Planet of the Apes – Ranked

~ philthebearblog

My odyssey to the Planet of the Apes is complete.

Nine films in nine days.

You can find my in depth thoughts on all of the films here:

But this article is the all important rankings, so in reverse order here is where I place the Apes movies:

9. Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

A tough choice for last place but this is a film that fails to write itself out of the corner that 1970’s Beneath the Planet of the Apes put it in and only features three ape suits seemingly to save money. It starts out feeling like a sitcom with knock about silly comedy and ends with the evil humans trying to kill a baby. A real mess.

8. Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

Narrowly missing last place by virtue of at least having a consistent tone the first sequel side-lines apes in favour of telepathic humans and an “atomic warfare is bad” allegory. Charlton Heston is phoning in a performance that bookmarks the film and Roddy McDowell is not even in it!

7. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

The budgets for the final two Planet of the Apes original films may have been diminishing making the action and crowd sequences look dated and a little silly but the plot lines were at least starting to coalesce into something more interesting. Conquest features the Ape uprising and a speech from Caesar that would play a big part in the inspiration for the new films.

6. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

The budget issue rears its head massively in the Dad’s Army meets Mad Max sequences but I enjoyed the idea of a rift in Ape leadership competing over how humans and apes should live together. Again this played a big inspiration for the Caesar/Koba relationship in the new films.

5. Planet of the Apes (2001)

There is a lot to like here. Tim Roth and Paul Giamatti’s performances. The make up effects. The many homages to the original series. The plot threads about slavery and equal rights. But every time it threatens to get interesting it reverts to blockbuster type. Whilst Mark Wahlberg and the ending are just awful.

4. Planet of the Apes (1968)

Controversial I know but this film whilst the beginning of it all has just aged badly and been superseded by the rebooted films. Charlton Heston’s machismo, horniness and meanness are incredibly dated whilst the action sequences would barely register as one in a romantic comedy made in the 21st century. Of course it features some unforgettable lines and has a killer ending and overall is still well worth its “classic” status. It just is not the best Apes movie.

3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

I really struggle to separate the 2010’s trilogy but right now I will say that Dawn is perhaps the weakest. Purely because it is the middle story its plot is far less revelatory and just adds layers to the overall tale being told. The nature vs nurture story and the juxtaposition between the Caesar/Koba characters with the Malcolm/Dreyfus characters is very fulfilling.

2. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

The culmination of a brilliant trilogy results in the final downfall of the human race and Caesar leading his apes to the promised land. Everything that has gone before in the previous films is played out to perfection and Andy Serkis delivers another powerful performance.

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

My favourite Planet of the Apes story does an amazing job of making a rational and mostly believable reason for Apes taking dominion of the Earth. It juggles a number of story threads brilliantly and in the main focuses on father/son relationships as its emotional heart. Whilst the visual effects that it utilised and were later honed in its sequels are phenomenal.