25 Astonishingly Dumb 21st Century Film Oscar Wins

23. The Planet Of The Apes Trilogy Repeatedly Losing Best Visual Effects

Catherine Zeta-Jones Chicago 2002
20th Century Fox

2012 Winner: Hugo.

2015 Winner: Interstellar.

2018 Winner: Blade Runner 2049.

The rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy - 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes - was not only a generally great series of films, but it also represented some of the most captivating special effects work of the 21st century. The motion-capture work on the apes was simply extraordinary.

So, it's pretty bloody depressing that none of the films won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

OK, Hugo was a perfectly deserving winner in 2012 as that film was absolutely stunning, but the other two years is a completely different story.

Interstellar and Blade Runner 2049 both had very impressive visuals but didn't do anything massively memorable in this regard and neither film offered special effects as impressive or interesting as Dawn or War did.

Make no mistake, this trilogy was robbed.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.