But, I always watch this scene without fail. Its effectiveness is due to the fact that I've seen the movie before and I've seen the character arc of Astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston), the cynical, world-weary (Earth-word, anyway) Last Man from Earth, who's not only agreed to accept his fate as a traveler through time and space, he's embraced it.
What kind of a guy IS that? He knows that everyone he's ever known is dead by the end of his mission. And he's okay with that. "There was no one to hold me there," he'll say at some point. "I'm a seeker too," he admits after mocking his fellow survivors' traditional mission dogma. "But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be!"
Despite his sneering, he's more an optimist than his ship-mates. Maybe he's one of those science-fiction heroes who hasn't read much science-fiction. Because where he finds himself stranded—like a futuristic Gulliver—is a civilization that's even worse...for him, anyway...but awfully familiar in the failings of what aspires to be civilization. This one, like so many on Earth, are ruled by arrogance and theocracy, ignoring science, embracing myth, and denying the obvious. Meet the new boss...
Eventually, he'll realize that he hasn't been looking at the stars, he's been looking in a mirror, reflecting the same ignorance he'd hoped to escape.
The final irony is that the science has failed him, as well.
George Taylor: ...And that completes my final report until we reach touchdown. 
Taylor: We're now on full automatic, in the hands of the computers.
Taylor: I have tucked my crew in for the long sleep and I'll be joining them...soon. 
Taylor: In less than an hour, we'll finish our sixth month out of Cape Kennedy. Six months in deep space -
Taylor: ...by our time, that is. According to Dr. Haslein's theory of time, in a vehicle travelling nearly the speed of light...
Taylor: ...the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it, 
Taylor: ...while we've aged hardly at all. 
Taylor: Maybe so. 
Taylor: This much is probably true - 
Taylor: ...the men who sent us on this journey are long since dead and gone. You who are reading me now are a different breed - I hope a better one.
Taylor: I leave the 20th century with no regrets. But... 
Taylor: ...one more thing - if anybody's listening, that is. 
Taylor: Nothing scientific. It's purely personal.
Taylor: But seen from out here... 
Taylor: ...everything seems different. Time bends. Space is...boundless. 
Taylor: It squashes a man's ego. 
Taylor: I feel lonely. 
Taylor: That's about it. 
Taylor: Tell me, though. 
Taylor: Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who sent me to the stars...
Taylor: ...still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbor's children starving?
The Set-Up: The year: 1972. Or is it 2673? The ship: The Liberty 1, nicknamed "Icarus." Mission: first interstellar travel by humans from Earth. Not sure what they've been doing for six months, but for the next 12 months, they're on auto-pilot to...wherever it is they're going, and the crew will be sleeping through it all. The Captain is the last to go under. And before he does, he has a last smoke...and makes his final report.
Action.
Descriptions are from Michael Wilson's Final Shooting Script.* Dialogue is mostly Wilson's but has been buffed and polished during filming.
FADE IN
1 EXT. CONSTELLATION OF ORION - NIGHT
Stars glitter like diamonds on the black velvet backdrop of space. The Belt of Orion is center screen, but much nearer and larger than ever seen by an Earth-bound astronomer. A speck of light appears in the lower left corner of the screen. No spaceship can be seen, but only a glowworm, a solitary spermatosoan gliding through the womb of the universe.
Over this we HEAR the voice of an astronaut. He is concluding a report.
2 INT. CABIN OF SPACESHIP - ESTABLISHING SHOT - NIGHT The cabin is neither cramped nor spacious, but about the size of the President's cabin in Air Force One. In the immediate f.g. is a console of dials and switches flanked by four chairs. Only one of the chairs is occupied. The astronaut's back is to CAMERA. There is a ladder amidships which leads to an escape hatch. The after Dart of the cabin is obscured in darkness. We hear the MUSIC of a Mozart sonata emanating from a phonograph of stereotape. The astronaut is speaking into a microphone.
3 TWO LARGE CLOCKS - ON CABIN WALL One clock is marked SELF TIME, but instead of twelve numerals it has twenty-four. One of the needles is moving very slowly. The other clock is labeled EARTH TIME, and its units, like those of a tachometer, are given by hundreds and thousands. The largest needle of this clock makes one revolution every second. Over this we hear:
4 CLOSE ON ASTRONAUT This is TAYLOR. He wears simple dungarees (or Churchill suit) and comfortable boots. He seems calm and pensive. Extracting the butt of a cigar from the breast pocket of his dungarees, he lights it, then continues:
He begins to roll up his left sleeve.
He removes the cigar from his mouth, turns to look out through one of the portholes into the astral night.
He extracts a hypodermic needle from his breast pocket and injects it into the vein of his forearm. He continues speaking.
Taylor withdraws the hypodermic needle from his vein and secures it in a drawer of the console.
Taylor snuffs out the cigar butt and places it in the drawer beside the hypodermic. Then, flicking a switch Au cut off the Mozart, he rises and looks up again at:
5 THE CLOCK MARKED EARTH TIME The longest needle of this clock now makes nearly two revolutions per second. The shortest needle points to the numeral 2105
6 INT. CABIN - TRACKING WITH TAYLOR Space scientists have presumably solved the problem of weightlessness, for Taylor walks the short distance from; the console to the after section without particular effort.
CAMERA FOLLOWS him, and we can now see four glass capsules, or "caskets", in the rear of the cabin. Taylor looks down at them.
7- SEVERAL SHOTS - THE FOUR CASKETS - FROM TAYLOR'S P.O.V.
10 One of them is open. The other three are occupied by astronauts: DODGE, LANDON and STEWART. They, too, wear dungarees and boots. Dodge and Landon are thirtyish, clean-shaven, virile -- America's finest.
Stewart is a handsome young woman, her hair bobbed short. Their eyes are closed and they do not appear to be breathing -- yet no undertaker could make them so alive.
11 ANOTHER ANGLE - FAVORING TAYLOR He grasps the handle of his own casket and slowly pulls himself into it. Continuing SILENCE.
CAMERA MOVES IN as Taylor Dulls the glass lid shut and secures it. He adjusts two dials inside the capsule and lies back, buckling his safety belt. CAMERA MOVES INTO A CLOSEUP of Taylor. His eyes are open. He seems serene, even enraptured.
(NOTE: Credits will appear here over a series of shots designed to convey a sense of loneliness, of separation, and of the passage of time.)
Words by Rod Serling and (mostly) Michael Wilson
Pictures by Leon Shamroy and Franklin J. Schaffner
Planet of the Apes is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
* Michael Wilson's script 05/05/1967
FADE IN
1 EXT. CONSTELLATION OF ORION - NIGHT
Stars glitter like diamonds on the black velvet backdrop of space.
The Belt of Orion is center screen, but much nearer and larger
than ever seen by an Earth-bound astronomer.
A speck of light appears in the lower left corner of the screen.
No spaceship can be seen, but only a glowworm, a solitary spermatosoan gliding through the womb of the universe.
Over this we HEAR
the voice of an astronaut. He is concluding a report.
ASTRONAUT'S VOICE
(o.s.)
So ends my last signal until we reach
our destination. We are now on automatic,
a mere hundred and five light years from
our base ... and at the mercy of computers. I've tucked in my crew for the
long sleep. I'll join them presently.
2 INT. CABIN OF SPACESHIP - ESTABLISHING SHOT - NIGHT
The cabin is neither cramped nor spacious, but about the size of the
President's cabin in Air Force One. In the immediate f.g. is a console
of dials and switches flanked by four chairs. Only one of the chairs
is occupied. The astronaut's back is to CAMERA. There is a ladder
amidships which leads to an escape hatch. The after Dart of the cabin
is obscured in darkness. We hear the MUSIC of a Mozart sonata emanating
from a phonograph of stereotape. The astronaut is speaking into a
microphone.
ASTRONAUT
Within the hour we shall complete
the sixth month of our flight from
Cape Kennedy. By our time, that is ...
He pauses, looking up at:
3 TWO LARGE CLOCKS - ON CABIN WALL
One clock is marked SELF TIME, but instead of twelve numerals it has
twenty-four. One of the needles is moving very slowly.
The other clock is labeled EARTH TIME, and its units, like those of a
tachometer, are given by hundreds and thousands.
The largest needle of this clock makes one revolution every second.
Over this we hear:
ASTRONAUT'S VOICE
(o.s.)
But according to Dr. Hasslein's theory of
time in a vehicle traveling at close to
the speed of light, old Mother Earth has
aged a few thousand years since our departure -- while we have scarcely aged
at all.
4 CLOSE ON ASTRONAUT
This is TAYLOR. He wears simple dungarees (or Churchill suit) and
comfortable boots. He seems calm and pensive. Extracting the butt of
a cigar from the breast pocket of his dungarees, he lights it, then
continues:
TAYLOR
It may be so. This much is probable: the
men who sent us on this journey have long
since been moldering in forgotten graves;
and those, if any, who read this message
are a different breed. Hopefully, a
better one.
He begins to roll up his left sleeve.
TAYLOR
I leave the twentieth century without
regret. Who was it? Marshall? ... said
'Modern man is the missing link between
the ape and the human being.'
He removes the cigar from his mouth, turns to look out through one
of the portholes into the astral night.
TAYLOR
One final thought -- nothing scientific,
purely personal. Seen from up here,
everything looks different ... Time bends
and space is boundless. It squashes a
man's ego. He begins to feel like no more
than a mote in the eye of eternity. And
he is nagged by a question: what if any-
thing, will greet us on the end of man's
first journey to a star? Are we to believe
that throughout these thousands of galaxies,
these millions of stars, only one, that
speck of solar dust we call Earth, has
been graced -- or cursed -- by human life?
(pause)
I have to doubt it.
He extracts a hypodermic needle from his breast pocket and injects
it into the vein of his forearm. He continues speaking.
TAYLOR
(sardonically)
That's about all. I wonder if Man, that
marvel of the universe, that glorious
paradox who has sent me to the unknown...
still makes war against his brother., and
lets his neighbor's children starve.
Taylor withdraws the hypodermic needle from his vein and secures it in
a drawer of the console.
TAYLOR
Well then, Earthmen: A missing link
salutes you. Bless you, my descendants.
Taylor snuffs out the cigar butt and places it in the drawer beside the
hypodermic. Then, flicking a switch Au cut off the Mozart, he rises and
looks up again at:
5 THE CLOCK MARKED EARTH TIME
The longest needle of this clock now makes nearly two revolutions per
second. The shortest needle points to the numeral 2105.
6 INT. CABIN - TRACKING WITH TAYLOR
Space scientists have presumably solved the problem of weightlessness,
for Taylor walks the short distance from; the console to the after
section without particular effort. CAMERA FOLLOWS him, and we can now
see four glass capsules, or "caskets", in the rear of the cabin. Taylor
looks down at them.
7- SEVERAL SHOTS - THE FOUR CASKETS - FROM TAYLOR'S P.O.V.
10
One of them is open. The other three are occupied by astronauts: DODGE,
LANDON and STEWART. They, too, wear dungarees and boots. Dodge and
Landon are thirtyish, clean-shaven, virile -- America's finest. Stewart
is a handsome young woman, her hair bobbed short. Their eyes are closed
and they do not appear to be breathing -- yet no undertaker could make
them so alive.
11 ANOTHER ANGLE - FAVORING TAYLOR
He grasps the handle of his own casket and slowly pulls himself into
it. Continuing SILENCE.
CAMERA MOVES IN as Taylor Dulls the glass lid
shut and secures it. He adjusts two dials inside the capsule and lies
back, buckling his safety belt. CAMERA MOVES INTO A CLOSEUP of Taylor.
His eyes are open. He seems serene, even enraptured.
(NOTE: Credits will appear here over a series of shots designed to
convey a sense of loneliness, of separation, and of the passage of
time.)