War for the Planet of the Apes (2017, Matt Reeves) In what is billed as the finale of a trilogy arc in this rebooted film series we see the conflict between the apes and humans reach new levels. As per usual in this series, it is a well crafted, well acted film that even more so than before and pleasingly so puts the ape characters front and foremost in the story telling. The film has lots of nods to things for the 1968 original that I was hoping would be weaved into the story-line as well as nods to many other films from The Great Escape to Apocalypse Now. The themes are presented pretty thick on the nose with much of it being an allegory to slavery and the horrors of World War 2. Despite all that it has going for it, I still find something missing, similar to how I felt with the last chapter, luckily however the finale of this film was a lot more grounded. It is certainly a better film than Dawn and more artictic in many ways but I still prefer the thrills of the first chapter, Rise of the Planer of the Apes. 6.5/10
I am constantly forgetting which is the first film...Rise or Dawn. Both sound like they should be the first film. Of course I've only actually seen the first. For whatever reason, I have zero interest in this series.
I found the second one (DAWN) to be a step up from the first, and would definitely recommend giving it a shot. It doesn't have any of the cutesy-baby-monkey stuff that they had to slog through the first time. The advancement in digital effects are also apparent.
A lot of people prefer the 2nd (dawn) so maybe you'll like . I rank them Rise,war, dawn myself though
I caught it last night and enjoyed it. A bit too much "heart" for my taste. The story was well-worn and predictable but still a lot of fun to sit through. This updated trilogy is totally solid and has more rewatchability for me than the original five (I don't care much for the original or BATTLE).
i think I rank/rate them thusly Planet of the Apes (1968) 8/10 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) 7.5/10 Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) 7/10 Escape from the planet of the Apes (1971) 6.5-7/10 War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) 6.5/10 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) 6/10 Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) 5.5/10 Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) 4.5/10 Planet of the Apes (2001) 2/10
I saw this today and really enjoyed it. I find them a little hard to rate and am overall a big fan of the old ones. I think all three of the new ones aren't that far apart in quality. Rise I actually find a little uncomfortable to watch because of some of the sad scenes. Dawn and War really amp up the action and have a totally different feel than Rise. The emotional portions of War felt a little more forced than the first two - but the action was the best of the three. I feel pretty even on all three overall so Id give each of them either a 7.5 or 8 out of ten depending on my mood <: If I absolutely had to rank them though I guess I would go this order as of today War for the Planet of the Apes Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Rise of the Planet of the Apes