1. Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes, a loose adaptation of Pierre Boules novel, became a smash hit thanks to its groundbreaking make-up and one of the best twists of all time (now ruined by the cover of the DVD). But it has endured because it provided a mirror up to our own society, highlighting the differences and scarily the similarities between the simian society it presents and our own. The haunting and iconic final image sticks in the mind not only because we find out weve been on Earth all along, but because the entire scenario was born from our meddling. It would have been easy for any sequel to drop this theme in favour of monkey business, but thankfully that isnt what happened. Beneath the Planet of the Apes was released two years after and if anything amps up these cultural elements; religion is a larger part of ape society and the roles of each sub-species becomes more extreme (gorillas are more brutal, orang-utans more scheming, chimpanzees more scared of confrontation). On top of that, the nuclear threat is addressed more directly through the mutants; subterranean survivors of a nuclear war who worship an unexploded doomsday device. Beneath does admittedly look a little rougher around the edges the lower budget is clear from the inferior ape make-up and it falls into the same trap as Psycho II of repeating a scene from the original at the start. On top of that, the plot takes a while to get going; after a contrived opening (due to Charlton Hestons lack of enthusiasm, Taylor literally disappears into thin air and another astronaut just happens to crash land nearby), its happy to revisit people and places of the original for the first act. However, once the apes are riled to war, theres no denying the ambition on show. The mutants, who live a beautiful, matte painted representation of destroyed New York, are a surprisingly strong addition who bring even more modern day relevance (for 1972 that is). More than any film on this list, Beneath isnt just living in the shadow of the original. The tone is different, characters develop and it doesn't hold back. This is shown best with the shocking ending, where a mortally wounded Taylor sets off the doomsday device, destroying the Earth. Its a ballsy move, giving Heston his promised prize of no more ape antics and essentially ending the franchise. Of course, that wasnt the end. Through questionable use of time travel the original series stretched for three more movies of decreasing quality, followed by a couple of attempts to reboot the franchise of varying success. But its safe to say Beneath is the only sequel in the mega-franchise to work as a functional sci-fi in its own right.