Planet of the Apes Movies, Ranked
It’s hard to believe, but there was a time when movie sequels were a rarity. In the first half of the 20th century, film serials — episodic movies that were more of a precursor to television episodes than films — like Fantomas, The Masked Marvel, and Flash Gordon, were popular forms of entertainment. Proper sequels were typically reserved for the mystery genre, in which movies like Charlie Chan and The Thin Man took their detective skills all over the world. There was little precedent for sequels in 1968, when Planet of the Apes came along. But Apes defied logic: Spawning a remarkable four sequels in the 1970s alone, it became one of the first blockbuster franchises.
Planet of the Apes set itself apart by taking science fiction — a genre dominated at the time by giant-monster B-movies — in a more nuanced and contemplative direction. Setting aside the impressive spectacle onscreen (the prosthetic ape makeup still feels revolutionary), Planet of the Apes is deeply concerned with the very natural human fear that there is always someone bigger, stronger, and faster out there to replace us. So many of the qualities of today’s blockbusters — namely people triumphing over evil and good old-fashioned American optimism — are nowhere to be found in these films. No matter how much the budgets dwindled, the Apes movies are some of the most anxious, fraught, and downright pessimistic that blockbuster cinema has to offer. And while the newer entries into the Apes franchise certainly amp up the action and visual effects, they too share the anxiety-ridden, fearful DNA that made the first series so memorable.
As we’re set to return to the world of Apes once again with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, we’ve ranked every Planet of the Apes film, from chimpan-A to chimpanzee.
Planet of the Apes (2001)
The only film in the Apes franchise that’s a complete disaster from start to finish. It begins not unlike the 1968 original: with astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) crash-landing on a planet run by apes. But in a sharp departure, the enslaved humans can speak, which makes you wonder how they’ve become subservient to the primates. It’s that kind of inattention to detail that plagues 2001’s Planet of the Apes, which chugs through laborious dialogue and lazy storytelling. (For all the egregious choices this movie makes, giving the female apes human hair is the most unsettling.) Tim Burton seemed an ideal choice for an Apes reimagining, but none of his curiosity is on display here. It’s as if nobody involved understood what made the original franchise so interesting, and despite a genuinely intriguing ending, we can be grateful a sequel was never green-lit.
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
With Battle, the original Planet of the Apes saga ends not with a bang but a whimper. In this once-harmonious society, apes turn against one another as leader Caesar (Roddy McDowall) is challenged by Aldo (Claude Akins), a bloodthirsty gorilla general. Tension builds steadily for the first hour, but the film runs out of steam when the long-awaited fight finally arrives. The budget cuts feel particularly obvious here, as the climax looks more like a schoolyard brawl than the large-scale battle it’s going for. The later films in the original Apes series struggle with creating a compelling human element, and the humans in Battle are painfully one-note. It lacks much of the intellectual curiosity and striking pessimism that define the other Apes movies. Time hasn’t been kind to Battle, as it is essentially a low-rate version of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
The sequel to the first Planet of the Apes film had just half the budget of the original, resulting in a considerably sparser planet. Oddly, a great deal of Beneath feels like a retreading of what audiences saw in the first movie, moving Charlton Heston’s Taylor to a supporting role. He’s replaced by Brent (James Franciscus, who looks alarmingly similar to Heston), an astronaut on a mission to find Taylor. It’s hard to see Beneath as anything but a bargain-bin version of the original — until its final act brings to light so much of the political intrigue and philosophy that fueled Planet of the Apes. Made at a time when the threat of nuclear war was a hot-button issue, Beneath winds up being an effective exploration of those anxieties, bringing society’s worst fears to reality and delivering the most shocking and pessimistic conclusion in the history of the franchise.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
The longest entry in the Apes franchise (145 minutes) also takes the longest to establish itself: Many generations after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, Noa (Owen Teague), an engaging new protagonist, and his clan are captured by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), an ape whose ruthlessness is matched only by his thirst for knowledge. Kingdom offers solid, satisfying entertainment. The visual effects are the best they’ve ever been; it’s easy to get lost in the ape’s individual hair follicles, and the water effects are outstanding. The movie is full of interesting scenes and dynamic action but lacks a real breakout moment that has defined so many of the other films in the Apes universe. Still, it’s good big-screen fun, and its idea of the importance of collective action rather than a typical chosen-one narrative is exciting. Director Wes Ball handles this new world well, but by the end Kingdom feels more like a variation on a familiar theme than a bold new direction.
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Again fighting a stripped-back budget, director J. Lee Thompson does a great job disguising the lack of funds in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Set in 1991, apes are now little more than human servants after a plague wiped out the global population of cats and dogs. But Caesar (Roddy McDowall), son of the previous films’ Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (also McDowall), unites the apes against human tyranny. Its political allegory is potent, and the claustrophobic sets and expressive lighting do well to mask some of the more questionable-looking apes, but Caesar and his close allies still look terrific. The original theatrical ending feels antithetical to the rest of the movie, so it’s worth seeking out the director’s cut, which has a far more faithful conclusion; it’s on the Blu-ray release.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
After the failure of 2001’s reimagining, Apes found far steadier footing a decade later in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Much of the film takes place in a facility where scientists experiment on apes to try and cure Alzheimer’s. When the drug ALZ-112 begins to have adverse effects on the apes, scientist Will (James Franco) takes baby ape Caesar (Andy Serkis), who begins exhibiting signs of increased intelligence, under his wing. Rise is an enticing and emotionally resonant reboot of Planet of the Apes with motion-capture technology implemented so exquisitely you’d think the technology was invented purely for this franchise. As the first film in a planned trilogy, Rise spends a lot of time establishing its universe rather than thriving in it, and its human characters are largely one-note, but the bond between Caesar and Will is one of the more emotionally satisfying relationships in all of Apedom.
Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971)
It took some finagling to continue the Planet of the Apes franchise as Beneath made it impossible to move the timeline forward. Escape From the Planet of the Apes is easily the most unique entry in the series, reversing the human-out-of-water scenario of the first two films by bringing beloved apes Zira and Cornelius back to contemporary Earth. Surprisingly, they’re met with adoration rather than hatred, though one government official isn’t so sure. Oscar winner Kim Hunter brings tremendous humanity to Zira, and it’s easy to see why the humans take to her and Cornelius so warmly. On the surface, it’s the most lighthearted of any Apes film — and easily the funniest. But Escape never forgets its roots, delivering a thoughtful exploration of how cruelty and fear of the unknown can infect and infest.
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
The Apes go biblical in the bleakest iteration of the franchise since Beneath. After an attempt to find a new sanctuary goes awry, Caesar and the apes find themselves in a brutal work camp run by the spine-chillingly creepy Colonel (Woody Harrelson). Both Rise and Dawn look outstanding, but War pushes motion-capture technology to giddy new highs. It’s the most action-driven of any Apes film while never losing sight of the characters and politics that drive the franchise — and it’s all amplified by Michael Giacchino’s heart-pounding score. War for the Planet of the Apes affirms Caesar is one of the great characters of 21st-century cinema: Serkis delivers what should have been an Oscar-winning performance as Caesar, a character trying to negotiate his desire to lead the apes to harmony with a newfound vengeful bloodlust. Steve Zahn’s Bad Ape feels more like studio interference trying to prevent War from being too bleak than a real character, but the film is still a masterful conclusion to a brilliant and underappreciated trilogy.
Planet of the Apes (1968)
The film that started it all. Astronaut Taylor’s (Heston) spaceship lands on a mysterious planet thousands of years into the future only to discover that humans are primitive while the apes run society. Franklin J. Schaffner’s timeless classic almost feels like an anti-blockbuster in its slow, methodical nature. The world-building is stellar, and the makeup and effects are phenomenal; it looks better than the 2001 reboot. Action, while thrilling, occurs rarely. Planet of the Apes is far more interested in the interspecies dynamics of people and apes and the intricacies of ape society — particularly how the presence of Taylor, a speaking, competent human, challenges everything the apes know. Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) is a terrific anti-hero, an orangutan conflicted by his desire for truth and a need to keep the society of apes thriving. It can occasionally get a little too caught up in specifics that it feels slightly repetitive, but the twist ending and unforgettable final shot are some of the most impactful in all of cinema.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
A simian-flu outbreak has taken over the entire planet, decimating the human population. It has been two years since Caesar and the apes have even seen a human — which quickly changes when a group of humans seeks access to a dam to give its ailing community power. Dawn has the best balance of human and ape characters, and director Matt Reeves thrives in the film’s ambiguity: Both the apes and humans are desperate, and the lines between good and evil are at their most compellingly blurred. The action is outstanding, and the visual effects are groundbreaking, but it’s all designed to serve a character-driven epic. The quiet yet profound orangutan Maurice is as lovable as Koba, the villainous ape who betrays his fellow simians, is detestable, and Serkis’s Caesar stands as the film’s MVP. As far as big-blockbuster entertainment goes, Dawn is practically perfect, and it’s the film’s sense of morality — overwhelmed by darkness but ultimately hopeful — that makes it so exhilarating.
Related