After Action Report: Planet of the Apes

Greetings WingNuts,

Maybe I'm biased because I love Planet of the Apes but we loved Planet of the Apes! It's a fantastic film: the script (by the great Rod Serling!) is a vast improvement on the original novel, adding cutting then (and sadly now)-current social commentary that at no time feels like a weight. The cast is amazing, the cinematography is still stunning and the ape costumes that the entire thing hinges on are pulled off perfectly.

To compare to Wing Commander III we thought we'd put together a quick rogue gallery showing all the Kilrathi costumes from the game as clearly as possible that you can compare to the ape costumes. You can find some great behind the scenes photos of the workshop that built the Kilrathi here.

There are three basic types of apes in Planet of the Apes: chimpanzees, orangutangs and gorillas. This lets the costumes start to distinguish between different characters pretty clearly…

... although the designers were also adept at making individual hero masks distinctly different from one another.

Meanwhile, there are a total of six unique Kilrathi designs in Wing Commander III:

The Emperor

Prince Thrakhath

Baron Melek

Ralgha / Hobbes

Guard

And the generic Kilrathi pilot. On the flight side there are helmeted VDU shots of Thrakhath, the generic Kilrathi pilot and Ralgha in both his Confed helmet and a Kilrathi one (he mysteriously has this during his escape from the Victory). They are most easily identified by their eye color (red, orange and blue, respectively) which are visible in the 3DO port and when the footage is reused in later games (Prophecy uses them interchangeably; you can sometimes pick out Ralgha's blue eyes!). This is the only place the pilot head appears.

Here is a quick survey of Kilrathi appearances beyond the named characters. In most cases these are digital duplications of the guard figure.

Introduction: Angel is escorted in by a pair of guards and the Emperor is flanked by two more. There are additional guards surrounding the arena and a digitally created crowd with hundreds of Kilrathi in various shots. There is one close up of three Kilrathi from behind cheering but their faces are not visible. One seems to be wearing blue.

Flagship Scenes: There are three guards visible in the background on the bridge of Prince Thrakhath's flagship in two scenes.

Winning Endgame: There are four guards with Melek when Blair is captured. He also has a guard behind him when he signs the treaty. There is a group of four Kilrathi in the crowd; they were taken from a single shot, recolored and duplicated. The intent seems to be that they are unique characters; one wears orange, one red, one yellow and one purple.

Losing Endgame: There are four guards with Thrakhath when Blair is captured. A Kilrathi foot is seen crushing a human skull on Earth.