Ranking the Best and Worst 'Planet of the Apes' Films: From Classic to Modern

With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes being released, I thought it would be fun to go through and watch all of the Planet of the Apes movies. Before this spring, I had only seen the newer reboot Planet of the Apes movies. I had never seen the original five so this was a fun opportunity to watch some older movies for the first time. This was a fun franchise to watch through. The original films are a stable of classic Sci-Fi, the newer ones are groundbreaking in visual effects, and Tim Burton's version was a movie. I have enjoyed almost all of the films in this franchise and this would definitely be a franchise I would rewatch. With that being said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the 10 Planet of the Apes movies.

10. Planet of the Apes (2001)

2001's Planet of the Apes is easily the worst film. This film was directed by Tim Burton who normally has a unique style to his movies but this one just did not work. The story was seriously lacking in quality with an uncompelling plot moving the story forward. This movie also loses the magic of the original film by having it be on another planet instead of a future Earth. The characters are all pretty bland and forgettable. There are too many of them and none really get any sort of story arc. The movie has the character just be on the run the entire movie with several characters tagging along that have no reason to be there. Finally, the ending makes no sense and essentially sets up a cliffhanger that will never be resolved. While there are many issues with this movie, most of them are not Tim Burton's fault as the production was just super rushed to meet a certain release date. Overall, this was a big misfire and failed to do any sort of reboot to the franchise. 

Score: 4.5/10 Grade: C-

9. Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Beneath the Planet of the Apes is the worst of the original set of films. There are a few positives to this film. It is fun to return to this world of apes with the fun characters from the first film. This movie also expands more of the world as we get to see more of the different factions of the society with the Gorillas as the warmongers, the orangutans as the ruling class, and the chimpanzees as the everyday citizens. One of the biggest issues of this film was the runtime. The movie tries to introduce this underground society of telepathic humans but, leaves very little time in the story to do it. Because of this, the movie feels rushed in the last half as it tries to introduce this society, establish a conflict, and have a big battle all in about 30 minutes. I also thought this movie felt the cheesiest and cheapest in the franchise with the Underground Humans plotline leaning hard into that. In the end, while it is quite a bit better than Tim Burton's film, it still doesn't have the quality of the rest on this list. 

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

8. Battle for the Planet of the Apes

I enjoyed Battle for the Planet of the Apes a lot more than other people do. The movie comes in at a 5.4 on IMDB which I think is very low. I don't think the movie is that bad. This movie does a good job of establishing this post-nuclear war world. The movie shows us a world where Apes and humans have to live side by side and explores the conflicting world views between the two species. This movie also feels the largest in scale with a huge battle with trucks and guns at the end. The general premise was interesting but the specifics made the movie feel a bit slow. It is also just the most unmemorable of the series. There isn't much that sticks out about this movie. I only saw it a few weeks ago and am already struggling to remember what all happened. Overall, while the movie does have some decent ideas, it is just not super memorable with nothing to have it stick out in the franchise. 

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

7. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is pretty much at the same level as Battle for the Planet of the Apes. The general premise was interesting, but the movie itself is not memorable. I liked that we got to see the origins of the ape uprising. We see Caesar grow as a character and lead a charge against the humans. The movie also does a great job of establishing the world of apes being slaves to humans. It creates an interesting conflict and sets the stage for the payoff in the third act. The third act was also quite well done as we see the humans and apes fight for dominance. As with the last film, there aren't a lot of memorable moments. Even after just seeing it, I struggled to remember much of what happened. In the end, while it does have some compelling moments, the movie was not memorable enough to deserve a higher spot on the list. 

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

6. Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Escape From the Planet of the Apes is my favorite of the original sequels. This movie flips the original movie by having future apes journeying to a modern-day Earth instead of humans journeying to a future world. This idea allows us to see the world through the ape's perspective as they try to fit in with modern Earth cultures. It kind of plays as a fish out of water story without the comedy which I found quite effective. I also enjoyed all of the main characters in the story. Cornelius and Zira get a lot of time to shine in this movie after being supporting characters in the last two films. The movie also does a great job of showcasing different human reactions to the apes from awe and skepticism to scared and hateful. The main issue I had with this film was that it was a bit too short. The third act comes a bit abruptly and I wish it would have been given more time to breathe. Overall, this was a fun film with a unique idea for the franchise. 

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the beginning but also the weakest of the reboot trilogy. There is a lot about this movie that I really like. The visual effects are spectacular with all of the apes looking so realistic and blending in so well with the real world. I also like that this trilogy focuses more on the apes as main characters than humans as the last series did. The movie does a great job of giving this origin story for Caesar and the advanced civilization of apes. The parts in the ape facility are all very well done as we get to see Caesar grow and change as well as see the beginnings of this ape culture. What hurts this movie is the human aspect of the film. When the film focuses on Caesar, it is exciting. But when it focuses on the human characters and the origin of the plague that wipes people out, it slows down quite a bit. I liked the James Franco and Caesar interactions but James Franco on his own was a bit dull. In the end, this is a solid reboot that could have been better had the human subplot not been so central. 

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

4. Planet of the Apes

The original Planet of the Apes is still one of the best in the franchise. This film is a staple of the Sci-Fi genre and still holds up reasonably well today. This movie just has that nostalgic feel for classic Sci-Fi that so many films fail to capture today. One of the best things about this movie is the world-building. The movie does a great job of establishing this ape society and delivers likable characters that you can't help but route for. Charleston Heston is great in the lead of the film delivering a style of acting that you just don't see these days. This movie also introduces us to Cornelius and Zira who become recurring characters in the series. I also quite enjoyed the practical special effects in this film. Being made in the 1960s, there wasn't much going on in terms of CGI, so everything had to be done practically and it works well for this movie. All of the apes look great and it is so refreshing to see shooting done on location. The only holdup of this film is, due to its age, it does get a bit slow at times, especially in the middle act but that is more due to the style of films at the time than the film itself. Overall, this is a classic Sci-Fi film that did a great job setting the stage for many more to come. 

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+

3. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the newest entry in the franchise. This movie takes place hundreds of years after the events of the previous 3 films but still manages to continue the legacy of those films. Just like with the newest trilogy, the visual effects in this movie are amazing. I also thought the movie did a great job of building out this new ape culture and showing how the different factions live. The new characters are also solid additions and do a great job of taking over the legacy of the story. I also liked how the movie ties into the other films without having it be a direct sequel. While Caesar isn't in this film, you can still feel his legacy and ideals throughout the story. I also thought the villain in this film was one of the stronger villains in the franchise, you can really understand his motivation he just wants to protect the other apes and his kingdom. Finally, I liked how this movie decided to be a coming-of-age story for the Noa character. It takes him through such a great arc and builds out his character. The only thing keeping this out of the top 2 is that it just doesn't have the emotional depth of the higher films mostly due to having a new set of characters instead of continuing Caesar's story. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes what worked about Rise of the Planet of the Apes and doubles down on it. This movie makes the wise decision of focusing more on Caesar and his family and pushes the human characters to a less consuming sub-plot. This movie does a great job of expanding the world and the character of Caesar. Caesar is given a family and a character arc that really makes him a compelling character. This movie also has one of the better villains of the franchise in Koba, giving him a compelling motivation and fleshing out his reasons for hating humans as well as tying in from the previous film. One of the best things about this movie is how it manages to take things that seem ridiculous and make them feel serious within the context of the story. This movie manages to make something as silly as apes on horseback dual-wielding machine guns come across as serious and make sense in the story. The only issue I had with this film is again, the human sub-plot. While it wasn't as bad as in the previous film, whenever the humans take up the screen the movie slows down quite a bit. In the end, this is a great addition to the franchise and proof that the Planet of the Apes movies have gotten better with time. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

1. War for the Planet of the Apes

War for the Planet of the Apes is the last film in the Caesar trilogy and is also the best. This is the first movie in the series to be an ape-centric story. There are no humans allying with their cause it is just Caesar and his followers which makes the movie so much better. Because of the lack of human characters to slow down the story, Caesar and his friends are really given time to grow and change. Caesar, Rocket, and Maurice all go through great arcs with Maurice getting some much-needed screen that was lacking in the other films. This movie also gives some great new characters in Bad Ape and Nova with Bad Ape providing some needed comic relief. What I enjoyed most about this story is how Caesar-centric it is. The movie has him go through some hardship which causes him to make a path for revenge and creates an incredibly compelling story. This movie deconstructs Caesar more so than any other film in the franchise. I also found Woody Harrelson's villain to be one of the best in the franchise as he is so menacing while also having a clear motivation. Overall, this is a great closeout to Caesar's story and sets the bar high for where the franchise can go next. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-