Look, if you’re trying to figure out the order of the Planet of the Apes movies, you’ve probably realized it's a bit of a mess. It’s not like Harry Potter where you just go 1 to 8. This franchise has been around since the sixties, and it’s basically rebooted itself, jumped through time, and even created weird loops that don’t always make sense if you think about them for too long.
Honestly, the "right" way to watch them depends on what kind of movie fan you are. Do you want the shock of the original twist? Or do you want to see the literal rise of the apes from the very start of the virus?
Most people just want a clear path through the chaos. There are ten movies in total now—with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes being the most recent heavy hitter—and three distinct "eras" to keep track of. Let's break it down without the corporate fluff.
The Release Date Order: The OG Experience
If you ask a purist, they’ll tell you to watch them in the order they hit theaters. Why? Because the 1968 original has one of the greatest endings in cinema history. If you watch the prequels first, you kinda ruin that "holy crap" moment.
- Planet of the Apes (1968) – The classic. Charlton Heston, stinky humans, and a lot of sand.
- Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) – Things get weird. Underground mutants and a very "explosive" ending.
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) – Paradox time! Two apes travel back to the 70s. It’s actually really charming until it gets heartbreaking.
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) – This is where the revolution starts. Dark, gritty, and feels very different from the others.
- Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) – The budget was low, but it tries to wrap everything up in a neat (if slightly clunky) bow.
Then you have the Tim Burton Remake (2001). Honestly? You can skip it. It stars Mark Wahlberg and has a "twist" that left everyone scratching their heads back in the early 2000s. It doesn't connect to the other movies at all. It’s its own island.
Then we hit the modern era, which most people call the "Caesar Trilogy" plus the new one:
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- 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)
The Chronological Order: Watching the World Fall
If you want the story to flow like a history book, you’ve gotta start with the modern movies. They explain how the apes got smart and why humans lost their ability to speak.
The Modern Prequel Era (The "Caesar" Years)
Basically, these movies happen first in the timeline. We start in a lab in San Francisco where a scientist (James Franco) is trying to cure Alzheimer’s. He accidentally creates a super-intelligent chimp named Caesar and a virus that wipes out most of humanity.
Rise happens in the 2010s. Dawn jumps forward ten years to a world where society has collapsed. War is just a few years after that. By the end of this trilogy, the "Planet of the Apes" is firmly established.
The Bridge: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
This one is tricky. It takes place roughly 300 years after Caesar dies. It’s still technically a prequel to the 1968 movie, but it shows the world "many generations" later. Apes are the dominant species, and humans are basically wild animals living in the woods.
The Far Future: The 1968 Original
The 1968 movie takes place in the year 3978. That’s almost 2,000 years after the events of the modern movies. So, if you’re watching chronologically, you’d watch the four modern films, then jump thousands of years into the future to see Charlton Heston’s crew crash-land their ship.
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Does it all actually fit together?
Kinda. Sorta. Not really.
If you look closely, there are "contradictions." In the 1970s movies, they say the apes took over because of a plague that killed cats and dogs, leading humans to take apes as pets. In the 2011 reboot, it’s a lab-grown virus called the Simian Flu.
Director Wes Ball and the writers of the newer films have been pretty smart about this. They treat the new movies as a "spiritual prequel." They aren't trying to match every single date and detail of the 1968 film. Instead, they are showing how a world like that one could come to be.
Expert Tip: Think of the modern movies as a "reimagined" history. They capture the spirit of the originals but use modern science (genetics) instead of the 70s sci-fi tropes (space viruses and talking chimps from the future).
Where Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Fits In
Kingdom is the start of a new chapter. It follows a young ape named Noa. He doesn't know Caesar personally—to him, Caesar is a legend or a religious figure.
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This movie is crucial because it bridges the gap between the "grounded" world of the Caesar trilogy and the "fantasy" world of the 1968 classic. We start seeing things like the "Lawgiver" ideas and the perversion of ape philosophy.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Binge Watch
If you’re ready to dive in, don’t just hit "play" on whatever's on Netflix. Follow this plan to get the most out of the order of the planet of the apes movies:
- For the First-Timer: Watch the 1968 original first. Just do it. The twist is iconic for a reason. Then, skip to the 2011 reboot (Rise) and finish the modern saga. If you’re still hungry for more, go back to the 70s sequels.
- For the Completionist: Go in release order. It’s the only way to see how special effects evolved—from rubber masks to the mind-blowing motion capture of Andy Serkis.
- The "Clean" Timeline: Watch Rise, Dawn, War, and Kingdom. This is a perfectly contained story that doesn't require any knowledge of the old movies. It’s arguably one of the best sci-fi sagas ever made.
Stop worrying about the paradoxes. The beauty of this franchise isn't in a perfect timeline—it's in seeing how power shifts between species and how history eventually turns into myth. Grab some popcorn and start with Rise if you want the best CGI, or the 1968 original if you want the best vibes.
Next Steps:
Check your streaming services for Rise of the Planet of the Apes—it’s the most logical starting point for modern viewers. If you find yourself confused by the ending of Kingdom, re-watch the opening of War to see how Caesar's original "Apes Together Strong" motto was actually intended before it was corrupted by later generations.