Saru no Gundan

Saru no Gundan (SFドラマ 猿の軍団) is a 1974 Japanese science fiction television series, that ran on the Tokyo Broadcasting System, from the 6th October 1974 to 30th March 1975. Consisting of twenty-six hour-long episodes, the series capitalised on the success of Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel La Planète des singes, which was known in English as Planet of the Apes, and the film and television franchise. Beyond the basic plotline of a futuristic Earth ruled by apes, Saru no Gundan takes nothing from the Planet Of The Apes franchise.

Summary
Jirō and Yurika visit the institute where cryogenic experiments are being conducted by Jirō's uncle Sakaki Sumiko and his assistant Izumi Kazuko. They witness a monkey being unfrozen. Jirō climbs into one of the cryogenic chambers but a volcanic eruption causes an earthquake which seals him in. As the building is falling apart, the lab assistant, Izumi, places Yurika in a cryogenic chamber to protect her, then enters one herself. Falling debris activates the chambers, so the woman and two children are frozen. The earthquake buries the lab under tonnes of rock, but the steel capsules survive. In the year 3714, the three capsules are dug up and they are defrosted. Their occupants are horrified to find themselves in a world of intelligent apes that walk upright like men, speak, wear clothing and have weapons. Along the way, they befriend an ape child named Pepe and a human being named Gōdo, as each try to evade the forces of Police Chief Gebā and that of Sabo, the Minister (The Commander in Time Of The Apes). Amidst a coup led by Commissioner Ruza, Jirō, Yurika, Izumi and Gōdo eventually discover Yukomu (EUC COM in Time Of The Apes), the super computer that was built by mankind in 2030, but eventually chose to instigate its demise in favour of the apes. Yukomu will not allow them to remain, and offers them a choice of being transported further on into time or to another planet. In the event, Gōdo is sent to another world, while Jirō, Yurika,and Izumi are returned to 1974.

Cast

 * Reiko Tokunaga as Kazuko Izumi / Catherine
 * Hiroko Saito as Yurika / Caroline
 * Masaaki Kaji as Jirō Sakaki / Johnny
 * Tetsuya Ushio as Gōdo
 * Baku Hatakeyama as Gebā
 * Kazue Takita as Pepe
 * Kouko Kagawa as the voice of Pepe
 * Hitoshi Omae as Bippu
 * Noboru Nakaya as Dr. Takagi

Staff

 * Original Work: Sakyo Komatsu, Koji Tanaka, Yuitsune Toyota
 * Producers: Yuichi Takahashi, Masaru Tadakuma (TBS Film Club)
 * Screenplay: Keiichi Abe, Bunzo Wakatsuki, Shigemitsu Taguchi, Kiyosumi Fukasawa
 * Music: Toshiaki Tsushima
 * Photography: Yoshihiro Mori
 * Lighting: Daisuke Hiragawa
 * Art: Toyoichi Ohashi
 * Assistant Directors: Masao Minowa, Takashi Okano
 * Chiefs of Production: Kiyoshi Nanjo, Takashi Yamanaka
 * Editor: Kisho Kobayashi
 * Opticals: Michihisa Miyashige
 * Mixers: Koshiro Jimbo, Hideo Takebe, Yoshiro Sako
 * Scripter Girls: Yoshiko Sekine, Hiroko Toma, Chiyo Miyakoshi, Keiko Suzuka, Michiko Koike
 * Makeup: Kosuke Tamiya
 * Assistant Producer: Naoyuki Eto
 * Visual Effects: Den Film Effects
 * Costumes by: Toho Costumes
 * Recording: Nikkatsu Film Studio
 * Effect: Nikkatsu Effects
 * Development: P.C.L
 * Cooperation Dogashima Komatsu View Hotel, Kawaguchiko Wild Monkey Park
 * Special technology: Kazuo Sagawa
 * Directors: Kiyosumi Fukasawa, Atsushi Okunaka, Shunichiro Kazuki, Sogoro Tsuchiya

Production
The series is a co-production of Tsuburaya Productions and Tokyo Broadcasting System. It developed by Keiichi Abe and directed by Kiyosumi Fukazawa, with music by Toshiaki Tsushima.

Time of the Apes
In 1987, television producer Sandy Frank edited together several episodes of the series, including the first and last episodes, into a 94-minute feature version called Time of the Apes. Syndicated to broadcast and cable outlets, this compilation film was also released on VHS by Celebrity Home Entertainment's Just for Kids Home Video in mid-1988.

The movie was then featured twice on Mystery Science Theater 3000, originally on KTMA in 1989, and then later as episode six of season three in 1991 on Comedy Central.

Storyline
In 1974 Japan, Johnny's parents tell him that his uncle Charlie is engaged in important work at his lab, and that Charlie has made some major discoveries that he should be proud of. Johnny and his friend Caroline are scheduled to visit the lab, which despite a brief earth tremor they do. Charlie's assistant Catherine shows them around and tells them about the experiments they have been doing in cold sleep, a process of preserving various creatures for extended periods, by freezing them at very low temperatures. Catherine informs them that the creatures are still alive, but are then woken and thawed out. A baby monkey has been asleep for twenty years until that morning. In the control centre, the children meet their uncle, who tells them that they got a warning from the seismological institute that there could be some subterranean shifting, and possibly another earthquake. Charlie takes them to a different part of the lab, where they watch a monkey being brought back from a long sleep with the boast they could have frozen him for thousand years without causing him any damage. Charlie tells the children about a wealthy man called James Bedford, who had requested in his will that his body be frozen after death, and that through various compounds he was subsequently given to reverse the age process, he would wake younger and healthier than before. Catherine shows Caroline and Johnny the individual freezing capsules which were presently set for their tests but would normally be operated automatically by the computer. Johnny then climbs into one of the capsules just prior to the predicted earthquake, which buries the entire building. In fear of their lives, Catherine gets Caroline into a second capsule, and herself into a third. Falling debris activates the capsules and all three are frozen. An undisclosed amount of time passes before a digger excavates the capsules, and they are transported to another lab by truck, with each thereafter awakening on medical beds. They realise they are no longer at the institute but walk down corridor after corridor looking for Charlie. However, instead of finding him, they eventually open a door to find a room full of intelligent, upright apes in lab coats.

Catherine, Caroline and Johnny run in fear, and as an alarm goes off, find themselves being chased by their simian pursuers. Finally getting out of the building, they unfortunately run straight into the white-helmeted police apes, each of whom are armed. The three are arrested and at first tied to a tree, where one officer is about to kill Johnny with the butt of his rifle. Reinforcements, including Police Chief Geba, arrive and he has the prisoners blindfolded and taken to the edge of a cliff, where with their blindfolds removed they are shown the bones of numerous dead human beings. Frightened that Geba's intent is to kill them, Catherine, Caroline and Johnny make a run for it, constantly under gunfire, constantly being hunted. Geba is heard to shout "Don't let them get away", proving that wherever the three travellers had inadvertently ended up, it was a world where apes could speak. The woman and the children hide from Geba and his apes, by clinging to the underside of a bridge which they cross one hand at a time, as the police make the assumption they have crossed further up the river, and run up the bank to find them. After walking for some time Catherine, Caroline and Johnny find a house containing a small female ape named Pepe, who in turn shows them the back way out when other local apes attack the house. These appear to be angry farmers, who want to kill them mealy because they are human beings. The deadly chase ends when the locals are scared off by stone carvings. Police Chief Geba answers the phone in his office and is told that the human beings are headed toward Green Mountain, which his immediate superior the District Leader, tells him they must never be allowed to enter. The District Leader is also a General and favours calling out all of his troops to stop them. Geba insists he'll get them before they reach the border. Catherine, Caroline and Johnny are running tired and scared through woods, as more of Geba's troops arrive, but press on until they get to a barbed wire fence which they get under. Beyond this however, they become subject to several spiked traps, falling boulders and net, the latter of which hoists Catherine into the air.

The first human they have seen since their arrival then points a gun at them, his name is Godo, and despite this, he thereafter helps cut down the net. The police find the barbed wire and know their prey has crossed what they know as the border into Green Mountain, where each are feared to go. Geba knows this means they will join forces with the human Godo... The human takes his new friends to the cave where he was born and where he has always lived. There, he tells them that he has been alone and not seen anyone else since his parents died many years before. He says he feels its much safer to stay on the mountain, than to go on a quest looking for other humans. The apes are afraid to cross the border, more than likely because they have encountered Godo's traps before, but Geba assures them that any one showing cowardice will be executed by him and his laser whip. Even so, as one of the apes is propelled high in the air by yet another trap, the apes are still reluctant to go on. Geba attacks two of them with his laser whip. The child ape Pepe runs through the woodland, as overhead a flying saucer inexplicably flies by. Pepe informs Godo and the others that the ape forces are this side of the border, causing Godo to rush off. Pepe tells Catherine, Caroline and Johnny that he and Godo have been friends for a long time. The apes have started fires all around the woods, with trees and bushes burning, and Godo is soon seen by Geba, who orders him dead. His troops fear Godo, but a gunbattle soon ensues, amidst the flame and smoke. Godo escapes and joins up with Catherine, Caroline and Johnny, before rescuing Pepe from a flaming pit. Unfortunately, this act of heroism leads to the police catching up with them and they are arrested at gunpoint. They are about to be executed when His Excellency The Commander arrives and stops them. Geba begs The Commander to have Godo killed, and is slapped for his insolence. Godo then attacks The Commander, with Johnny going to Godo's aide, and Catherine going to Johnny's. The flying saucer again flies overhead. Geba insists that he has previously fought against Godo at the risk of his life and that he must be punished. He wants The Commander's permission to kill Godo, but is silenced.

A cavalcade of vehicles then escorts the prisoners and The Commander away, with the latter telling Catherine, that she and the children will be will be alright as he does not hurt innocent people, but if they cause him any trouble he will kill them. They then come upon a city in the middle of a desert where Catherine, Caroline and Johnny initially go with The Commander, whilst Godo is placed in an electrified cell. Catherine and the children are taken to a different room. Pepe meanwhile, has gone unnoticed and by climbing pipes and getting into a vent shaft, gains entry to his friend's cell block, releasing Johnny. Catherine and Caroline stay to convince the guards Johnny is still there... Crawling through the vents Pepe and Johnny get to Godo's cell but cannot release him due to the electric force field. However Geba is determined to kill Godo regardless of what this means to his career or his life, and acting independently, switches off the electric field in order to gain access to the cell. He tells Godo, that for years he had thought about the pleasure it would give him to kill his enemy. He points his gun at Godo and is about to shoot him, when Johnny drops down from above. Godo renders Geba unconscious, opens the cell door and fights the guard outside, who he also knocks out cold. Attempting to get to Catherine and Caroline's cell, the guards detect someone is there, but Pepe reveals it is only her, an ape child. The guards follow her round the corner and are both knocked out by Godo. An alarm goes off and more guards pour into the corridor. Godo, Johnny and Pepe managed to get into a courtyard outside, and hide in another vent shaft, but one that is mealy a boxed in area. The Commander is angry with Catherine and Caroline, and tells his major that he wants Godo and the boy found alive, as if they are killed they will be worthless to them. In the box Godo says they should wait until nightfall to get away but spy a truck arriving with troops. Godo decides he, Johnny and Pepe should hide in the back of the darkened truck as the soldiers leave, and after a short journey escape into a nearby town where they board a train.

Despite being disguised as a mother, child and ape, with no ticket they are chased through the train by the conductor and are eventually forced to jump off into the night. Once again the flying saucer is seen. Catherine and Caroline are interrogated as to where the others may have gone to but truthfully say they don't know. The apes make out that their friends have run away and left them to die. The following morning as Godo, Johnny and Pepe scramble up a hill, the flying saucer hovers above them, but this time, a hatch opens and a light omitting robotical arm extends out. The three surmise that it may be a ship that is trying to protect them, possibly someone from a friendly planet. They discover a ape base, and investigating it, find that Catherine and Caroline have been moved there. Pepe borrows a pushcart, loads it with as much straw as she can, then meets Godo and Johnny for them to be buried under the straw, and smuggled to the rear of the building, where they attack a guard. Godo uses a grapple hook to climb the walls of the base, leaving Johnny below and Pepe with the cart, as he takes out the guard above. Johnny then joins Godo, and moments later walks alone up to a guard, who he tricks into following him round a corner where Godo knocks him out. They then open the cell door and have a tearful reunion with Catherine and Caroline. This said, Catherine insists that there is no reason to run away as The Commander is very nice and says they are under his protection. Godo argues the point by saying that there have to be other human beings out there and they have to find them. Caroline wants to go. Catherine believes The Commander is a kind ape, but Godo believes it is a trick. Catherine reluctantly goes with them, but their escape proves not to be an easy one, as it descends into a full on street battle with Geba and his ape forces, during which Godo is forced to shoot dead many of those shooting at him and his friends. The flying saucer is back and this time nullifies the police's nuclear guns so as to make them useless. The fugitives attack another guard, steal a jeep and disable a truck.

The apes try to shoot at them but their guns remained jammed. Godo drives, Catherine, Caroline, Johnny and Pepe a few miles out before waiting for the flying saucer, which they are convinced is on their side. Godo and Catherine have become aware of an organisation called EUC COM, which she says maybe planning to take over the ape country. They believe the flying saucer has been sent by EUC COM. Godo surmises that EUC COM are getting ready to attack the apes, and as they've never attacked humans, should be contacted to ask for protection. The command car approaches headquarters, but the apes have rebelled and deposed The Commander, electing a young ape by the name of Luzar to be their new leader. Luzar tells The Commander that he had been a weak leader who had protected their enemies, and that the apes wanted too fight and kill the invaders. Luzar tells The Commander that he now gives the orders and that he is the new commander. Not phased by the armed forces that surround him or by Luzar's words, The Commander gave Luzar one last chance to call off the rebellion and gave his word that their enemies will be punished... Godo takes Pepe home to his mother and persuades her to stay. Another gun battle soon occurs with Geba revealing the real reason he has been trying to kill Godo for so long, is that the human murdered his wife and child. Geba wants to avenge their deaths and it looks like the time has finally come, as Godo is out of bullets, and Geba shoots at him. The flying saucer however, has again jammed his weapon and it refuses to fire, causing Geba to become deranged, to the point of pleading with whoever was in charge of the vehicle to let him have his justice on the man who killed his wife and child. The flying saucer lands, and Geba goes toward it. A voice is then heard saying that EUC COM has ordered that there must be a stop to all further killing, with a film then being shown to Geba of his wife and child's demise. It shows Godo trying to rescue Geba's wife and child from a mountain ledge. His wife couldn't hang on any longer and fell to her death, but Godo got the boy to safety. Geba had seen Godo with his child and shot at the human. Geba now realises that it was he himself who had missed shooting Godo, and instead had killed his own son.

The flying saucer leaves, as The Commander shows up. Catherine tells him that EUC COM have been signalling them, but The Commander says it must be a trap to kill them. A heartbroken, guilt ridden Geba confesses his crime to The Commander, who reiterates that it was an accident, and that Geba has a good heart. The Commander offers to help him but Geba wanders off alone. The Commander asks Catherine and the others to come back with him, but she insists that despite his kindness they are human beings living in an ape country, and that they could never live there amongst strange creatures, in a strange country so far away from home. She concludes by adding that despite all his kindness he had to realise that humans are totally different. The Commander comes to understands that because they are different the humans would be afraid to live among his kind. He hopes that one day different people will learn to live together in peace and harmony. He gives Godo a gun, and the travellers continue their journey. Following the flying saucer they eventually find their way to EUC COM where they enter a cave system, which leads them to a computer who claims to be the master of the entire universe. EUC COM is not an organisation, it is him, the Universal Ecosystems Control COMputer. He had been designed in the year 2030, to control the world, as its inhabitants, the humans, had become lazy, and even bred apes to fight their wars for them. The humans became so useless EUC COM decided to destroy them completely, and replace them with the apes. The apes are now the dominant species and ruthlessly pursue the few humans that have escaped EUC COM. The computer chillingly tells Godo, Catherine, Caroline and Johnny that soon there won't be a single human left, as there are only four left in the universe, ie them... EUC COM informs them that all was peaceful until they had appeared, but that various tribes of apes feared that they would join forces with their rivals, attempt to conquer them and gain control of EUC COM. They began warring among themselves to capture those they feared and remain both masters of EUC COM and in turn the universe.

The computer thereafter gave Godo, Catherine, Caroline and Johnny two choices, either be transported to another planet or stay on the Earth but even further into its future. It told them that if they decided to stay on Earth they could not be allowed to live in the present, as the mere fact they were there would always cause conflict among the apes. EUC COM's conclusions that the gap between apes and humans was just too great was based on statistical analysis of wars and hereditary conflicts. To begin with all four of the travellers elected to stay on Earth but on seeing the time capsules they were to travel in, which were identical to the ones Catherine and the children had arrived in, Godo decided to try his luck on a different planet... Landslides, volcanic eruptions, lightening and lava flows are seen in what we presume is the time period Catherine, Caroline and Johnny sleep in order to get to their future Earth. Caroline wakes on a bed in a small room, opens the door and walks down several brightly lit corridors, before she sees someone she visualises as an ape with a torch. She runs on terrified before she eventually finds Caroline and faints. Waking in a darkened corridor, the pair set out to find Johnny, but a group of silhouetted figures they cannot properly see walk toward them. The figures are wearing lab coats and masks. One removes his mask to reveal he is Uncle Charlie. They are back in their own time. Catherine is told Johnny is alright and enquires about Godo, but Charlie confirms the other capsule was empty. The children are reunited with their parents, whilst Charlie tells Catherine that the rescue team had worked around the clock for seven days to dig them out. He says that no one believe her adventure but she replies that it is the truth. Charlie informs her that he knows its the truth as he has evidence, data that confirms her story. Looking at the counter on the freezing capsules, he had noticed certain deviations in the time scale, that indicated they had travelled to the year 3714. The temperature gauge showed they had been frozen beyond the minus 270 degrees they had previously thought possible. Charlie concluded that the extremely low temperatures had caused the timescale to warp and therefore the deep freeze capsule to as a time conveyor. Instead of progressing on to a further future from 3714 they had reversed into the past... Godo is seen walking across a sandy desert.