him.
Drive him back into his jungle there,
for he is the harbinger of death.
I found nothing in the cave to alter that conception of man,
and I still live by its injunction.
That's far enough.
They think you're behaving foolishly.
I must say I agree.
Where will you go?
To start with I'll follow the shoreline in my nose.
But suppose you find nothing but a wasteland.
How will you survive?
He won't survive.
How about coming alone?
We can't.
It's better than going to jail for heresy.
Oh, they can't convict us of heresy.
You've helped prove our innocence.
Besides, his culture is our culture.
Well, good luck then.
Lucius?
I still say you're making a mistake.
That's the spirit. Keep him flying.
What?
The flags of discontent.
Remember, never trust anybody over 30.
Doctor, I'd like to kiss you goodbye.
All right, but you're so damned ugly.
I'm pretty handy with this.
Of that I'm sure.
All my life I've awaited you're coming and dreaded it.
Like death itself.
Why?
I've terrified you from the first doctor.
I still do.
You're afraid of me and you hate me.
Why?
Because you're a man.
And you're right.
I have always known about man.
From the evidence I believe his wisdom
must walk hand in hand with his idiocy.
His emotions must rule his brain.
He must be a war-like creature
who gives battle to everything around him.
Even himself.
What evidence?
There were no weapons in that cave.
The forbidden zone was once a paradise.
Your breed made a desert of it ages ago.
It still doesn't give me the why.
A planet where apes evolved from men.
There's got to be an answer.
Don't look for it, Taylor.
You may not like what you find.
Explosives.
We're going to seal up the cave.
Yes, sir.
Seal the cave.
That is correct.
And you will both stand trial for heresy.
But the proof, the dog.
In a few minutes there will be no dog.
They're counting.
I'm sorry.
Dr. Zaeus.
Dr. Zaeus, you mustn't.
You promised.
What I do, I do with no pleasure.
Silence.
Doctor?
Dr. Zaeus, this is inexcusable.
Why must knowledge stand still?
What about the future?
I may just have saved it for you.
What will he find out there, doctor?
His destiny.