Project X (1987 film)

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Project X
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin
Directed byJonathan Kaplan
Written byLawrence Lasker
Stanley Weiser
Produced byWalter F. Parkes
Lawrence Lasker
Starring
CinematographyDean Cundey
Edited byO. Nicholas Brown
Brent A. Schoenfeld
Music byJames Horner
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • April 17, 1987 (1987-04-17)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
American Sign Language
Budget$18 million
Box office$21 million

Project X is a 1987 American science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, and starring Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt. The plot revolves around a USAF Airman (Broderick) and a graduate student (Hunt) who are assigned to care for chimpanzees used in a secret Air Force project.

Plot[edit]

University of Wisconsin graduate student Teri MacDonald has trained a chimpanzee named Virgil to use sign language. When her National Science Foundation research grant is not renewed, she is forced to sell Virgil. He is taken to an Air Force base in Lockridge, Florida, to be used in a top-secret research project involving flight simulation, though she's told that he's been sent to the Houston Zoo.

Airman Jimmy Garrett is assigned to the same chimpanzee project. Virgil and Jimmy quickly bond, and Jimmy discovers that Virgil has been taught sign language. Unbeknownst to Jimmy, once the chimpanzees reach a certain level in operating the flight simulator, they will be exposed to a lethal pulse of radiation to determine how long a pilot may survive after a nuclear exchange in carrying out a second-strike.

When Jimmy becomes aware of the chimpanzees' fate, he contacts Teri, who comes to the base. Teri tells Jimmy that she will inform the NSF of the deception, but Jimmy explains that she does not have enough time because Virgil is scheduled to die soon.

Jimmy challenges Dr. Carroll and others about the project's value by noting that the hypothetical pilot, knowing the implications of the second-strike scenario, would know that he is dying, and would, therefore, be affected by that knowledge. However, the chimpanzees would not be as aware; thus, the project is flawed. Enraged, Dr. Carroll promises Jimmy that his military career is finished.

Meanwhile, in the vivarium, some of the chimpanzees have unlocked their cages and have stacked crates and boxes to attempt an escape through a skylight. Jimmy, Teri, Dr. Carroll and the authorities walk in the vivarium to see the chimpanzees loose. Virgil is at the top of the stack and attempts to break the skylight with a crowbar. Teri sees Virgil up top and convinces him to come down. Dr. Carroll attempts to control the chimpanzees with an electric prod, but Goliath the chimpanzee overpowers Dr. Carroll and the authorities, forcing them to flee. Many chimpanzees escape the vivarium and cause havoc throughout the base, while Goliath and two other chimpanzees Winston and Spike reach the flight chamber. Inside, Goliath and the other two chimpanzees wreck the simulator and short the reactor's wall control panel, causing the radiation reactor to go up. Jimmy, Teri and Virgil arrive and see the chimpanzees continue to wreck the flight chamber. Jimmy gets Winston and Spike out and barely escapes, however, Goliath's refusal to leave despite Jimmy's pleas traps him in the flight chamber just as the reactor's wall panel short-circuits and generates a radiation blast. A fire extinguisher left by the chimps jams the reactor on its way down, posing a risk of a possible meltdown. Jimmy and Virgil convince Goliath to yank out the jammed fire extinguisher and succeed, but Goliath later dies from radiation exposure.

Jimmy and Teri steal a military plane to help the chimpanzees escape, but are stopped by the military police. While the police are holding them, Virgil pilots the plane, and the chimps fly away. They eventually crash in the nearby Everglades and evade a search. Just as the search is being abandoned, Jimmy and Teri see Virgil hiding in the bush with his chimpanzee girlfriend Ginger. Teri signs to Virgil that he and the others are now "free", and the chimpanzees disappear into the Everglades.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Lawrence Lasker began pre-production of the film at Warner Bros. Pictures with John Badham directing, but switched to 20th Century Fox after Warner Bros insisted on using small actors in chimpanzee suits instead of real chimpanzees. The film was shot in Los Angeles and at Camarillo Airport and at Van Nuys Airport.[1]

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

The movie received generally positive reviews from critics. As of 21 March 2019, it holds a 75% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews with an average rating of 6.1/10.

In his review for The New York Times, Walter Goodman described the film as a "young folks' story, a sweet-natured boy-and-his-chimp tale (even the bad guys aren't all that bad - that's very arguable), with a dose of Animal Liberation to give the impression that something of current significance is going on."[2]

On 5 February 1989, it was the first film ever shown on Sky Movies in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[3]

Controversy[edit]

TV personality Bob Barker and the United Activists for Animal Rights accused the film's producers of animal cruelty. The American Humane Association, which consulted during production, filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit, arguing that the animal cruelty claims were based on hearsay.[4] In 1994, over Barker's objections, his insurance company settled the lawsuit for $300,000.[5]

Aftermath[edit]

According to a 2011 newsletter, Virgil was portrayed by "Willie", who at the time of the newsletter's publication resided at Primarily Primates wildlife refuge. Willie was sent there along with Harry, who played his "girlfriend". They were retired from the entertainment industry and lived with other males in a tightly knit group at the refuge in Bexar County, Texas.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Project X". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  2. ^ Goodman, Walter (17 April 1987). "Film: 'Project X,' About Boy and Simian Sidekick". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  3. ^ The Times page 37, 4 February 1989
  4. ^ Smith, Lucinda; Feldon, Leah; Hoover, Eleanor (18 September 1989). "Speaking Up for 'Abused' Animals, Bob Barker Is Hit with a Lawsuit". People. New York: Time. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  5. ^ Gonzales, Vince (11 February 2009). "Animals Harmed in Movies?". CBS Evening News. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  6. ^ Tell, Stephen Rene (Winter 2010–11). "Spotlight on Willie and Friend". Primarily Primates Newsletter. Primarily Primates. Archived from the original on 24 December 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2015.

External links[edit]

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