Project X (film)
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| Project X | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Jonathan Kaplan |
| Produced by | Walter F. Parkes Lawrence Lasker |
| Written by | Lawrence Lasker Stanley Weiser |
| Starring | Matthew Broderick Helen Hunt William Sadler Stephen Lang |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | April 17, 1987 |
| Running time | 108 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English American Sign Language |
| IMDb profile | |
Project X is a 1987 film produced by Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker and directed by Jonathan Kaplan. The film is about an Air Force Academy cadet named Jimmy (played by Matthew Broderick) who, as punishment for misconduct, is assigned to a top-secret military project where chimpanzees are trained on flight simulators known as Primate Equilibrium Platforms.
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[edit] Plot
The film begins with graduate student Teri (played by Helen Hunt) and her work to train a chimpanzee named "Virgil." When her research grant fails to be renewed, Virgil is taken away. Teri believes the chimp is to be sent to a zoo that will take care of him. Instead, the animal is sent to the military project for flight simulator training. Jimmy works with Virgil and they become attached to one another. Virgil proves to be highly intelligent and communicates with sign language. Jimmy informs his superior of Virgil's abilities and the possibilities with chimps of such talent, but the discovery is ignored.
Unknown to Jimmy and the chimps trained on the flight simulators, their fate is to be killed. Once they reach a certain level of achievement indicated by different coloured neckbands, they await certain death by exposure to a lethal pulse of radiation in the simulator chamber, a cruel experiment by the military to determine how long a pilot may survive after a nuclear exchange. When Jimmy discovers the real motivations behind the chimpanzee training with his own promotion, he searches Virgil's file and contacts the chimp's former trainer, Teri. They then embark on a desperate race against time to save Virgil.
Teri and Jimmy arrive in the facility as Virgil is set to use the flight simulator and die, and some of the chimpanzees use a mop to get the keys and escape. They walk in to see, the chimps having piled objects together to reach the roof, Virgil at the top about to break the window. As the authorities enter, Goliath the chimp becomes very angry and fights back. The authorities leave the room, just as the chimpanzees begin to explore. Goliath and Virgil end up in the Flight simulator room, and a fire extinguisher is jammed, leading to a radioactive blast. Jimmy and Virgil convince Goliath to yank out the extinguisher for a cigarette, but after Goliath pulls off the feat, he dies from radiation.
In the finale, Jimmy and Teri steal a military plane to help the chimps escape. They are eventually prevented from escaping in the plane by Military Police. While the police are distracted in dealing with Jimmy and Teri, Virgil takes the pilot seat and does exactly as he was trained to do. The chimp guides the plane through take-off and the chimps fly away. They eventually crash land in the 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. Teri signs to Virgil that he and the others are now "Free" and the chimps disappear into the wild.
[edit] The chimpanzee actors
A Chimp named Willie starred as Virgil the Chimp in the film. Both Willie and another chimp used in the film, Harry, were born at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. They were both supposed to go back to being used for research upon the completion of the film. However, after some controversy and the death of another chimp during production, both Willie and Harry were retired to a chimp sanctuary, Primarily Primates. One of their neighbors there is Oliver who was once alleged to be an Humanzee. AQuigley, a fourth chimp never used on camera, was sadly diagnosed with a rare disease while filming and died halfway through production.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Texas Monkey Project Willie and Harry (The "Project X" Chimps)
