Every Planet Of The Apes Movie Ranked Worst To Best

9. Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1970)

Many people look to the final instalment in the original series - Battle for the Planet of the Apes - as the weakest of the bunch, but in terms of sheer disappointment Beneath the Planet of the Apes takes the cake.

After the brilliance of the original's final twist, Beneath again seemed to focus on Charlton Heston's astronaut protagonist George Taylor, until Taylor was unceremoniously killed off after only a handful of scenes.

The rest of the film is a muddled mess of plotlines and lame twists, as fellow astronaut Brent (James Franciscus) discovers an underground city infested with evil, psychic humans.

As ridiculous as it sounds, Beneath is frankly a disaster which has aged like milk since its release, thanks in equal part to the shocking acting (Heston doesn't want to be there, but at least he donated his salary his charity), Fox's cruelly reduced budget and the awful antagonists.

It may have made enough money to warrant a sequel, but it's still unquestionably the lowest the franchise has ever stooped.