With new film Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes now out in UK cinemas, we’ve ranked all nine previous films in the franchise.
The latest entry in the Planet of the Apes franchise – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – has just arrived in UK cinemas, seven years after the superb trilogy starring Andy Serkis as Caesar was brought to an epic conclusion.
In total, this marks the 10th film in a series that began all the way back in 1968, and has grown to encompass sequels, prequels and a reimagining from Tim Burton that many fans think is best left forgotten.
Early reviews indicate that the new film is another worthy addition to the canon, and so to celebrate its release, a group of experts at RadioTimes.com got together to rank all nine previous entries in the series from worst to best. You can find the results of our deliberations below.
We haven’t factored Kingdom into our rankings just yet – but rest assured, we’ll update the list in due course to include the latest chapter in the saga as well.
Read on for our full ranked list, and if you’re interested in completing a movie marathon ahead of seeing the new instalment, you can also check out out handy guide on how to watch the Planet of the Apes films in order.
Planet of the Apes movies ranked: All the films from worst to best
9. Planet of the Apes (2001)
Broadly speaking, the Planet of the Apes films form one of the most consistent ongoing franchises in Hollywood history – but every series needs at least one proper stinker, and in Tim Burton’s 2001 remake we got that and then some. Almost 30 years had passed since Battle for the Planet of the Apes rounded out the original run of films, and with Burton fresh from a hugely successful period in the ’80s and ’90s, hopes were high that he could deliver the goods.
But, save for Rick Baker’s impressive prosthetic work, there’s almost nothing to commend about the 2001 film – a bloated, uninspired effort full of clunky dialogue, bland characterisation and a phoned-in performance from Mark Wahlberg in the lead role. And that’s all before the truly nonsensical ending, which ensured that this series boasts both one of the best and one of the worst movie twists of all time. The undoubted nadir of the franchise. – Patrick Cremona
8. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
There’s only one real misfire in the Planet of the Apes series – Tim Burton’s aforementioned, ill-advised “reimagination” – because while 1973’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes is almost universally regarded as the weakest of the original films, it’s far from without merit.
Certainly, it has heart, and franchise veteran Roddy McDowall is dependably charismatic. But the movie’s ambition exceeded its means of execution, with director J Lee Thompson frustrated by the size of the budget he was allocated, and the end result is a distinctly average affair that rounds things off more with a whimper than a bang. – Morgan Jeffery
7. Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
This threequel marked a severe gear shift from what had come before, not only in terms of its premise – the film sees advanced apes Cornelius (McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter) flung back through time to 20th-century Los Angeles – but also its tone.
Though the savage heart of the earlier Apes movies remains, Escape also embraces satirical humour – the end result is an odd concoction that doesn’t always work, but there’s certainly plenty to enjoy, from the intriguing time-loop plotting to the compelling dynamic of our central ape couple. – MJ
6. Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
How to follow up not just the huge success but also the stunning twist ending of the original Planet of the Apes? A number of different ideas for a sequel were pitched before screenwriter Paul Dehn’s Beneath the Planet of the Apes got the green light, and while what we got arguably over-eggs the pudding – adding a race of deranged, telepathic, underground-dwelling mutants to an already-busy sci-fi narrative – it’s still a compelling 95 minutes.
With Charlton Heston’s Taylor mostly absent, the charismatic James Franciscus does a decent job of filling the void as replacement astronaut Brent, and the film’s unrelentingly bleak climax is one of the franchise’s boldest and most memorable moments. – MJ
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
The one that kicked off the recent Apes reboot series, Rise is often somewhat ignored in favour of its sequels helmed by Matt Reeves. That really shouldn’t be the case – Rise is still a hugely well-crafted movie and kick-start to the franchise, even if it is slightly slower and less showy that some of the franchise’s best.
At its heart is the relationship between James Franco’s Will and Andy Serkis’s Caesar, which remains touching and compelling to the end, in no small part thanks to Serkis’s excellent motion-capture work. The effects are obviously miles ahead of anything the series had seen before, bringing a heightened sense of realism to the proceedings.
Meanwhile, anyone who tells you to skip this one and move straight to Dawn is clearly forgetting the chill-inducing scene where Caesar finally says ‘no!’, a sequence which proves that even if you know a moment is coming, it can still blow you away in its execution. – James Hibbs
4. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
The final entry in the recent trilogy is also by some margin the most bleak. This time, Caesar is out for revenge after his family are murdered by an army of humans – with his quest leading him directly into the hands of a despotic villain played with chilling relish by Woody Harrelson (channeling Apocalypse Now’s Colonel Kurtz).
Matt Reeves’s sturdy direction brings great dramatic heft to proceedings and ensures this is an epic conclusion to the reboot saga, with a climactic battle offering a blast of pure cinematic spectacle. Meanwhile, Andy Serkis turns in another flawless motion-capture performance in the lead role – which even led to some clamour for an Oscar nomination. – PC
3. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Arguably the most influential Apes film bar the original, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes serves as both a sequel to Escape and a prequel to the original film, covering much of the same subject matter as the later Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
In this version of the uprising, it is Cornelius and Zira’s orphan son Caesar who spearheads a rebellion against the apes’ human masters, and Roddy McDowall delivers his finest performance of the Apes saga. Uncompromising and action-packed, Conquest is a bleak, brilliant film – though it’s worth noting that the unrated version released on Blu-Ray, which restores the film’s original, more violent ending, is by far the superior cut. – MJ
2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
This second in the recent trilogy of Apes movies is easily the best of the three, and when it comes to blockbusters, it is really something of a masterpiece. Combining exceptional visual effects, the likes of which the franchise hadn’t seen before, along with a compelling hero in Caesar and a rich, nuanced story, the movie proves to be as thoughtful as its action sequences are exhilarating.
Even hidden in a mo-cap suit, Andy Serkis puts in an Oscar-worthy turn as Caesar, while Toby Kebbell’s villain Koba is both understandable in his motivations, but also so easy to hate. Matt Reeves knocked it out of the park with this one, delivering not just a fantastic Apes movie, but a sensational movie full stop, with some of the most complex characters and character dynamics seen in blockbuster filmmaking. – JH
1. Planet of the Apes (1968)
In terms of pure scale, the entries in the reboot trilogy might have this one beaten – but it’s almost impossible to crown anything other than the film that started it all as the best of the bunch. Starring Charlton Heston as the leader of a crew of astronauts who crash-land on a planet where humans are subservient to a ruling class of apes, it introduces many of the themes that have continued to be explored with such panache in the series ever since.
The ingenious script from The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling ensures the film finds just the right balance between satire and adventure, leading up to perhaps the most iconic movie twist ever. Nowadays, it would be virtually impossible to watch the film without knowing that ending in advance, but those final scenes retain their immense power all the same. – PC
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is now showing in UK cinemas.
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