QWhat happened to the moon?
AThe movie does not make it clear what became of the planet's moon. One possibility is that it was blown up and formed a ring of smaller rocks and dust around the planet. That would account for one of the astronauts saying "There's always a 'strange cloud cover at night'." Another possibility is that the story happened during the new moon, so the moon simply wasn't visible.
QWhat was the ape hierarchy in the film?
AIt's unclear as to whether there was an actual hierarchy. Some viewers saw the orangutans on top, the gorillas at the bottom, and the chimps in between. Others felt it was more of a demarcation in preference of professions. The gorillas, with their strength and apparent appreciation for authority, tended to join the military and law enforcement; the orangutans tended to prefer political and religious professions; and the chimpanzees, with their curiosity, seemed to prefer scientific (and probably adventuresome) professions. Given the fact that the apes' philosophy seems fundamentally based on religious doctrines of ape dominance, it is implied that this gives the orangutans, the defendors of the faith, a significant basis of influence (comparable to clerical leaders in deeply religious areas). However you look at the ape hierarchy, one thing was perfectly clear...humans were beneath them all.
ATaylor, Nova, Cornelius, Zira, and Zira's nephew Lucius (Lou Wagner) escape into the Forbidden Zone and travel to the site of Cornelius' archeological dig, but they are followed by Zaius and his band of gorilla police. Holding Zaius at gun point, Taylor forces the gorillas to withdraw and takes Zaius into the cave where Cornelius shows them evidence of an ancient but superior human culture, including a babydoll that talks. Zaius promises to make the find known to the Ape society and not to charge Cornelius and Zira with heresy. Consequently, Cornelius, Zira, and Lucius decide to return to Ape City, while Taylor and Nova take a horse and supplies and begin riding up the beach. Once Taylor and Nova are out of range, Zaius goes back on his promise and orders the cave to be blown up, destroying the artifacts, and guaranteeing that Cornelius and Ziva will be forced to stand trial for heresy. In the final scene, Taylor and Nova continue riding along the shoreline until they come upon a large artifact in the sand. Taylor dismounts, falls to his knees, and screams, 'You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you all to hell!' The camera pans back to show the broken remains of the Statue of Liberty. Taylor has been on Earth the whole time.
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