A Visual Guide to The Planet of the Apes

 Courtesy of Fox

We believe that there’s no finer type of entertainment than a movie or TV show that contains a talking (non-human) primate. Clearly we were influenced at a very young age by what we consider to be the most under-rated movie of all time — the original Planet of the Apes.

If you’ve never see the Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall classic, well frankly, “Damn you all to hell.” You’d get the joke if you’d seen the flick. Now stop reading (because we’re about to get into some serious spoilers) and go directly to Amazon and download it now. Trust us, it’s worth the $2.99.

Now for those of you that have soaked in all the old-school make-up glory, let’s continue. We remember the Saturday night when our parents went out and left us in the care of our older brother. He sat us down in front of the TV and let the “Apes” magic unfold. We loved every second of it and remember having our tender young minds blown for the very first time at the ending.

We went on the journey Beneath the Planet of the Apes. We enjoyed the Escape from the Planet of the Apes. And we thrilled at both the Conquest of and Battle for the Planet as well. Sure, some trips were more engaging then others but we ate it at all up like a perfectly ripe banana.

The newer flicks have been disappointing to us. We know that the technical advancements are immeasurable. But the heart that Roddy and Kim Hunter could convey through their thick silicon masks couldn't be paralleled.

We’ve revisited the franchise over the years but sporadically and rarely in order. So it can be very confusing to try to trace the chronology from Cornelius to Caesar. But thanks to the good folks at IGN Entertainment, there’s now an infographic that can help us all through the sometimes-challenging timeline. 

We recommend that you don’t jump ahead. Instead set aside a Saturday (day and night), grab the box set and refer to a print out of the Planet of the Apes Cheat Sheet. The chart will guide you from the post-apocalyptic 40^th Century Earth to 191 and all the way back again. Take the journey. It might just leave you thinking just like Taylor did “that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be.” 

 

Created by IGN Entertainment