Planet of the Apes (film series)

PLANET OF THE APES (15)
D: Franklin J. Schaffner
20th Century Fox/APJAC (Arthur P. Jacobs)         
USA 🇺🇸 1968
119 mins

Science Fiction

W: Michael Wilson & Rod Serling [based on the novel 'Monkey Planet' by Pierre Boulle]
DP: Leon Shamroy
Ed: Hugh S. Fowler
Mus: Jerry Goldsmith
PD: William Creber & Jack Martin Smith
Cos: Morton Haack

Charlton Heston (George Taylor), Roddy McDowall (Cornelius), Kim Hunter (Zira), Maurice Evans (Dr. Zaius), James Whitmore (President of the Assembly), Linda Harrison (Nova)

***SPOILER WARNING***
The original and arguably still the best of the Planet Of The Apes films. The makeup, special effects, costumes and peoduction design will feel dated by modern standards, but when it's considered that the film was made in 1968 it's easy to admire its craft and imagination.
A small crew of astronauts who crash land on a desolate, barren planet find themselves captured by a society of intelligent apes who wish to destroy them and keep their civilisation free of mankind.
The enjoyment factor of the film is heavily dependent on if you can take the dated production values, but well worth sitting through for the story's genius plot twist - unless it's already been ruined by constant references to it in popular culture.
8/10

Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes
BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES (15)
D: Ted Post
20th Century Fox/APJAC (Arthur P. Jacobs)         
USA 🇺🇸 1969 (released 1970)
94 mins
 
Science Fiction
 
W: Paul Dehn & Mort Abrahams [based on characters from the novel 'Monkey Planet' by Pierre Boulle]
DP: Milton Krasner
Ed: Marion Rothman
Mus: Leonard Rosenman
PD: Jack Martin Smith
 
James Franciscus (Brent), Linda Harrison (Nova), Charlton Heston (Taylor), Kim Hunter (Zira), David Watson (Cornelius), Maurice Evans (Dr. Zaius), Paul Richards (Mendez)
 
Decent first sequel to the original Planet Of The Apes film which for the first part feels like a remake, following the same formula from the first movie.
James Franciscus is an astronaut on search and rescue mission, seeking Charlton Heston and his party from the predecessor. 
Charlton Heston isn't present for half this movie, but does turn up towards the end when it is revealed that a psychic and telekinetic subhuman race who worship an atomic bomb live beneath the planet.
Not at all bad as far as sequels go, but it's not worth watching if you didn't enjoy the first film. 
5/10

Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES (12)
D: Don Taylor
20th Century Fox (Arthur P. Jacobs & Frank Capra, Jr.)
USA 🇺🇸 1971
97 mins
 
Science Fiction
 
W: Paul Dehn
DP: Joseph Biroc
Ed: Marion Rothman
Mus: Jerry Goldsmith
 
Roddy McDowell (Cornelius), Kim Hunter (Zira), Bradford Dillman (Dr. Lewis Dixon), Natalie Trundy (Dr. Stephanie Branton), Eric Braeden (Dr. Otto Hasslein), Sal Mineo (Dr. Milo)
 
The third in the series of the Planet Of The Apes movies is both a sequel and a prequel (and also a bit of a cheat).
Following events on from Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, three intelligent chimpanzees escape their doomed planet and travel back in time to Earth's past, where they inadvertently start a chain reaction which brings the story of the previous films around into a loop.
Unfortunately, the film has dated badly, since it's set in a year which has now been and gone, but it still has a decent story which ties up well with the rest of the franchise, although Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (qv) delivers a much better alternative.
6/10
 
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (PG)
D: J. Lee Thompson
20th Century Fox (Arthur P. Jacobs)
USA 🇺🇸 1972
85 mins
 
Science Fiction
 
W: Paul Dehn
DP: Bruce Surtees
Ed: Marjorie Fowler & Allan Jaggs
Mus: Tom Scott
PD: Philip Jeffries
 
Roddy McDowell (Caesar), Don Murray (Governer Breck), Ricardo Montalban (Armando), Natalie Trundy (Lisa), Hari Rhodes (MacDonald), Severn Darden (Kolp)
 
Fourth and penultimate film of the original Planet Of The Apes series, set in the 1990's (so it's already dated) when apes revolt against the human race who have enslaved them.
Despite being dated, the movie still has a kitsch value, with some allegorical statements about slavery. 
As an origin story as to how the apes came to be dominant species on Earth, a much better job was done in the 2011 film Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (which is only a loose remake of this). Still, this is a pretty good effort for the early 70's.
5/10

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (15)
D: J. Lee Thompson
20th Century Fox/APJAC (Frank Capra, Jr.)
USA 🇺🇸 1973
86 mins
 
Science Fiction
 
W: John William Corrington & Joyce Hooper Corrington
DP: Richard H. Kline
Ed: Alan L. Jaggs & John C. Horger
Mus: Leonard Rosenman

 
Roddy McDowell (Caesar), Claude Akins (Aldo), Natalie Trundy (Lisa), Severn Darden (Kolp), Lew Ayres (Mandemus), Paul Williams (Virgil), John Huston (The Lawgiver)
 
Fifth and final film of the original Planet Of The Apes saga. Following on from the events of previous films, apes are the only survivors of a nuclear holocaust and are capable of communication through speech.  However, they begin to fight amongst themselves, with gorillas demanding supremacy over the small chimps.
If you're a fan of the previous films in the saga, this is worth watching as a concluding part, but isn't overwhelmingly recommended. Unfortunately, it's very low rent, with low budget action scenes, production design and special effects. Even the (dated) ape makeup looks less convincing in this than in previous films (and they were already beginning to look dated after a few decades).
4/10

Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Battle for the Planet of the Apes