Every Planet Of The Apes Movie Ranked Worst To Best

Initially inspired by Pierre Boulle's novel 1963 novel La Planète des singes, the Planet of the Apes franchise has spawned nine movies, two short-lived TV shows and a handful of tie-in video games.

The first film was produced in 1968, and remains a landmark in the realm of sci-fi moviemaking. It was followed by four popular but inconsistent sequels, before being re-vamped for modern audiences on two separate occasions in the 21st century.

The franchise has also been analysed, reviewed and dissected countless times over the years, due to its lofty racial themes and allusions to the Cold War, colonialism, human rights and animal abuse.

One of the most widely talked about and successful franchises ever made, the Planet of the Apes series owes much of its praise to producer Arthur P. Jacobs, who masterminded the initial five films with varying levels of success thanks to the increased interference of Fox Studios.

Emotionally rich and thematically challenging, the series has had its ups and downs, but there's no doubt it's still one of the most important IPs Hollywood has ever produced.

With that in mind, from the mind-numbing disappointment of the original sequels to the most recent reboot, here are all 9 Planet of the Apes movies ranked worst to best...

This article will contain spoilers.

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.