Planet of the Apes (2001) Ending Explanation

Planet of the Apes (2001) Ending Explanation

the Oberon is stationed in low earth orbit. the electrical storm is a time distortion. they even explain it at the beginning. the receive "every electronic communication from earth" in different times. we then see images flash on the monitor of Hitler, Bill Clinton, some cartoon, Castro, The Pope, plan 9 from outer space, an infomercial etc. Now notice both clinton and hitler are perfectly normal, its not Ape Hitler or Ape Clinton, (remember this its important.) Then, another guy says "damn, the digital clocks stopped working". then, they receive a mayday transmission...from an old man who looks exactly like the Oberon commander. Then, we see Leo's clock going wildly.

when Leo Davidson goes through the electrical storm, he goes back in time. the Oberon follows him to save their missing pilot. the Oberon is sent back 10,000 years in the past. Leo Davidson is sent back only 1500 years in the past. Pericles comes out a week after Davidson in the year 500 AD. THEY ARE ON EARTH. the indication is that due to the "butterfly effect" the Oberon inadvertently changed the course of human evolution. By releasing "Gene Spliced Apes" into the ecosystem, the modified apes have an evolutionary advantage over the small human population.

again, the movie is ON EARTH, in the distant PAST. Apes evolved faster than humans due to gene splicing by the Oberon scientists, pre-crash.

ok, good so far?

when Davidson travels into the vortex a second time, he is warped forward to the year 1970. only now because humans aren't the dominate species, apes have taken our place. Presumably, humans still exist, IN ZOOS, or small populations in the jungle. Humans are hunted to extinction by Ape poachers.


in other words whatever species takes over will repeat the same mistakes of the past. Fate is Inevitable. Apes discovered america, Apes wiped out the Indians, Apes fought the civil war, Apes wrote the constitution, Apes called their capitol Washington, Apes built monuments in their capitol.

But.. Still, if they're on Earth, can you explain why the ape planet circles a binary star system instead of a singular star like our own Earth does, and why there is more than one moon? 

Another problem you have is that your explanation vastly differs from that of the official explanation, which states that Leo travels between planets; that the ape planet isn't Earth (they produced a card insert into the DVD to "explain" the time travel, etc). 

I rather see it as an attempt to copy some elements of the original novel, where he travels to some other planet and then flees to what he thinks is the safety of his home planet. Of course, before anyone says, this film hardly compares to the original book, even if it does try to use elements of its story. I agree with you, though, about the issues with fate and hubris.

the way he talks about it seems to indicate it was just a cool idea he liked, and he wanted to put a spin on the Charlton Heston ending, by doing everything opposite. like when the ape says "damn dirty human", same with the ending, instead of Hestons ending being an ironic twist of fate, Wahlberg's was the result of his own decisions. maybe a commentary on predeterminism vs freewill. 

the opposite of Heston never leaving and realizing humans caused their own destruction, would be Wahlberg leaving and realizing he was responsible for mankind's destruction. 

As for the moons, it could have been spit out from the time vortex, it may have always been there just destroyed at some point in prehistory, regardless it doesn't change anything, if it was another planet Leo could have just crashed in the same ape planet but in the apes equivalent of 1980. landing in a city with an Obelisk, reflecting pool, and shrine with a seated hero, means nothing. seeing as every other part of the apes world is a reflection of human society, 

in the beginning we see apes smoking a Hookah, an organ grinder and his tiny human, a barber shop with spinning pole, kids playing basketball, and other things indicative of human society, only with apes. Even in the ending, the apes are wearing police uniforms, driving cop cars and fire trucks, using cameras. if the apes took over Washington, why bother wearing police uniforms, and run a newspaper with reporters? and amalgamate every aspect of human society. 

look at "Dawn of the planet of the apes", we see what earth would look like, everything broken down and rusted, plants overgrown and covering buildings. everything in disarray. and ultimately, the apes living in the redwood forests in their own colony, not in the cities. 

the only way to explain it is if the timeline changed.