Planet of the Apes Page #2

18CLOSE ON TAYLOR

He now has a full beard. His eyes come open. Instantly alert, he

rises to a sitting position, gazing across at:

19DODGE AND LANDON - FROM TAYLOR'S P.O.V.

They, too, awaken and sit up, starring at Taylor. They, too, are

bearded.

TAYLOR'S VOICE

(o.s.)

You all right?

They nod.

20BACK TO TAYLOR - CLOSE SHOT

He glances at the casket beside his own.

TAYLOR:

Stewart?

(struggling to his feet)

Stewart?

21CLOSE-SHOT --THE FOURTH CASKET

Its dome remains unopened. The young woman is a skeleton in a

Churchill suit.

22REACTION SHOT - THE THREE ASTRONAUTS

Dodge and Landon have joined Taylor and-stare at the grinning skull

of their dead comrade. A low, descending HUM of equipment is heard.

Simultaneously the lights begin to FADE. A moment later they brighten,

but not as much as before.

TAYLOR:

There goes our primary power. We're on

auxilliary.

A slight CRACKING sound is heard. Taylor turns quickly away and o.s.:

23REVERSE ANGLE - THE FORWARD CABIN

A trickle of water has begun to seep through a ruptured seam in the

cabin. Taylor darts to a porthole and peers cut.

24LONG SHOT - WHAT TAYLOR SEES:

water

The porthole is no more than six inches above the line. In the

distance we discern a shoreline of red desert.

TAYLOR'S VOICE

(o.s.)

We're in the soup. We're sinking.

25INT. CABIN - FULL SHOT

The leak in the seam becomes a growing spray of water. Taylor

turns away from the porthole, calling:

TAYLOR:

Dodge! Read the atmosphere!

Dodge moves instantly to the ladder beneath an escape hatch and

mounts it. Taylor stumbles down the aisle of the rolling ship toward

the console and addresses Landon, who is still staring at Stewart's

skeleton.

TAYLOR:

Landon! Send a last signal.

LANDON:

(dazed)

What signal?

TAYLOR:

To Earth! That we've landed!

As Landon lurches toward the communications equipment in f.g.

CUT TO:

26EXT. TIM STRANGE PLANET - LONG PANORAMIC SHOT - LATE AFTERNOON (LONE

ROCK, LAKE POWELL)

We are looking at a lifeless desert of sandstone buttes and pinnacles.

There is no sign of vegetation anywhere. CAMERA PANS DOWN to a body

of water that could be the bay of an inland sea. The deep blue of the

sea contrasts sharply to the red sands of the shoreline. CAMERA HOLDS

on the stricken spaceship, wallowing like a beached whale a hundred

yards offshore. The portholes of the craft are beneath the water, and

only its roof and the tail fin of its tail assembly are visible. The

red-hot skin of the ship vaporizes the water around it.

Suddenly a snorkel-like tube sprouts from the escape hatch, which is

located amidships.

27INT. CABIN - CLOSE ON CLOSED ESCAPE HATCH

Dodge, standing halfway up the ladder., has fastened a kit of gauges

to the end of the snorkel tube. He reads the dials, removes the kit,

sniffs the air in the tube and then, taking a deep breath, announces:

DODGE:

It's breathable.

TAYLOR'S VOICE

(o.s.)

Okay! Blow the hatch before we lose

auxilliary power.

Dodge reaches for a control mechanism near the escape hatch.

28CLOSE ON TAYLOR AND LANDON

The spray of water coming through the ruptured seam is increasing.

The LIGHTS DIM again and the SOUND of the warning signal FADES. While

Landon fiddles with the radio, Taylor tries to get the tape recorder

rolling, but all we hear are scrambled and unintelligible noises.

LANDON:

It's no use ... there she goes.

TAYLOR:

Forget it. Abandon ship.

29WIDER ANGLE - TIM CABIN

The escape hatch is now open. Taylor darts over to the ladder and

passes a folded life raft up to Dodge. When Landon reaches the ladder,

Taylor hands him two neatly packed rucksacks, and Landon climbs

through the escape hatch. Taylor is about to follow with a third

rucksack, then turns and crosses the cabin for a last look at:

30THE TWO CLOCKS - FROM TAYLOR'S P.O.V.

Both clocks have stopped: the red needle of the clock labeled SELF

TIME rests on the numeral 18; the red needle of the clock marked

EARTH TIME rests on the numeral 3975.

31EXT. TOP OF SPACECRAFT - MED. SHOT

Dodge inflates the raft with a cartridge of compressed air and

tosses it into the water. He and Landon jump into the water and

climb onto the raft as Taylor emerges from the hatch, Taylor slips

into the water and climbs onto the raft. He and Landon begin to

paddle toward shore, while Dodge immediately opens another kit and

takes a sample of the water.

32CLOSE ON THE MEN IN THE RAFT

DODGE:

(half to himself)

Briny...twenty-five percent salinity.

Near the saturation point.

LANDON:

(looking back)

She's still sinking...

33THE SPACESHIP - FROM THEIR P.O.V.

Only the radio antenna and the tip of the tail fin remain visible.

LANDON'S VOICE

(o.s.)

Going ... going...

The craft vanishes beneath the water.

34CLOSE ON THE MEN IN THE RAFT

Dodge is still busy with his kit. Landon is still looking back, but

Taylor doesn't bother to turn his head.

LANDON:

Gone.

TAYLOR:

(flatly)

We're here to stay.

35ANOTHER ANGLE - MOVING WITH THE RAFT

They gaze at the forbidding sandstone battlements as they near the

shore.

LANDON:

Well? Where are we? Have any notion,

skipper?

TAYLOR:

(confidently)

We're some three hundred and twenty

light years from Earth. On an unnamed

planet in orbit around a star in the

constellation of Orion.

(looks off at

the "sun")

That could be Bellatrix.

36THE SUN - FROM THEIR P.O.V.

Low on the horizon, seen through a dense envelope of dust particles.

DODGE'S VOICE

(o.s.)

Too red for Bellatrix.

37BACK TO ASTRONAUTS IN RAFT

Landon glances skeptically at Taylor.

LANDON:

You didn't have time to check the

tapes, so you don't really know,

do you?

(as Taylor ignores

him)

What went wrong?

(sardonically)

We weren't programmed to land

in water.

DODGE:

(grinning)

The question, Landon, is not so much

where we are as when we are.

TAYLOR:

(stands up in raft)

We've had a nice snooze. Let's start

earning all our back pay.

38WIDER ANGLE - THE BEACH

As the three astronauts step out into shallow water and pull the

raft ashore.

TAYLOR:

Take your soil test, Dodge. I'll

check the equipment.

Dodge moves inland about ten yards, removes a small hand drill

from his belt, extends the rod of the drill three feet and begins

to take some subsoil samplings. Taylor begins to examine the contents

of the three rucksacks. Landon sits down on the beach., hands around

his knees, gazing moodily at the sunken spaceship. During this and

succeeding scenes we sense that Dodge's obsession with scientific

inquiry leaves him immune to fear: Landon is possibly more courageous

and certainly more "human," for he has many fears to control: while

Taylor -- detached, cool and misanthropic -- is something of an enigma.

TAYLOR:

(calls Dodge)

Got your sensors?

DODGE:

Yo!

TAYLOR:

Geiger counter?

DODGE:

Yo!

TAYLOR:

(taking inventory)

One pistol... twenty-four rounds of

ammo. two medical kits.. one camera...

one TX9.

(loudly to the

others)

We've enough food and water for three

days.

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