It’s that time of year again: my annual Planet of the Apes marathon! I’ll be consuming all ten movies in three days, plus countless banana cocktails. I’ve covered a couple of them on Cinema Sips before, but now seems like a particularly good time to travel deep down into the weird apocalyptic world of Beneath the Planet of the Apes (Disc/Download).
Taking place immediately after Charlton Heston slams his fist onto a beach and screams, “DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!”, this movie feels like an answer to his call. Humans are indeed, damned to hell. Actually, they’re down in a former New York City subway station, communicating through mental telepathy, wearing skin masks to hide their radiation burns, and worshiping at the altar of a nuclear bomb. But before the movie moves underground, another astronaut touches down on Future Earth to look for the missing Colonel Taylor. Newcomer Brent (James Franciscus) makes his way to Ape City, clashes with the gorillas, and befriends the always-delightful Dr. Zira and Cornelius. Once he manages to find the fallen city of New York, he finds Taylor, and together, they must stop the mutant humans from launching their nuke and destroying the world. It’s dark, it’s strange, and it’s absolutely a movie for these times.
Even though Dr. Zira makes her hatred of bananas known in Escape From the Planet of the Apes, I’m compelled to use it in this week’s cocktail because Beneath the Planet of the Apes is probably the most bananas movie in the franchise. While watching this film, I recommend drinking a Brûléed Banana Daiquiri.
Brûléed Banana Daiquiri
2 oz aged rum
½ oz banana liqueur
1 oz lime juice
¼ oz simple syrup
Banana slice
Pinch of brown sugar
Pineapple leaf
Combine rum, banana liqueur, lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. For the garnish, take a slice of banana and sprinkle a pinch of brown sugar on top. Heat sugar with a torch or flame until bubbly and caramelized. Spear it onto a cocktail pick and rest it on the pineapple leaf.
You’ll notice the bubbling brown sugar on this banana looks very similar to the skin of the mutant humans after centuries of radiation poisoning. After every Ape movie, I always ask myself: is this really our future? Sadly, with the recent reemergence of nuclear energy and threats of war, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is starting to look less and less like science fiction.
Cinema Sips 