In the 1970 science-fiction film Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the subterranean humans worship the Alpha-Omega bomb. The weapon is a surviving nuclear device treated as a sacred object by the telepathic mutants living beneath the ruins of New York City.
The film is the second entry in the original Planet of the Apes film series. Its story follows astronaut Brent as he searches for Taylor and discovers the underground society. The mutants use mind control and conceal their deformed appearances, while the Alpha-Omega bomb becomes the focus of their religious devotion and destructive beliefs.
The title is sometimes shortened in discussion, but “Alpha-Omega bomb” is the film’s distinctive name. It is not Pandora’s box, although the weapon’s sealed, catastrophic potential creates a thematic parallel with stories about dangerous forces being released.
The movie was directed by Ted Post and starred James Franciscus, Charlton Heston, and Kim Hunter. Its ending makes the weapon central to the series’ bleak nuclear-war imagery.