From the best scenes of the original Planet of the Apes to the subversions of the franchise’s entry, the Planet of the Apes franchise is iconic for its bold storytelling and mind-bending plot twists. However, it’s also unfortunately known for some moments that don’t really make sense, particularly with timeline irregularities and unexplained storylines. The series has always mixed science fiction with big ideas, but along the way, continuity has often been sacrificed in favor of new directions.
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As the story shifts between timelines and introduces new characters, it becomes harder to connect all the dots, especially for those tuning in for the first time. Despite this, the Planet of the Apes movies remain an evolving cultural touchstone. Each new Planet of the Apes installment offers something fresh while still challenging audiences to question the future of humanity in a world governed by intelligent apes, even if the path to get there isn’t always entirely clear.
10 Nova’s Unrealistic Survival
Planet Of The Apes (1968)
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When you combine the fact that humans can’t talk in the original Planet of the Apes movie with their complete lack of significant survival skills or tools, it’s puzzling to imagine how they managed to survive at all. Nova’s survival, for one, is one of the more confusing elements of the story. After Colonel George Taylor (Charlton Heston) crashes on the planet, Nova (Linda Harrison) grows increasingly dependent on him — to the point of it being unconvincing.
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The 1968 title doesn’t exactly explain how Nova survived before meeting Taylor. While it is implied that humans in her state survive purely based on luck or basic scavenging, Nova’s apparent lack of skills makes little to no sense in a world where she had to fend for herself before Taylor showed up. However, because her role seems to exist only as Taylor’s companion rather than a fully developed character, her life before this isn’t given much attention.
9 Dr. Zaius’ Role
Planet Of The Apes (1968)
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Despite being one of the most terrifying villains because he was innately right, Dr. Zaius, played by Maurice Evans, holds two contradictory roles in the original Planet of the Apes movie. He is both the Minister of Science and the Chief Defender of the Faith, which creates a compelling, yet paradoxical, character. Namely, as the Minister of Science, Zaius is meant to be the most knowledgeable ape, in charge of overseeing the scientific progress of his species.
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Yet, despite his scientific background, Zaius rejects any evidence that threatens the apes’ dominant position in the world, especially Taylor’s proof that humans were once highly advanced. The discrepancy makes Zaius a confusing personality: he’s both a scientist and a zealot driven by fear and the need to keep power, rather than seeking the truth. Even though he enriches the story, Dr. Zaius’ characterization doesn’t always make much sense.
8 Taylor’s Lack Of Earth Knowledge
Planet Of The Apes (1968)
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When he crashes on Earth in the initial Planet of the Apes movie, Taylor is surprised by the state of the planet. While the moment could be chalked up to his limited perspective as an individual unfamiliar with Earth’s full history or even the ever-shifting Planet of the Apes franchise timelines, it seems highly unlikely an advanced space-traveling society he came from would not be aware of such changes.
Albeit, in the 1968 title, it is clear that no one knows that humans were once the ruling civilization on Earth. However, again, it feels like a technologically superior species would somehow be aware of this past. In particular, Taylor is shocked to find that humans are no longer the dominant species. Given that he’s an educated astronaut sent to a future version of Earth, Taylor should have been prepared for the collapse of humankind to a reasonable degree.
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7 The Statue Of Liberty Reveal
Planet Of The Apes (1968)
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The moment when Taylor discovers the ruined Statue of Liberty in the 1968 Planet of the Apes ending marked one of the most iconic and memorable twists in cinema history. Yet while it serves as a crucial revelation that flipped the narrative on its head, the scene doesn’t quite add up.
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The environment surrounding Taylor looks completely different, with no recognizable landmarks or features of New York City’s iconic landscape, but, somehow, the Statue of Liberty managed to survive to the point of being recognizable. The way it emerges from the sand makes it appear as though it has been buried for centuries, yet seemingly nothing else has survived. While it’s a shocking plot twist, the environmental mismatch makes it very hard to believe Taylor is actually on Earth. Additionally, the movie doesn’t provide many clues as to what caused this massive change in setting, leaving many questions unanswered.
6 The Disappearance Of Human Technology
The Original Planet Of The Apes Series
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The disappearance of human technology in the original Planet of the Apes series is both a fascinating and somewhat perplexing element of the story. At the beginning of the franchise, particularly in the 1968 original, humans have already fallen into a state of near extinction. On the other hand, the apes have somehow not managed to harness any of the advanced technologies once available to humankind.
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Even though there are differences between Planet of the Apes’ reboot timeline and the original movies, in nearly all the entries, the loss of human technology is depicted as a crucial moment in the collapse of human civilization and the rise of apes. Given the importance of this event, it’s hard to believe that the apes didn’t immediately try to salvage any meaningful technology from humans. Since their society is similar to early human communities, including their eventual use of English, it’s clear the apes had the potential to at least adopt existing concepts.
5 Mae’s Mysterious Mission
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
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While Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’ ending is an exciting one, Mae’s role doesn’t quite hold up all the way through. Played by Freya Allen, Mae is a human who appears out of nowhere and becomes crucial to the film’s plot. Noa and Raka, who are respectively portrayed by Owen Teague and Peter Macon, decide to help her with her mysterious mission.
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”
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes still explores only a fraction of the earth, but hints at a larger universe and teases something even grander on the horizon
.” –
Screen Rant’s
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
review
However, by this point in the rebooted franchise’s timeline, humans are seen as inferior to apes, which makes Raka and Noa’s decision to help Mae fairly strange. Furthermore, Mae’s plan to revitalize humankind with the contents of the mystery vault shown at the very end left many baffled, as it isn’t fully explored in the 2024 installment. With many elements of the plot appearing to set the stage for future films, Kingdom has its fair share of confusing moments.
4 The Time Travel Paradox
Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (1971)
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One of the most puzzling moments in the Planet of the Apes franchise happens in the third installment of the original series, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, when Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) travel back in time to the 1970s. There, Zira gives birth to Milo, later renamed Caesar (Walker Edmiston), who will grow up to lead a rebellion against humans, creating a confusing causal loop.
In the apes’ original future, humans destroy themselves, while apes slowly evolve to become intelligent and take over. By traveling back in time and giving birth to Caesar, Zira directly causes the accelerated rise of intelligent apes as her son becomes the leader of their revolution during his lifetime. In that case, if Caesar leads the apes to take over the world, then the original future, where apes evolved naturally without him, can’t really exist.
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3 Caesar’s origins
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011)
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Instead of building off of Zira and Cornelius’ time travel paradox, Rise of the Planet of the Apes completely discards the original series’ timeline. The 2011 entry reimagined Caesar’s origins, introducing him as a genetically modified chimpanzee who is much more intelligent than other apes due to experimental drug treatments. There is no reference to Zira and Cornelius being his parents, leaving their time-traveling contradiction from Escape from the Planet of the Apes unresolved.
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Although the focus on modern scientific experimentation works for the story and Caesar’s character, creating a seemingly new universe with the same plot as the original films makes the overall narrative inconsistent. Additionally, without Zira and Cornelius as Caesar’s parents, the rebooted Planet of the Apes series arguably lost the emotional weight that connected Caesar’s legacy to the original timeline.
2 The Rise Of The Ape-Race
The Rebooted Planet Of The Apes Trilogy
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The evolution of the apes’ society across the rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy is a particularly confusing part of the franchise. The revived series not only changes Caesar’s origin story but also shows the apes’ rise happening almost instantaneously as a result of human arrogance, whereas the original titles depict it as a slower process driven by the collapse of human society.
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In Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Caesar leads the apes to freedom, after which they start a very basic society in the wild. However, in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which was meant to take place about 10 years later, ape society is already highly advanced, featuring complex infrastructure and a clear social hierarchy. This rapid development doesn’t reflect what is shown in the original series, resulting in a fragmented narrative that might be difficult to make sense of, especially as a first-time viewer.
1 The Role Of The Mutants
Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1970)
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In Beneath the Planet of the Apes, a group of mutant humans living underground worships an atomic bomb, called the Alpha-Omega Bomb, suggesting that nuclear war played a key role in humanity’s downfall. The idea of genetically altered humans worshiping the remnants of their civilization arguably adds an intriguing twist to the series’ lore, but it is troubled by the fact that the mutants never make an appearance again.
Their sudden disappearance is particularly obvious in the original series’ third installment, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, which delves into humanity’s downfall without mentioning the mutants. The mysterious group, who seem integral to the apocalyptic setting and the destruction of Earth in the 1970 entry, are inexplicably forgotten. It seems their storyline was dropped after the bleak ending of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, leaving an unresolved narrative gap and a lingering sense of incompleteness in the Planet of the Apes franchise.
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Planet of the Apes is a multimedia sci-fi franchise that began in 1963 with Pierre Boulle’s novel, which was later adapted into a film in 1968 starring Charlton Heston. The success of the movie led to four sequels, two TV shows, a remake from Tim Burton, and a reboot trilogy. The Planet of the Apes franchise has also seen success in video games and comic books.
Created by Pierre Boulle First Film Planet of the Apes Cast Charlton Heston , Roddy McDowall , Kim Hunter , Maurice Evans , James Whitmore , Linda Harrison , Mark Wahlberg , Helena Bonham Carter , Tim Roth , Michael Clarke Duncan , Paul Giamatti , James Franco , Andy Serkis , John Lithgow , Freida Pinto , Gary Oldman , Keri Russell , Kodi Smit-McPhee , Jason Clarke , Toby Kebbell , Judy Greer , Woody Harrelson , Amiah Miller , Kevin Durand , Dichen Lachman , William H. Macy , Owen Teague , Freya Allan First TV Show Planet of the Apes TV Show(s) Planet of the Apes , Return to the Planet of the Apes Video Game(s) Planet of the Apes , Revenge of the Apes , Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier , Crisis on the Planet of the Apes Expand $195 at AmazonSee at TargetSee at Walmart