Movie About Training Apes to Be Astronauts?!
Question: I vaguely remember a film about a NASA-like organization training apes to pilot spacecrafts. One of the women scientists doesn't like the way they are treated and trys to escape with a couple of them.
Answers: I vaguely remember a film about a NASA-like organization training apes to pilot spacecrafts. One of the women scientists doesn't like the way they are treated and trys to escape with a couple of them.
Project X
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093793/
Could it be Project X? Starred Matthew Broderick?
Actually, they aren't being trained to be astronauts. They're trained in flight simulators but aren't intended to be pilots; they're used to find out how much radiation a human pilot can withstand and still be able to carry out missions. So, it's possible that this isn't the film you are asking about. A man takes care of them and is shocked to learn the truth of the project. A woman does join with him, hoping to free Virgil, a chimp she had taught sign language while conducting research; when that program was closed, the young animal was sent to be used in the other project.
Project X (1987)
Wikipedia synopsis:
The film begins with graduate student Teri (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 (Matthew Broderick) 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. ... When Jimmy discovers the real motivations behind the chimpanzee training with his own promotion, he searches Virgil's file and contacts Teri. They embark on a desperate race against time to save Virgil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_X_(...
TRIVIA:
Willie starred as Virgil in the film. Both Willie and another chimp used in the film, Harry, were born at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. They were supposed to go back to be used for research upon the completion of the film. However, after some controversy and the death of another chimp during production, Willie and Harry were retired to a chimp sanctuary, Primarily Primates. One of their neighbors there is Oliver, who was once alleged to be a "Humanzee".