Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysToronto Int'l Film FestivalHispanic Heritage MonthIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Ape

Original title: A*P*E
  • 1976
  • PG
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
2.6/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
Ape (1976)
ActionAdventureFantasy

A newly discovered 36-foot gorilla escapes from a freighter off the coast of Korea. At the same time an American actress is filming a movie in the country. Chaos ensues as the ape kidnaps he... Read allA newly discovered 36-foot gorilla escapes from a freighter off the coast of Korea. At the same time an American actress is filming a movie in the country. Chaos ensues as the ape kidnaps her and rampages through Seoul.A newly discovered 36-foot gorilla escapes from a freighter off the coast of Korea. At the same time an American actress is filming a movie in the country. Chaos ensues as the ape kidnaps her and rampages through Seoul.

  • Director
    • Paul Leder
  • Writers
    • Paul Leder
    • Reuben Leder
  • Stars
    • Rod Arrants
    • Joanna Kerns
    • Alex Nicol
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    2.6/10
    2.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Paul Leder
    • Writers
      • Paul Leder
      • Reuben Leder
    • Stars
      • Rod Arrants
      • Joanna Kerns
      • Alex Nicol
    • 51User reviews
    • 57Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos62

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 57
    View Poster

    Top cast16

    Edit
    Rod Arrants
    • Tom Rose
    Joanna Kerns
    Joanna Kerns
    • Marilyn Baker
    • (as Joanna DeVarona)
    Alex Nicol
    Alex Nicol
    • Col. Davis
    Nak-hun Lee
    • Capt. Kim
    • (as Lee Nak Hoon)
    Woo Yeon-jeong
    Woo Yeon-jeong
    • Mrs. Kim
    • (as Woo Yun Jung)
    Jerry Harke
    • Lt. Smith
    Larry Chandler
    • First Mate
    Walt Myers
    • Seaman
    J.J. Gould
    • Soldier in Jeep
    Charles Johnson
    • American Tourist
    Paul Leder
    • Film Director Dino
    Choi Sung Kwan
    • Film Producer
    Bob Kurcz
    • American Actor
    Jules Levey
    • Reporter
    Josh Luckritz
    • School Child #1
    • (uncredited)
    Park Kwang Nam
    Park Kwang Nam
    • Ape
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Paul Leder
    • Writers
      • Paul Leder
      • Reuben Leder
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews51

    2.62.1K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    1dkellough

    This movie hates you.

    This movie hates you. No two ways about it. It wants to hurt you for seeing it.

    Characters in this movie speak in a stream of continual profanities, fire flaming arrows and guns at the audience (while smiling), and the gorilla throws rocks at you and flips you the bird.

    The acting is mostly abominable. The effects are worse. Nothing makes much sense. The editing is choppy. The shots are poorly composed. The locations are grey, barren, and aggressively ugly. Stock footage is piled on and looped.

    Boring filler is shoved in wherever it will fit to pad out the slight story to 90 minutes. Then, it takes forever to finally end. (More punishment for you, the viewer.) Oh, and it's nominally in 3-D too.

    A hateful, hateful movie.
    1Ducktopolis

    You have to see it to belive it.

    This movie is so terrible, yet so funny. There are so many flaws with this movie. Many parts of the movie have nothing to do with the plot. The ape one time wears shoes, flicks the camera(and its no accident, he holds it for 4 seconds), and seems to be different sized throughout the movie. You cannot make a worse movie. Period. This movie must be seen, it is too funny to explain.
    3thecat72

    Not great even for a 'bad' film

    Nowhere near as good as "Mighty Peking Man" as far as King Kong rip-offs, "Ape" is good to look at just to see the fair miniatures and little else. The best "bad" hilarious movies are those that never intended to be that; in "Ape", the Ape gets mad gives the finger in one scene, obviously in a deliberate attempt for laughs, which in turn, makes it pretty unfunny.

    The sound effects are BAD, there's a decent 'bad' fight with a giant shark which couldn't look much more fake if they tried, plus the Ape trashes a few buildings. If you are a giant monster film fan, this probably won't get more than a few viewings in your entire lifetime but it's good to watch and take off your list of films to see, plus to examine how badly this one was made. All in all, some fun, but pretty bad.
    1youdontsmellbad

    A Comic Masterpiece

    Watch in horror as the A*P*E Mercilessly attacks the same building in 5 different shots, and then sometimes the same shot repeated later in the film. Marvel at the special effects as foam pieces fly off the "rocks" that fall toward the same three men also repeated about five times. Become engrossed in the finely developed characters, and their emotional dialogue like "Just too big for a small world like ours," or "Lets see him dance for his organ grinder now!"

    If the makers of this film were serious, I'll be a monkey's uncle, haha. But seriously, you'll have an ape of a time(I don't even think people say that one). I'm not monkeying around; you'll go bananas!

    Important note: you can see the head part of the ape costume moving seperately from the rest of the costume and you don't even have to be looking.

    Here's what I really think: It's bad, oh boy is it ever, especially the repeated stock footage and footage from other movies, and the 3 minutes, LITERALLY 3 MINUTES, of time wasted by showing children playing with a puppet. There is a shot of firemen rushing through the supposedly panic-stricken city but look closely(or not so closely you can still see it); In the background you can see people shopping. Let's not forget the ending (don't worry, you won't care if I tell you how it ends) which is 15 minutes of tanks shooting, soldiers running up to the camera looking into it, and then shooting 3 or 4 rounds out of a rifle I'm certain only holds one round(I don't know anything about guns, but it had the handle dealy on the side that you cock to load and unload). All this while the ape disco dances which I suppose is him being shot and reacting, but I would think that all that firepower and he would probably run away. Then the ape dies. You can tell it's going to happen too, because after what seems like hours of being shot in the head and chest, the A*P*E vomits blood. These things are the reason to watch the movie. I'm not exaggerating when I say A*P*E is one of the funniest films of all time.
    annamaurya_80

    Oh, it just gets worse and worse!

    You know, you just can't beat a movie like "A*P*E" for a good time. And By good time, I mean this movie "s*u*c*k*s." Well, no. It isn't bad as in "never see this movie" bad, it's bad as in "good for a laugh and nothing more" bad. The best part has to be when A*P*E flips off the camera. Wow! I never knew apes really did that! I'm sorry if this doesn't help you as a reader and potential viewer, but I just had to vent a little. Have a nice day, otherwise.

    More like this

    King Kong vs. Godzilla
    6.2
    King Kong vs. Godzilla
    Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster
    6.5
    Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster
    Just One of the Guys
    6.5
    Just One of the Guys
    King Kong
    7.9
    King Kong
    Rockula
    5.2
    Rockula
    Paganini Horror
    4.4
    Paganini Horror
    Corruption
    5.8
    Corruption
    Dracula
    7.3
    Dracula
    Reptile 2001
    2.7
    Reptile 2001
    Yongary, Monster from the Deep
    3.9
    Yongary, Monster from the Deep
    Killer Workout
    4.6
    Killer Workout
    Easy Kill
    3.7
    Easy Kill

    Related interests

    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
    Still frame
    Adventure
    Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
    Fantasy

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film was originally shot in 3-D.
    • Goofs
      In the film, if the giant ape is 36 feet tall, it should not tower over 10 or 20 story buildings. Other scale problems in it include the relative sizes of a python and a great white shark, which would have to be gigantic.
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Tom Rose: He was just too big for a small world like ours.

    • Alternate versions
      A 3D video version has been released under the title 'Hideous Mutant'
    • Connections
      Featured in Sneak Previews: The Top Ten Films of 1976 (1977)

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ14

    • How long is Ape?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 1976 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • South Korea
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • A*P*E
    • Filming locations
      • Seoul, South Korea
    • Production companies
      • Kukje Movies
      • Lee Ming Film Co.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $23,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 26m(86 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.