"Don't look for it, Taylor you may not like what you find." Zayeus dropping the best line of the movie imo.

The absolutely irony that throughout the entire movie we've been experiencing Jerry Goldsmith's masterful score, and then at the end with Heston's realization, the Statue Of Liberty, and the credits....he decides to give us no music at all. Just the sound of the waves crashing. Chilling cinematic brilliance.

I snuck out of my room in 68 and walked across town with my friends to watch this movie when it first came out. Porter theater in Porterville Calif. I got in trouble when I got home, but man was it worth it!!!

Imagine that crushing reality hitting home. He was on earth all the time, in a twisted grotesque future, unable to ever return home, for his home lay in the past.

That has got to be one of the best film endings of all time.

Excellent ending. The Statue Of Liberty, which was a gift of friendship, gets destroyed because of mankind’s hate.

The ending is even more powerful when paired with the opening scene. Taylor was hoping humanity had become kinder and wiser, but they never had a chance

"Don't look for it Taylor, you may not like what you find" gives me chills.

What gets me is the complete absence of music in the last minute.

I will never forget how I felt when I saw this for the first time in the 70's....people were truly shocked...some even cried...

"We finally, really did it!" That line will haunt me for as long as I live. Until the day we finally, really do it.

Rod Serling was a genius. He wrote the ending and I wish they would have kept his entire screenplay.

Love the comment by Dr. Zaius "Don't look for it Taylor. You may not like what you find." It's a chilling narrative that Dr. Zaius knew what happened to the planet thousands of years ago based on the ancient scrolls and tried to bury it when he discovered Taylor in ape city. The ending definitely haunted me for a long time knowing that it *could* happen someday.

this was the best twist ending in film history!!! even today I get chills!!!

The ending is clever, but the part that resonates with me is when he says "the forbidden zone was once a paradise - your breed made a desert of it". Meaning Earth was once a beautiful garden, but look what we've done with it. George Carlin said in a stand up routine on the state of the environment "have you taken a look at the place lately, have you seen it? Its embarrassing!"

“What will he find out there, Doctor?” “His destiny.”

The sound of the waves at the end is what made it so chilling and still gives me goose bumps , and I'm in my fifty's now . That was ingenious of them !!!

This is all the way up there with "I am your father" from Empire Strikes Back, and unfortunately, this final image is used in the film's poster and DVD packaging and every other bit of media to do with this movie. What a way to spoil such an iconic moment. And I don't care if "everyone knows about it already", there are new people discovering these movies all the time.

I remember first seeing this at a drive-in movie theater with my parents when I was a kid. The ending blew me away and still does to this day. Has to be the greatest movie ending ever.

At least now he can live rent-free with a beautiful woman in New York City!

Even if we already know the ending of the movie, the way the story is presented towards that moment (with Dr. Zaius' words to Zira and Cornelius once Taylor has left them, the slow pace of the ride in the horse, the creepy music...) still work perfectly to create an unforgettable moment.

You really had to grow up during this time to truly feel this movie. The cold war. Vietnam protests. I was 11 when this movie came out and was lucky to be associating with kids that had brains and we would talk about life, the world, events etc. Now it is just interesting science fiction, but back then the impact on movie goers was stunning. Sarcasm was very common where I grew up, whether we realized it or not. Heston's character in this move displayed a lot of that.

I can still remember the chill that ran thru my body while watching that scene reveal itself, sitting in the packed theater as a 6th grader. Pretty heavy stuff back in '68.

This cinematic climax is the most shocking moment in film history.

I'm glad this twist occurred over 50 years ago; if something this great happened these days; it would be spoiled all the way on social media, and there would be lots of haters acting as pseudo-critics, saying the film is overrated.

I was 13 years old when I saw this movie on a huge screen. Have never forgotten the shock of this ending--The very last thing one would expect -- realizing where you were. Brilliant.

When I first saw this, the ending shook me to the core.

I was wrong I was on earth all along

This film scared me as a child. Seeing human beings being so helpless and treated with cruelty shocked me. In the TV series the character who was the most frightening was Urko.

You can keep all your Tim Burton re-imaginings. This is a classic. I will never forget seeing this ending for the first time on television. Truly shocking. The entire movie becomes something else in the last 30 seconds.

To me this is one of the most devastating climaxes in the history of films. Charlton Heston is my favourite actor of all time, Ben-Hur is my favourite film of all time, and Heston is the master at responding to devastation and disappointment, like when Judah and Messala's friendship is broken, and here, no one else could say, 'Damn you all to hell...' and make the revelation so shocking. A brilliant actor with a brilliant body of work. The Omega Man is a masterpiece as well. Rest In Peace Mr. Heston 🙂

I saw it the first time it came out in the last 1960s and still it gives me the goosebumps when those spikes appear in the left side of the screen.

One of the most disturbingly iconic plot twists of all time. They don't make them like this anymore!

One of the greatest scenes in movie history remember what seen this movie at the Culver theater Culver City California back in 1968

I was 12 years-old elementary school pupil when I watched Planet of the Apes with my grandmother at a movie theater in Japan. Though this story was tough for a 12 yearls-old Japanese boy to understand completely , this final footage left me unforgettable memory in my mind.

Charlton Heston was perfect for roles that could deliver moral / ethical messages.

@1:08, That's my favorite line in the movie."Don't Look for it Taylor, You may not like what you find".

I stumbled upon this clip by accident, and boy oh boy does this bring back memories. I grew up in a desperately poor family. My dad was legally blind and my mother supported the family by working as a bookkeeper in a nursing home. There was absolutely no money for any non-necessities. Anything I had such as a baseball mitt or a bike with salvaged from the garbage. This was the first movie I ever attended. When I was 6 or 7 years old my dad took my brother and I to the Dale theater in the Bronx. Of course being an impatient man, my dad wouldn't wait until the movie started again and brought my brother and I inside just to see this scene in the movie. More than 50 years later this still sticks in my craw. Of course for 30 seconds or so suddenly I found myself lost in the memory of walking into the movie theater that was so dark and then looking at a screen being so excited for an adventure with my dad. I can even remember the brown jacket and the aftershave my dad was wearing. The taste of the burnt popcorn was also heaven. I did so few things with my dad because of our poverty and his health issues that as an old dude it is a reminder that he really cared. However, I still wish I started the movie from the beginning.

As an eleven year old, I watched this at the movies with my now deceased father circa 1976. Best movie he ever took me to see. 👏🏆

Everyone always talks about the statue of liberty but the best part of the ending to me is - Dr Zaius talking about how Man is a born killer and destructive, with his voice and the great dialogue its brilliant.

I had not seen this movie until my early adulthood. I knew nothing of the "twist ending" or pretty much anything about this movie. I only saw it because I happened to run across it showing on TV. Anyway, I couldn't stop watching it, then came the end. I was completely shocked. I felt a sense of horror, despair, and sadness all at once. I can only imagine the theater reactions during it original run. I became hooked. I purchased a box set and watched every iteration of this series over and over again. Yeah, you could say this movie is powerful. Though they have tried, no other planet of the apes movie has ever matched the horrific ending of this original one.

I can only imagine how absolutely insane it must have been to witness this twist ending in theaters back in the 60s…

One of the movie history's most impressive and legendary endings. Love this picture!

I guess back there 1968 when nobody knows the ending, it must be really shocking

I saw this for the first time in 2015. Surprisingly I never had it spoiled and I was SHOCKED with this scene. Wow!!

Now after watching this I understood what Alex said in Madagascar

This whole movie played out like an extended Twilight Zone episode, no surprise since Rod Serling was one of the writers

I like how this twist still works even if you know it. In hindsight it's glaringly obvious that they were on Earth the entire time and Taylor was just deluding himself about man's self-destruction right up until the last second. He couldn't accept that they "really finally did it."

the twilight zone also used cunning twist endings like this one!!!

This ending gets better every time I watch it

I think it bears mentioning, given Heston's direction of travel and the distance he traveled before coming across the Statue, that the cradle of Ape Civilization is Red Bank, NJ.

R.i.p. Charlton Heston!

Don’t look for it Taylor...you may not like what you find. Such a great line delivered beautifully.

The cut off took away some of the edge. I saw it in the theater. Fades to black while you can hear the waves crashing against the shore. The audience was transfixed in their seats. Their soul was penetrated. It made them think . . . think thoughts that stay suppressed 99% of the time. Darkness that traps some people inside of it, and for others it steels their resolve to bring the light.

the dialogue in this final scene was awesome and suspenseful!!

At least he's with a sexy woman

That "damn you all to hell" and "you maniacs,you blew it up" line/s are in the game, 60 seconds in the random notes 0°0

One of the most chilling endings to a sci- Fi movie. Based on a story by Rod Serling ( The twilight Zone)

Epic ending.......but so depressing for mankind

Seeing this as a child impacted me so much.

"That's a shame." - Jerry Seinfeld

…"his density.."

Zaius was correct. The BEAST which is Man is what we are, and none of this is redeemed by our art culture and philosophy. indeed these good point only heighten and deepen the outrage and as for the ending which i saw at about 10 years old in 1968 when the movie fist came out, one of the most powerful cinematic images OF ALL TIME

Dr. Zaius claims that humans are stupid, yet he keeps making the mistakes that destroyed human kind. Considering the apes superior to any other race, enslaving the ones that could threaten him, forbidding the knowledge of the past, and ultimately creating a society that pretty much resembles ours. In the end you could say that the problem is not the race but intelligence itself. Intelligence brings self-awareness and through it we end up feeling "not good enough", thus striving to prove our value by unnecessary subduing other species and, in the end, our own. It's a sad reality, this one we live in

First time I ever watched this was as a teen in the early 90s. Made me cry. And Heston's performanc of anger, grief, and pain in this scene really came across as he literally cursed at humanity.

One of the best films ever made with many societal themes and struggles which are still relevant today and sadly always will be..

For 1968 the ape mask make up was incredible not sure but i think they might have got some kind of oscar for it

One of the greatest twist endings in film history!

best ending to any film ever

A new Adam & Eve

I've seen the movie for the first time, and this ending freaked the shit out of me!

Just put some Seinfeld music get that ending and it’s gold lol

Only one other man did this scene perfectly, HOMER SIMPSONS

I was 12 years old when this movie came out I remember going to the neighborhood theater to Logan square theater here in Chicago we couldn't wait for the sequels to come out it's incredible the Logan square theater is still up and running after all these decades

The movie makes so much sense now in May 2022.

Doctor Zaius and Taylor I feel had a respect for one another. And Dr Zaius was right about what his reaction was when he found what was in the forbidden zone , and in an odd way he was trying to protect Taylor’s well being and feelings by imploring him not to go further

I remember seeing this scene for the first time and am guessing early 80's perhaps as early as 1981. After seeing this scene as a kid I reacted privately with a big woo. POTA was played after school time. We also got Godzilla and the 80's series of the POTA which I loved that incomplete series. VCR's existed some did have them but most of us didn't acquire them until around 1985.

Saw all five of these movies at the drive in as a child in one night!Loved it!

I watch them all day every holiday season. Classics and they really teach man a lesson if you pay attention .

What will he find out there Doctor........the Kardashians

I think this is my "Samus Aran" of film endings. How I mean is that back in the late 80s or early 90s, everyone thought Aran was a man, unless they unlocked that secret ending Metroid had, and if you told your friends, they'd laugh at the prospect of the "shock and freeze" secret ending, waving it off as absurd, allowing them to be surprised regardless. That plot twist has been castrated in time by ZOMG ZERO SUIT SAMUS! And now that "secret" is common knowledge. it's like nobody even knows that it was a plot twist at one point. This iconic ending has been parodied, replicated, and paid omage or tribute to so many times that I don't know if I'll ever truly experience the "shock and freeze" in all it's intended glory here.

“OH MY GOD I WAS WRONG! IT WAS EARTH ALL ALONG!”-Troy McClure in Planet of the Apes the Musical

I never forgot this ending when I saw it for the first time in high school. It sat with me heavily then, being an 18 year old in 1998

This movie is such an interesting study of so many different observations. One is orthodoxy. The orangutans seem stubborn and obtuse. Caricatures of priests and myths. But there are deeper truths in the myths, deeper than the reality of Heston's spoken curses and paper planes. The orangutans know more than they let on. Heston doesn't know the nature of what he is, although he constantly acts as though he does, in the early part of the film, denigrating the people he left. His cynicism, laughing at his colleague planting a little American flag, is changed to tears when he sees the fallen Statue of Liberty.

"Why must knowledge stand still? What about the future?" "I may just have saved it for you." Whenever I rewatch this film, I always feel sad for Dr. Zaius. Yes, he's a villain and he does cruel things, but I completely understand why he does it. At the end of this film, he hopes that sealing the cave will prevent ape society from being thrown into a crisis and suffering a similar fate to the humans.

I saw this on CBS as a child.This is the first movie that shocked me.I was just stunned and shaking to my core.And like him I thought this was another planet.

Happy days as a kid back in the 70's when TV was great!!!.☮️🙏💎😎

I watched this with my family and it really was captivating...up until the very last moment after Heston yelled "Damn you all to hell" and my brother asked "Can we go to the fun side now?" I couldn't help it, I started laughing!

Isn't it pretty obvious they're on Earth all along, when the apes spoke English?

Love this picture. Charlton Heston good actor one of the best".

Back (in the day)... this scene was POWERFUL! Nowadays, though, a remake would have the McDonalds sign...

Great ending, WOWed me as a kid.. This movie was rerun in 80s on Channel 11 afternoon movie in NYC/NJ area. I'm 45 now... I always wondered after the movie ended, what he would do next?

I remember that set at Point Dume when I was a kid, also the Village set at Malibu Canyon State Park. The Village set stayed up for many years.

That last line Charlton Heston makes and John Conner's "The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves." from the Terminator franchise are both ominous life lessons that despite our delusions of ourselves desiring peace and harmony we really are what the Bible always describes us as a fallen creation but still with the ability to change our fate. Think of a criminal reaching a point where he finally realizes he has to choose one of 2 fates. One where he might be in the grave or in jail for the rest of his life which would be worse than death, or he can change his own future by choosing a different path. The person is still capable of the worst, but he chooses the different way. Point is there is nothing we can do about our corrupt and violent nature, it's just something we are stuck with, but it doesn't mean we have to be slaves to that instinct. We can choose the better path. Is this the end all be all to our nature? Probably not, some situations require a response we don't like and sometimes our nature is greater than our reason, that's just the price we have to accept. However, at least we can practice the wisdom to know the difference between fights that are worth fighting and those that are better left alone.

This is how you get a message across. Not with preaching and screaming and being annoying as that just aggravates people. You do something like this which entertains and at the very end makes it's point and leaves the entire audience in collective silence. Another great example is the Apollo 8 pic of earth. That put the entire environmental movement into high gear yet it said nothing. It was a picture. but it had an impact on most who saw it.

What some may not know is that this film is basically one long "Twilight Zone" episode! as Rod Sterling did the screenplay! (ergo the brilliant ending!) One of the few times in history that a rewrite was better that the books!

By far the best cliffhanger i've seen...

This will be my 5th watch of the 5 original movies. I watch them every 10 years.

My Favourite ending of all time shocking, mind blowing, and just awesome the reaction of Taylor is what fear looks like best ending period.

Watched many many many times ...