Well, after about 6 months of slowly special ordering hard to find DVD movies (at least being in stores), I finally have all 5 of the original Planet of the Apes movies from like 1968 to 1973. I am still looking for a "used" copy of the first Planet of the Apes film on DVD but I am not shelling out $15 for a new copy of a movie that is easy to find. I have it on VHS from broadcast TV from ages back. But now I have the entire "movie" saga of Apes. So next time I get a chance to have the T.V. free on a Saturday, I plan on having an "Ape-a-thon". 8 Plus hours of the original Planet of the Apes serries 1-5 back to back in order. =)

I am sure Sci-Fi channel has already done it before, but I cut cable quite some time ago.

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Some people may think it sucks for the make-up, special effects, etc… But hey, in 1968 CGI was out of the question. Rod Serling wrote the original screenplay for the first movie. (Come on..who hates Twilight Zone?)

But as far as what would be the best ape films to what would be the worst, they pretty much go in the original order…First being the best to the 5th being the worst. They kept the apes serries alive but kept slashing the budget every time which shows as the serries goes on.

I am sure everyone has seen the first original Planet of the Apes, but yes, there were 4 sequals after it. Here is a rundown of each one (trying not to give too much away if you missed them).

Planet of the Apes - 1968

Taylor and his friends wind up traveling almost 2000 years into the future landing on a planet ruled by apes and humans are at the bottom of the food-chain. Eventually he proves that man was the dominant species first despite what the sacred scrolls say for the apes. But why didn't man survive as the dominant species if he was superior? He gets his answer in the end.

Beneath The Planet of the Apes - 1969

Another spacecraft is sent to find out what happened to Taylor and his crew on the same path he took. Brent is the only survivor and discovers ape city and all the horrors Taylor encountered. The Gorilas are bent on war against whatever lives in the Forbiden Zone as famine is becoming a posibility for them and he has lost scouts in the territory. While brent is running from the apes and enters the Forbiden Zone he discovers mutant humans with "no weapons" so to speak except for just one real one…an Atomic Bomb which they worship as thier God. The mutant humans also can read minds and have the power to create visual and sonic illusions to "persuade" theier enemys to co-operate. Milataristic apes vs. mutant humans… who will win?

Escape From the Planet of the Apes - 1971

The serries was to end with the second film, but profits kept rolling in. This was the only direction to take if anybody saw the prior film. Three Chimps manage to salvage Taylors original ship and repair it. They escape just in time as war breaks out, following a reverse course that brought Taylor and his crew threre in the first place. The three apes land on earth in the year 1973. One ape is bumped off by a primitave gorilla in the zoo where there are staying initially but Cornelius and Zira answer some questions to a group about who they are, where they are from (thanks to Zira's big mouth), etc… The world pretty much loves them and finds them charming, but others from the inquiry suspect there is more left out of thier testemony. Eventually they find out there was indead information surpressed… information about humanitys future and more that isn't so pleasent. Zira is also convieniently pregnant which scares certain people into taking action to terminate her pregnancy. Would the birth of one ape such as themselves be the downfall of humanity?

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes - 1972

A plague has killed off all dogs and cats in the 1980's.

Apes have taken thier place as household pets, but humans soon discover just how smart they are. They can be trained to cook, clean, make deliveries, etc… and are soon taken advantage of as they grow and grow. Not able to speak, they become the size of the apes of the future in short time (due to the plague again?) The apes soon get wise to the concept of slavery. If only some intelligent ape could lead them in a revolt. Well, there is ONE such ape who choses the name Ceasar (A King) and is the only one with the power of speach. Although the humans don't know it he is smarter than they think. Right under thier noses he sets the stage for an ape rebelion that may forever change mans destiny for who is in charge. The most violent of the Apes films which was "toned down" to give it at least a PG rating while all the others were G or unrated.

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes - 1973

Eaisly the worst of the Apes films, but yeah…if you want the "whole story"… The low budget comes shining thru on this movie. It is about 10 years after man has decided to "push the button". Citys have been leveled all over the planet and everything is set back to the stone age as apes and men live off the land. Ceasar is the leader of a tribe of apes (and man) trying to work together to have some kind of peace with a new life. Humans however are looked down on as second class citizens. Aldo (A gorilla) would rather just wipe them out… along with an ape or two as he is just power hungry and wants all the recognition. Ceasar want to go into the Forbiden Zone to see archive recordings of his mom and dad but finds out more in the end. He sees what is in the future for them and understands why humans were so paranoid about apes being in control.

He also dicovers there are survivors in the nuked city… suffering from radiation but still kicking and willing to start a war with them obviously not learning their lesson the first time. The DVD also includes a couple of short deleted scenes which I have no idea why they deleted them. It makes the war have a "higher price tag" raising the stakes, and also gives understanding how mutant humans came to worship the Alpha Omega bomb in a religious fashion.

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Top pictures you get an idea of the ape makup. (No orangatang in these…sorry). Bottom Left… No, he wasn't standing too close to the microwave oven…it's just a result of 2000 years of radiation. Please all rise as we sing to our almighty bomb, the saviour of humanity. Wonder what Sunday school is like? Bottom right, Taylor finds out why man is not the dominant spieces on the planet he landed on.