Spanning an impressive 56 years, the Planet of the Apes film franchise is an iconic one. Ranging from dystopian stories to an Ape-ocalypse, it truly has something for everyone. Join us as we rank the ten theatrical Planet of the Apes films from worst to best.
10. Battle for the Planet of the Apes
A waste of potential, Battle for the Planet of the Apes could have been the film to end a tumultuous five-film saga on a good note. But instead, the film is a mess, often becoming boring in parts and certainly uncompelling. Despite releasing five years after the original film, its effects are noticeably bad and a significant downgrade from the visually distinct and unique effects pioneered in 1968.
9. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Conquest struggles to set itself apart from a set of films that continually gets worse with each entry. The film follows a silly little backstory from the prior film, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, where cats and dogs have become extinct due to a space-borne virus. Humans decide to replace the domesticated animals with chimpanzees, gorillas and other apes and utilize the animals as slaves.
It’s a metaphor that doesn’t work the best considering the aforementioned domestics weren’t exactly enslaved and more so put on a pedestal but they’ve got the spirit. The film also saw the rise of Caesar, an ape born to time travellers Cornelius and Zira, who go on to liberate the planet for better or for worse. The effects aren’t great and Caesar doesn’t compel me as a character but Roddy McDowall does give his best turn .
8. Escape from the Planet of the Apes
The first film to diverge from the ‘trapped in a foreign environment’ plot, Escape is more of a comedy than anything. It’s still a fish out of water film but flips it around and has two intelligent apes in present-day America (1971).
For the first half of the film, it is charming and goofy in an endearing way, but that soon ends when the apes begin to be persecuted by the humans. It instantly loses the charm and becomes quite generic, even boring.
7. Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Beneath directly continues the story of the first film, following Brent, a character sent on a mission to locate and rescue Charlton Heston’s Taylor, and in doing so slips through time and arrives on the Planet.
It’s nothing special but it builds upon some of the worldbuilding and themes outlined in the first film and continues the story in a respectful and interesting way. Certainly not a bad film.
6. Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes
Perhaps the most divisive film in the franchise, it generally follows the same plot as the original film but with a more romantic undertone as well as a clearer antagonistic force. This film has a lot more starpower in comparison to the others and has that signature Tim Burton gothic style, which I personally can’t help but love.
The first half is a bit messy, feeling aimless and convoluted with messy scenes, but as the film hits the halfway mark it kicks into gear and it certainly has one of the best battles the franchise has ever seen. And as for the ending, it is truly a shame we didn’t get to see it expanded upon. Its great effects are something to be applauded as well.
5. Planet of the Apes
The film that started it all, Planet of the Apes is a great tale of a dystopian land where humans are enslaved and apes rule. Through a combination of amazing themes, intense character interactions and impossibly strong worldbuilding that’s neither too heavy or lacking in exposition, the film is an instant classic.
With one of the greatest twist endings of all time that is instantly memorable thanks to Charlton Heston’s iconic performance and line delivery, it’s not hard to see why this is so high up on many people’s Apes rankings.
4. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
The newest entry on this list continues a trend that I am happy exists. The modern POTA films continue to be some of the most beautiful and striking blockbusters ever. And Kingdom is not an outlier to this trend, containing some great characters, a beautiful score and tight worldbuilding that teases something huge. Read more on what that something could be here and read Anya’s full review here.
3. War for the Planet of the Apes
The next three films on this ranking truly are amazing and honestly all interchangeable which just goes to show how amazing it is. War for the Planet of the Apes is a different kind of war, it’s a fight for the survival of ape kind following the immense world shaking developments of Rise and Dawn.
Matt Reeves follows up the masterpiece that is Dawn of the POTA, with this, an incredible conclusion to Caesar’s character arc and the trilogy. Andy Serkis gives one of his most emotional performances, all within the bounds of motion capture. That in of itself is a testament to the craft of filmmaking and its subsects of acting and visual effects.
2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The best film visually in this franchise, Dawn is for good reason, one of the most acclaimed blockbusters ever. It looks visually perfect, with some heavy attention to detail in its action sequences and environments, giving the viewer the ability to see and feel the textures of everyday surroundings. I don’t think the story surpasses that of the last film on this list, but it is still amazing and definitely worth checking out.
1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Rise holds a special place in my heart. It’s the film that kicked off this new era of Apes films and managed to balance a small and contained film that eventually opens up for world ending consequences. An amazing feat in itself, but I truly think the film should be applauded for, if nothing else, its balance between the human story and the Ape story, although the two are very much intertwined in this installment. The film offers great emotional beats that are carried on throughout the rest of the trilogy, and the performances from Andy Serkis, James Franco and John Lithgow especially highlight this.
If you enjoyed this article and want more franchise rankings like this, feel free to check out some of our other pieces here at Feature First.
