Every Planet Of The Apes Movie Ranked By How Horrifying The Ending Is

When it comes to franchises, audiences can be pretty sure that, by the end of the movie, the heroes will save the day and things will, for the most part, be fine. Sometimes, the heroes may lose a friend along the way, or, if the studio knows that there will 100% be another movie, a story may end on a cliffhanger, but everyone can be pretty sure that things will be OK. But when it comes to the Planet of the Apes movies, there are no assurances that anything will ever be OK again.

One of the longest running, and strangest, movie series in history, Planet of the Apes started two years after Star Trek and predates Star Wars by a decade. It came at a time when the idea of endless sequels was unheard of, and was never planned to go any further than the first movie. But its massive success changed the game. Since 1968, there have been 10 Planet of the Apes movies, as well as a live-action show and an animated series. And with a new Planet of the Apes movie in the works, the story won’t be ending anytime soon, no matter how dire the final frames of the movies may be.

10

Planet Of The Apes (2001)

Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake is filled with amazing makeup by Stan Winston, but even that wonderful work can’t hide just how bad the movie is. The movie was met with bad reviews from critics and fans of the franchise, and nearly destroyed any hope for future movies, shutting the whole thing down for a decade.

In some ways, this movie has the most horrifying ending of the Apes movies, but only in that it is horrifyingly bad. The film ends with Mark Wahlberg escaping the titular planet of the apes, traveling through space and crashing into what seems like Earth until he sees that the Lincoln Memorial has been replaced with an ape version of the 16th president. The movie was rightfully dismissed by the world.

9

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes

The latest movie in the franchise, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set in the time between what we’ll call the “Caesar II trilogy” and the original film. It sees the evolution of the apes continuing, and seemingly sets up the last “war” between apes and humans as Soona, the primary human character in the movie, leaves the apes and joins a human settlement, reactivating the satellites that orbit Earth and helping the remaining humans communicate.

While not as dire as many of the other Apes movies, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes‘ ending leaves the audience unsettled, knowing that things will not be getting better anytime soon. And, for fans of the series, they know that Soona’s actions will lead to the eventual destruction of what remains of humankind.

8

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

The second chapter of the Caesar II trilogy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes picks up in a world devastated by the Simian Flu and sees humanity and Caesar’s Muir Woods tribe trying to avoid mankind and live a peaceful life. That doesn’t work out and, soon enough the mad ape Koba, who tried to kill Caesar, leads an assault on San Francisco.

Caesar is able to quell the violence, but any hope of humans and apes living in peace have vanished. With no other options, Caesar is forced to prepare his people for a war that he tried so desperately to avoid. Adding to the tragedy of it all is that, in the course of the film, Caesar learns that the humans who once cared for him more than likely died from the very thing that gave him his intelligence.

7

War For The Planet Of The Apes

The final chapter of the Caesar II trilogy that explored the birth of the planet of the apes, War for the Planet of the Apes ends on a bittersweet tone. Caesar, along with his army of evolving apes, are able to stop Woody Harrelson’s Colonel McCullough’s battalion from using apes as slave labor. But, along the way, Caesar is fatally injured and, like the Biblical hero Moses before him, can not join his people in the promised land.

Along with Caesar’s death, the movie shows that the Simian Flu has evolved and is now devolving humans, taking away their ability to speak. This ties into the original Planet of the Apes, which showed a world filled with primitive humans who have no language. And, of course, Colonel McCullough’s battalion, called “Alpha-Omega,” sets up a piece of a puzzle that will lead to the most devastating ending in the franchise.

6

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes

The final film in the original five-part series, Battle for the Planet of the Apes was meant to close out the epic saga despite it taking place long before the events of the first two films. The idea, connecting to the third and fourth films, was that history had changed thanks to time travel, and now humans and apes would live in harmony. Or would they?

Battle for the Planet of the Apes ends with the Lawgiver telling a group of ape and human children the story of Caesar, the chimpanzee who found a way to bring both groups together. Then, as the children dig into their schoolwork, the camera focuses on a statue of Caesar with a tear coming from its eye. The Caesar statue, it seems, knows that nothing but pain lies ahead for apes and man. Even here, in the final chapter of the saga, the people behind Planet of the Apes could not let things close on a hopeful note

5

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

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In some ways, Rise of the Planet of the Apes has the most positive ending of the films. In the last moments, after Caesar and the apes have escaped San Francisco and entered the Muir Woods, Will and Caroline, the only humans still alive who loved Caesar, find him and his group. Caesar comes out of the trees, puts his head to Will’s and says “Caesar… is… home” before taking off into the woods with his people.

Seeing Caesar, who was so mistreated throughout the movie, finally free, is uplifting. At least, it is until the credits start and images show the spread of the Simian Flu and the collapse of society. At that moment, it became clear that the new generation of Apes movies will not shy away from having dark endings, and the fans couldn’t have been happier.

4

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes

The fourth film of the original series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes sees the first ape uprising led by the original Caesar, aka Caesar I, as they take over a futuristic (for 1972) city. Here, the apes, who have been turned into slaves by humanity, speak out for the first time, with Caesar’s “No!” being the cry heard around the world. The film ends with the humans on their knees, still alive only because Caesar commands it.

But the original ending was much bleaker. In the first cut of the film, Caesar commands his ape army to kill the humans, and the film ends with Caesar standing before a burning city as the apes beat every human to death. Truly a very dark finale to a very dark film.

3

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

While the majority of the world may think that the ending of the original Planet of the Apes is as grim as things can get, anyone who has seen all the movies know that, while it is a dark finale, it doesn’t hold a candle to the next two movies in the series.

Still, the ending, with Charlton Heston’s Taylor on his knees in front of a destroyed Statue of Liberty, realizing that humanity destroyed itself in a nuclear war, is horrifying. Audiences in 1968 weren’t ready for it, and even now, when people know the ending long before they even see the movie, it still hits like a ton of bricks. Part of it is how the film fades to black, with nothing but the sound of the crashing waves on the beach as the credits roll.

2

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes

For the third movie in the original Apes saga, the filmmakers decided to mix things up and make a comedy, but that didn’t stop them from ensuring that everyone walked out of the theater crying their eyes out. In the film, chimpanzee doctors Zira, Cornelius, and Milo have escaped the planet of the apes and gone back in time, ending up in the early 1970s. After poor Milo is quickly killed off, Zira and Cornelius become celebrities thanks to their ability to talk.

But when the US government finds out that apes will one day rule the world, and that the child Zira is pregnant with will start the downfall of humanity, they do what governments always do: try to kill the problem. The film ends with US military tracking Zira, Cornelius, and their newborn baby to a shipyard and killing all three. But, in a twist, we do see that Zira and Cornelius’ actual baby is alive and well in a traveling circus. So, in some ways, the ending has a positive note, except that we all know that the baby chimp will become Caesar and bring about the end of mankind.

1

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes

No one involved with the original Planet of the Apes expected to make a sequel, but when one was ordered by 20th Century Fox, they got to work on it. Still, the creators, especially writer Paul Dehn, were certain that this second film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, would be the last one. Movie franchises just weren’t a thing at the time. Adding to it all was that Charlton Heston only agreed to return if they killed his character, Taylor, off in the movie. The producers agreed. More than that, they decided that Heston’s character wouldn’t just die, he would blow up the whole planet.

In Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the apes face off against mutant humans who live underground and worship a nuclear bomb they call the “Alpha Omega.” Caught in the middle of it all is Brent, an astronaut who was sent out to search for the ship Taylor was on, and Taylor himself. In the final moments of the film, as the apes, the mutants, Brent, and Taylor all battle it out, Brent and Taylor are shot up. Brent dies instantly, but, with his last breath, Taylor sets off the Alpha Omega doomsday bomb.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes ends with the screen turning a blinding white as the sound of a rocket is heard. A voice-over comes in, stating…

In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe lies a medium-sized star. And one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet, is now dead.

Talk about horrific. Not only does the movie end with the whole world dying, it also reminds the viewer that, in the grand scheme of things, our very existence means nothing to the universe. What a bummer. But, on a happy note, they kept making Planet of the Apes movies anyway.

Video Game(s)

Planet of the Apes, Revenge of the Apes, Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier, Crisis on the Planet of the Apes

Cast

Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, Linda Harrison, Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, James Franco, Andy Serkis, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jason Clarke, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer, Woody Harrelson, Amiah Miller, Kevin Durand, Dichen Lachman, William H. Macy, Owen Teague, Freya Allan

Created by

Pierre Boulle