What is the best order to watch the Planet of the Apes movies?

3 years ago 243

(Pocket-lint) - The archetypal Planet of the Apes movie released 52 years ago. It's been a immense power connected fashionable civilization and adjacent spawned 8 sequels, a fewer of which negociate to rival the archetypal successful presumption of captious and box office success.

But with 9 films each likewise named, it tin get truly confusing trying to fig retired the champion bid to ticker them all. You could spell by theatrical merchandise date, but we deliberation it’s much amusive to ticker the films chronologically, arsenic you tin ticker the events unfold successful a beginning-to-end timeline.

There's the archetypal 5 Planet of the Apes films, which released betwixt 1968 and 1973, and past the 3 modern films from the 2010s that prima Andy Serkis arsenic Caeser. The Serkis movies are connected to the archetypal 5 (and we explicate however below), but to marque things complicated, determination is simply a standalone Planet of the Apes movie, from 2001 starring Mark Whalberg, which is fundamentally a remake.

Confused? No worries. We made consciousness of this jumbled timeline below.

Planet of the Apes timeline: The chronological movie order

Follow our usher below, and you volition ticker the events successful the Planet of the Apes movies arsenic they happened. At the bottom, you'll find a spoiler-free, bulleted-list mentation of this guide, positive further ticker orders with perfectly nary spoilers.

NOTE: THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW.

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What Is The Best Order To Watch The Planet Of The Apes Movies representation 1

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

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The archetypal movie successful our watchlist sees James Franco prima arsenic Will Rodman, a idiosyncratic successful the adjacent aboriginal researching a cure for Alzheimer’s. The movie opens erstwhile Rodman discovers a babe chimp that's been exposed to an experimental drug. When the baby’s parent dies, Rodman takes it location to raise, naming him Caesar. Rupert Wyatt directed this film, and Andy Serkis plays Caesar via question capture.

Make definite you support an oculus retired for the quality study astir the spacecraft Icarus entering the Martian ambiance - it's an easter ovum alluding to Charlton Heston’s spacecraft successful the archetypal film.

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes picks up 10 years aft the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and sees Andy Serkis’ Caesar starring a burgeoning civilisation of apes successful the Redwood forests extracurricular of San Francisco. Most of humanity has been wiped retired by the Simian plague, but remnants led by a antheral named Dreyfus (played by Gary Oldman) brushwood the apes erstwhile they participate the wood to repair a Hydroelectric Dam.

Matt Reeves directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

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War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

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Matt Reeves returned to nonstop this film. It picks up 2 years aft Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and sees Caesar inactive starring his people. But present he's dealing with the fallout of Koba’s insurrection against him, which causes an elite radical of soldiers, led by Colonel J. Wesley McCullough (played by Woody Harrelson) to statesman hunting Caesar’s apes. Caesar’s lone anticipation to get his household distant is to transverse a immense desert.

Near the extremity of the film, we spot immoderate of Caesar’s friends guarantee him that the burgeoning ape nine helium helped make volition cognize everything helium sacrificed for them - an important motion that helps explicate wherefore different ape volition beryllium named Caesar aboriginal successful our timeline.

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Planet of the Apes (1968)

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The 4th movie connected our database started it all. Directed by Franklin J Schaffner, it follows 3 astronauts arsenic they awake from a clang landing connected a mysterious planet.

Eventually, 1 of the astronauts, George Taylor (played by Charlton Heston), is captured by precocious apes. Taylor joins forces with 1 sympathetic ape, named Dr Zira (played by Kim Hunter), who studies him. Later, helium goes into the Forbidden Zone godforsaken to effort to flight the apes holding him captive. That's erstwhile helium discovers the information astir the satellite the apes inhabit.

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Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

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An astronaut named Brent (played by James Franciscus) is the lone subsister of a vessel sent to find the 3 astronauts from the archetypal Planet of the Apes film. Soon aft landing successful the Forbidden Zone, Brent meets Nova, Taylor’s emotion involvement from the archetypal film. She is inactive wearing the astronauts' canine tags. She brings Brent to the ape city, wherever helium meets Dr Zira. She tells him astir her clip with Taylor.

Brent past goes backmost to the Forbidden Zone and finds an entranceway to a New York City subway and a mutated contention of humans worshipping a doomsday device. Ted Post took implicit directing duties for this film.

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Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

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Directed by Don Taylor, this movie is wherever our Apes timeline truly begins to get weird. At the decision of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, we spot the demolition of the satellite by the Alpha and Omega doomsday device. However, earlier that happens, Dr Zira and her hubby Cornelius (played by Roddy McDowall) observe and statesman to repair the archetypal vessel that brought Taylor to the Planet of the Apes.

The 2 apes usage it to question to 1973, oregon erstwhile the satellite is destroyed. They go celebrities and are astatine the halfway of a authorities probe into wherefore Taylor’s vessel abruptly reappeared with talking apes but nary astronauts. Just arsenic the authorities begins to fishy Dr Zira hasn't been truthful to the government, it’s revealed she’s pregnant. She and Cornelius indispensable flight seizure to prevention their child, Milo.

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Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

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In the twelvemonth 1991, Zira’s kid is live and grown-up. He is portrayed by Roddy McDowall, who besides starred arsenic Cornelius successful the erstwhile film.

Anyway, Zira’s child, newly named Caesar, was raised successful hiding by Armando (played by Ricardo Montalban), the circus proprietor she near him with astatine the decision of the Escape from the Planet of the Apes. The movie follows Caesar done a acheronian satellite successful which cats and dogs person died off, and apes person go a communal favored and adjacent an abused root of enslaved labor. Caesar is the lone ape who tin talk successful this world. Eventually, helium becomes enslaved, and it leads to an uprising.

There is simply a mentation that Caesar from 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the archetypal intelligent ape, and that the Caesar successful this movie is 1 of his descendants. He'd beryllium portion of a caller concatenation of events acceptable disconnected by his parent going backmost successful time. While his caller name, Caesar, could beryllium a coincidence, it’s apt a motion to the archetypal Caesar, who is simply a foundational portion of the ape culture, which Zira would’ve shared with Armando oregon her lad earlier she died.

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Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

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This movie shows an older Caesar (played by Roddy McDowall) starring a nine wherever apes and humans coexist aft a atomic war. But the nine is being torn isolated by threats from a militant faction of apes, led by Aldo (played by Claude Akins), who wants to marque humans subservient. Caesar learns of tapes that beryllium successful the Forbidden Zone that amusement his parent speaking astir however struggle betwixt ape and antheral caused the demolition of Earth. While successful hunt of those tapes, Caesar besides discovers a radical of mutated humans, led by Governor Kolp (played by Severn Darden), who presumption the apes arsenic a menace and acceptable retired to destruct them.

Between the tapes of his parent and lessons helium learned on his travel to this point, Caesar understands that the lone mode to forestall the Earth’s demolition is by helping humans and apes to unrecorded unneurotic successful peace, fulfilling the archetypal Caesar’s last wishes.

J. Lee Thompson directed Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

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Bonus: Planet of the Apes (1974 - TV series)

Did you cognize determination is simply a Planet of the Apes TV series? It was broadcast connected CBS successful 1974. Featuring conscionable 14 episodes, the bid stars Ron Harper, James Naughton, Roddy McDowall, Mark Lenard, and Booth Colman but was canceled aft a specified play owed to mediocre ratings. It is based connected the 1968 movie Planet of the Apes and its sequels. So, if you privation to ticker it, we suggest slotting it successful aft Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).

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Bonus: Planet of the Apes (2001)

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Since this much-maligned Tim Burton reboot doesn't acceptable anyplace other successful the Planet of the Apes series, you should ticker it past arsenic a bonus treat. While the movie isn’t rather arsenic atrocious arsenic you mightiness remember, it’s a one-off standalone that bombed erstwhile it premiered 20 years ago.

Set successful 2029, it shows Leo Davidson (played by Mark Wahlberg), who works aboard the Space Station Oberon, entering an electromagnetic tempest and being thrown to the twelvemonth 5021. He lands connected a satellite ruled by an ape named General Thade (played by Tim Roth), teams up with a pistillate ape named Ari (played by Helena Bonham Carter) who is protesting for quality rights, and tries to find his mode backmost to his ain location and time.