The Ultimate Guide to Watching Every Planet of the Apes Movie
Apes. Together. Strong!
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Apes. Together. Strong!
Since the original Planet of the Apes hit theaters in 1968, being an adaptation of Pierre Boulle’s novel from 1963, moviegoers have been in awe over its foreboding future where Earth’s dominant species isn’t humankind but apes. Set over 2,000 years from now, humans have regressed into dumb, feral beasts. Our descendants yield to walking, talking, horse-riding, gun-toting simians who’ve built their civilization atop the rubbles of our own.
Across multiple sequels and reboots that span generations, the Planet of the Apes franchise – spawned from producer Arthur P. Jacobs, who passionately believed in Boulle’s novel – has maintained cultural relevance through its provocative themes like power, prejudice, rebellion, collective hubris, animal rights, and how communication can lead to peace or war.
Unlike other sci-fi sagas like Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien, and Terminator, Planet of the Apes is a fundamentally cynical saga. The movies are decidedly not about the triumphs of individual heroism and bravery in the face of evil, but rather the need for a community to stave off the apocalypse. Unfortunately, as the many Planet of the Apes movies tell us, neither man nor ape can ever see the bigger picture.
For those looking to experience the Planet of the Apes films in some kind of organized way, you’re in luck. Not only is the series straightforward (at least compared to other franchises), but the flexibility of the saga’s stories means it’s your call which movie and era to start. Despite how the movies can be all over the place in terms of the actual time periods they take place, they conveniently follow a linear story, so it’s easy to follow it along from start to finish.
So get your stinking paws off your damn, dirty phones and kick back as we at Men’s Health introduce you to one of the most quality science fiction movies in history. (For clarity, we are focusing on only theatrical movies. We are excluding the non-canon TV series from 1974, and the equally short-lived animated Return to the Planet of the Apes.)
What are all the Planet of the Apes movies?
The first order of business is to know what and how many movies we’re dealing with. In release order, all the original Planet of the Apes movies are:
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971)
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
In 2001, Tim Burton helmed a big budget remake of the original 1968 film, also titled Planet of the Apes. Most critics didn’t like it. (But it made a lot of money, even doing better in its opening weekend than Fox’s own Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace two years earlier.) Ten years later in 2011, a new reign began. While these “modern” movies were conceived as a reboot with its own canon – thus being incorrect to call it a prequel series, or anything of the sort – there are many nods to the originals. They’re also fantastic movies.
In release order, all of the modern/reboot Planet of the Apes movies are:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
Both the original and reboot/modern eras tell separate stories. So whichever era you dive into, remember to start with either 1968’s Planet of the Apes or 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes first. Our recommendation is to start with Planet of the Apes (1968) and proceed in release order.
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