For an even deeper dive into the Planet of the Apes series, head on over to Nebula for an exclusive 25-minute discussion on the original Planet of the Apes sequels: nebula.tv/videos/lsoo-the-most-bonkers-franchise-of-the-20th-century Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: nebula.tv/lsoo What do you think about the Planet of the Apes series? What are your expectations for the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes? Let me know below!

I gotta say I disagree about War. I think Caesar losing hope in himself and his ability to lead the apes only to be thrown into prison with them and agonizingly learn that he can and needs to fight for them and that there's only hope where we make it was really powerful.

One of the coolest parts about Caesar’s story in the movies is his level of intelligence compared to the other apes. He had inherited the 112 and he got 2 separate doses of the 113, putting him on a completely different level than the other apes. He could have easily thought he was superior to them, but he had so much love and compassion in his heart that he wanted nothing but for them to be safe and live happily.

The moment Caesar speaks in Rise, not just repeating but answering in defiance, will forever be one of the most powerful cinematic experiences I will ever have

"They're doomed, you know." "Yes. But... a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts."

I remember the fight between Caesar and Malfoy the first time in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The theaters went on cheering in the 2011 release. But when the moment Caesar said "NO!", the entire theater went dead silent. What an amazing moment!

Whenever I see Andy Serkis, I get a little pissed that he doesn’t have an Oscar. If they ever create a mo cap category he should be retroactively awarded one for every role he’s done.

I honestly love how much attention this trilogy has seemed to be getting lately. I've always felt these films are criminally underrated, especially Dawn.

They put characters first. What a WILD concept.

I think what makes War the perfect third movie for me IS the revenge plot, but ONLY because the second movie does such a great job building up Caesar's family. It makes their deaths shocking, brutal, and truly feel unjust. In lesser directorial hands the the second movie would have had just left Caesar's kid as a background easter egg. But having him go through such a well developed arc in Dawn makes his brutal death (and his wife's) hit so hard.

My interpretation of the Aldo/Caesar discontinuity is that the Planet of the Apes timeline is not a closed loop. Meaning that Cornelius is indeed from a timeline where Aldo was the first Ape to rebel, thereby creating a society doomed to emulate the self-destructive tendencies of humans, while Caesar created a timeline where the apes learned from the mistakes of humans and ultimately created a more harmonious future that managed to avoid destruction.

This is the most underrated film trilogy of all time, both in terms of quality and technical achievement. I also think it's the very rare example of a trilogy that I personally felt got even better with each installment, despite already starting with an A+ right out of the gate.

“You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.”

I just watched Dawn, Rise, and War for the first time this year, in 2024! I’ve always been a huge sci-fi/fantasy nerd, but I’ve never watched these because they just didn’t look like they would be that interesting. I was so wrong. my jaw literally dropped open and my eyes popped open when Caesar said “NO” in the first film! I just finished war of the planet of the apes, and I love all of them. They’re so well MADE, which is rare these days! The CGI and motion capture still hold up amazingly, I thought all of the expressions in their faces was just incredible. So glad I gave them a chance.

Just thinking about Caesar responding to Draco Malfoy in Rise gives me goosebumps. They used that line from the original movie perfectly. Way better than it was used in Tim Burton's ape movie.

One of the things I loved in Rise (I just watched it last night because of this video) was that it seemed to argue that intelligence is tied to kindness. As Caesar developes thought and speech, it is shown through him showing kindness and care and connection. He shows tool use by helping his grandfather eat breakfast. He shows an understanding of social connection by protecting that grandfather. He solves the problem of being bullied not just through intelligence but by being kind to Buck. I would argue that even leading that revolution and escape was him bringing that kindness to the beings that were denied it.

the production quality EXCEEDS the highest standards of all the media I consumed in last few years Well done

The reboot trilogy is so damn underrated despite being acclaimed and grossing over 1.5 billion at the BO ! 😢

I like the one with James Franco, I love how it delved deep into the lore of the ape's evolution and the acting is fantastic.

I watched the three most recent ones (Rise, Dawn, War) and I absolutely loved them. Can’t wait for Kingdom

YES. I've always thought these films were so underrated

One of my favorite things about this trilogy, and I think a big reason which makes it stand apart, is that each movie is a whole arc and its own story. The themes are allowed to change and evolve from movie to movie, the world is also allowed to really change and progress, and each movie has it's own, mostly self-contained story to tell, that are each allowed to end.

For me the third one is the best, as for me, it is in the third movie that we truely understand why caesar is the saviour and ultimate leader of the apes, it's easy to judge a man when you don't go through what he go through, in war, caesar truely understand koba, and could have fallen just like koba, but it's his ability and his love for the apes that makes him the best leader, his character development in this movie is the best as in this one we truely saw caesar at his most devastating stage and how he came back. One of the best trilogy, and for me the 2nd is better than the 1st, so the trilogy was just getting better in the latter movies too!

It always amazed me how fluidity the modern trilogy flowed between settings and human characters. Like, oh this is post-apocalyptic now? Cool! Never felt forced or janky. Honestly can’t wait to see the new one in theatres.

That shot of Koba on the tank in Dawn is incredible.

Hell yeah! These movies are so fantastic and I cannot complain about the crazy usage of CGI... I mean, the apes look ALIVE, so amazing! Way better than Avatar. I love the close shots too, especially with Maurice when he gives back the doll. And the story! The journey of Caesar and his tribe is almost Biblical, the characters have their own personalities, they grow and change during the movies. This trilogy has everything. It is my second favorite after LotR.

The idea of language being unique to humanity is fascinating. Think of Narnia where talking animals are regarded as equal to humans. The Ancient Greeks had the Logos, both reason and word. Somehow, we have always understood that our ability to speak separated us from the animals more than any other quality.

The old planet of the apes movies feel like the old godzilla movies, just sci fi writers shooting the shit and thinking of crazy new ways to introduce their practical effects. Really worth watching, at least stoned asf lmao

My dad watched the original as a kid and then during Covid-19 I watched all the original movies. I still have to see the new movies.

The only real problem I have with war is the death of Blue Eyes being off screen when he was such an important character in Dawn. He was second only to Caesar really and then he's just snuffed out in a case of mistaken identitiy along with Cornelia (who really should have had more of a presence anyway). Blue Eyes and Lake should have been the hope for the future at the end.

It's Dawn & War that made me trust in Matt Reeves with The Batman mythos.

I don't think the new movies are purely about some kind of man vs animal theme insofar as it has become a "Clash of Civilizations" theme. The Apes have learned to be just as capable as us, just as organized as us, just as sophisticated as us, but they reject our way of doing things in favor of their own culture and society and methodology. And because of these differences, it's a struggle to share the same space with them and not develop into conflict. If that doesn't sound familiar to you, you haven't been following world news enough. To use the words of the cultural scholar Samuel Huntington - "What is Universality to the West is Imperialism to the Rest" Well, the Apes here are certainly tired of being 'imperialized' upon, measured by standards not of their own making.

Fascinating. I never would have thought to examine the Plant of the Apes films through the lens of speciesism. Frans de Waal's frustration at 15:36 is something all animal rights advocates are all too familiar with, because _morally_ speaking, there _is_ nothing special about humans that somehow justifies the exploitation, suffering, and death that humans regularly subject animals too. Language is certainly one of many things that sets humans apart, but in terms of morality, those things as arbitrary as the color of one's hair-a knife across the throat by any other name cuts just as deep. The unexamined assumption of human supremacy is just that, an unexamined assumption. Attempting to rationalize it inevitably leads to some trait or other (like language) being held up as _the_ trait, but the results of such motivated reasoning just as inevitably crumble under the ever-growing accumulation of evidence that blurs the lines between humans and non-humans. Damn, you've made me actually want to watch the reboot films now LSOO!

I think the best aspect of 'war' is for me, that its a progression to dawn, where ceasar learnd apes can be monsters. Now he learns that he himself can be a monster. Its honestly a reflection for all of us. We all can be heroes, and we all can be monsters.

I forgot how much I loved the determinism of the original trilogy where Caesar’s parents are from the future and he’s the messiah.

Re: War, I must say I don’t share your perspective regarding the tone ruining my enjoyment. I think that it was appropriate given where the last movie left off, and I’m glad that it wasn’t afraid to explore the dark depths of humanity. I also think that it’s counterbalanced enough by more hopeful moments, and makes the ending feel a lot more earned knowing the hell the characters have gone through (which is appropriately bittersweet seeing Caesar accomplish his mission, but unable to join his people in the promised land as a consequence of putting his desire for revenge over their needs, a la Moses being forbidden from entering Canaan due to disobeying an order from Yahweh).

Matt Reeves is possibly the best director of our time. He’s horribly underrated. The kind of artist who will only be truly appreciated long after he’s left this earth. Also, I asked for the VHS box set of planet of the apes for Christmas when I was like 8 years old. I spent the whole week before school started watching those movies. My parents probably thought I was crazy. Lol. Those movies are a trip.

Andy Serkis gives an amazing performance as Caesar through acting and motion capture performances in all three movies!

24:49 Is it me or the human hand intentionally resembles ape's one in that shot?

Its funny that he calls War a revenge movie because while its easy to just think of that first and foremost, when i first watched it i didnt care about Caesar's family and focused on how Caesar viewed his compassion as a failure again and that he was tired of being the leader the apes needed him to be. At the end of the movie his interaction with the Colonel wasn't about revenge, it was about the cold slow death of the human race and how revenge could be taken or not, but it wouldnt be the worst thing to happen to the Colonel. The worst had already happened to him.

You're selling the original movie short, it's easy to get caught up in the final twist or the recreation of humans hierarchy in ape society yet seeing it today the most powerful thing is that inversion between human and animal that is very radical and visceral. Charlton Easton is treated like a foul beast by the apes and even the nice ones are so condescending until they realize he can talk. Seeing them debatting his consciousness I don't know it resonates with current sentiment on specism it's really good. The second movie of the reboot trilogy was so good it might be my second favorite but the two other for their flaws are still amongst the best blockbuster of their decade.

I like Dawn a lot too, is the one that I most revisited and I think Serkis, Reeves, FX teams, etc show that cinema is a collective work ❤

The planet of the apes movies has been something my Dad and I share together. From the old to the new movies. I grew up with the POTA. I have treasured all of the movies. Thanks for the new video. I always look forward to your videos.

War for the Planet of the apes is my favorite, I think because of Caesar. I have rewatched this one much more often than the others.

That scene where John Connor walks into the ape camp was truly a visual masterpiece of intimidation and instant regret

The best part of the old movies is they simply chose a metaphor and ran with it, hard. The execution of those metaphors wasn't always great (some are especially heavy-handed, as I recall), but that approach of making the movie entirely about a certain topic was, and still is, a fantastic strategy for telling a story. More modern movies need to do that. It's weird to think of these reboots as "greatest", but I do think I could name quite a few worse reboots so maybe it's not far off the mark. Mostly I'm reacting negatively to a few comically evil characters in Dawn that marred an otherwise okay film. If they'd just fleshed those characters out and had their motivations be a little more grounded in reality/experiences, then I think it'd have been a much better movie.

I was so hyped for DAWN that it ended up backfiring on me. Nothing technically wrong with the movie… but I found that I was so on board for apes taking over that all scenes with the human faction came off tedious And while Koba/Caesar dynamic is compelling at first, the movie is obligated to rush Koba into total villainy in order to justify the fireworks factory finale… complete with a putty “I won’t kill you, but I don’t have to save you” manner of dispatching the out-of-control maniacal villain… and ending with a tedious push into Caesar’s tormented “what have I done???” face for the stock EMPIRE-ish finale That’s why WAR is my preferred sequel in the trilogy (I have a soft spot for RISE being my favorite of the three, because it just shocked me by being that good) WAR isn’t the most rewatchable movie, but I just admired how hard it pushed the thudding unpleasantness of its metaphors and rejecting the stock plotting of modern Hollywood trilogy cappers Plus, less human stuff. Just a primary bad guy that demands little sympathy

The theme of the apes movies is probably ''The Archaic Revival''

I always saw the rebooted series as a re-evaluation of humanity and our other ape relatives. So much has changed since 1968, new data, culture and a massive change in what is allowed to be said but also how. I genuinely never liked the original movies, they always felt extremely immature and hand holdy to me. Like I was watching a very condescending kids movie as an adult 😂 The core messages were that much of a given to me at any given point of my development that I never felt compelled or enriched by the unfolding story. Felt impatient like I was being taught the same lesson for the 80th time and I just really wanted to escape the lecture so I could move on. The new movies I felt held up a clearer mirror while offering a far more realistic depiction of humanity, and I'm not talking about the CGI. Less weighed down by the assumptions and expectations of the past, despite them being as present as they still are. Which was simultaneously a breath of fresh air and a gut punch, I love being reminded how awful my species decides to be on a daily basis.

I personally love War, I think because the war-film inspirations are really utilised in an interesting way, like Bridge over the River Kwai, and this remaining divide between man and ape, humans sort of resemble a dying empire, increasingly cruel and resorting to holing up inside their forts to survive. The movie also Genuinely tackling the question of whether humans deserve to survive, which Dawn kind of takes for granted with their blandly ‘good’ or ‘bad’ human characters. There is some real quiet moments in War with new characters, who give us new perspectives on this world, and the visuals in the film are top notch. It has a real exodus quality to it

Bro, we would have given you a pass for skipping that 2001 version. You don't have to have THAT much integrity 😆

Matt Reaves should make a movie about extraterrestrial first contact and it’s ramifications for society.

I would like to go deeper with the "no" scene. For me, it is the first manifestation of free will and freedom, the ability to deny your primordial-primate urges of running away because of fear and instead stand up and say "I will not have any of this." It remembers me of the obelisk prelude in Space Odyssey.

I hope they eventually make a spinoff series following other ape communities in different parts of the world (During the main trilogy timeline)

this is off-topic but I would LOVE to experience your essay on BLACK SAILS - a deceptively brilliant character study masquerading as a pirate adventure show :)

The title alone is already the most true video essay of the decade.

Can’t thank you enough for this long in depth planet of the apes video.

I just finished watching the original sequels. Talk about good timing!

You know, I left a comment on KINGDOM’s trailer wishing it would bring even more people into the franchise because I felt that the Ceasar trilogy was severely overlooked. Then I received a reply trying to convince me that these movies weren’t under appreciated. That EVERYONE loves them and has seen the new reboot trilogy. In my experience that’s not the case. When these movies were coming out you could ask anyone “hey did you see the new Planet of the Apes movie?” and the response I got was always “nah” or “never seen any of them”. It always struck me as odd because I knew the movies were great but apparently their performance in the box office didn’t reflect that. They did well but not amazingly well. In fact by the time WAR came around, it had only made back 3 times its budget. That’s not bad but it sure isn’t blockbuster worthy of a return. My point is the new trilogy WAS under appreciated! The series is popular but it’s a cult following not a huge fandom like Marvel or Star Wars which were the films that dominated around the time the reboot trilogy was releasing. Hell even the new Jurassic World films were making back 5 times their budget easily with each release. I’m glad that the films are be recognized now but I still want more people to enjoy them because Caesar’s story was the best thing to happen to the franchise and it brought us into a new age of the Planet of the Apes films!

Great video my friend! Definitely hyped for Kingdom now (:

Rise Dawn & War For the planet of the apes Is the most underrated trilogy ever Only a week to go before Kingdom is released So much looking forward for this movie 🎬

I somehow knew one way or another the recent Apes trilogy would find its way into the youtube essayist conversation at some point.

You have got THE most beautifully relaxing voice.

One of a few reboot trilogies that actually eclipses some of its foundational forebears.

Every line in this vid is carefully crafted and well thought out. I love any vids that analyze Caesar trilogy and your vids are one of the best ones!

At about 9:45, when he's talking about how unhinged the original sequels were and that he's gonna do another video of this, it is a priceless moment. The mic he's holding with his hand looks like he's holding a joint, which seems very apropos.

My favorite is Dawn as well. When Koba acted like a circus ape to confuse the humans, I felt a mixture of humor and dread. Nice….

interesting timing, I just re-watched War myself this weekend. All these years later I am still stunned at how good the technology and performances are.

You should really store your wine bottles with the cork lower so it stays wet.

Even though I understand your critique of War for the Planet of The Apes, I feel as it was still necessary. It is like analysing all the pieces before WW2 that went off like a domino effect that caused WW2. Rise and Dawn are those pieces, and War is WW2. It is brutal, hardhanded and over the top, but also the only logical result

What I found fascinating about the movies is that the apes end up being a stand-in for the idea of "if you had humans as a precaution, how would _you_ make a better society from scratch? What would you avoid? What would you encourage?" Because we (humans) obviously suck at being conscious beings. Like, we're really pretty bad at it. There's so much death. So much pain and hunger and hate and all those other things. So, if you saw all those mistakes already made, could you make it better? Are humans a really bad alpha release?

I have watched almost all of your videos. Your voice, the eloquence and beauty of your words... Are like a soothing balm for my soul. Thank you

Tim Roth made such a magnificent chimpanzee, I wish his entire filmography could be retrofitted with him as that ape. Rob Roy, Resurrection, Lie to Me, Selma, Reservoir Dogs, Vincent and Theo .. a brilliant career transcends to a new level with chimp upgrades. OK, so Funny Games would only be 10 minutes long with a radically different ending -- but all the other works expand and flourish.

Damn this was DEEPER than I was expecting but I’m here for it these movies deserve it 👏🏻

It's true that animals are far more intelligent than we give them credit for, too. Just because their intelligences are based on their life priorities, based on what they NEED to know, it doesn't mean they're stupid. Animals need to be seen like aliens are often portrayed. They're intelligent in a different way. They carry so much of the intelligence within them, when they learn how to walk and their inherent intelligences and behaviors that don't need other members of their own species to learn. They're intelligent, in different ways. Alien ways we don't understand. And they don't understand us, that's why dogs try to heal our wounds by licking them for us, and cats try... to give you their kills because they think you're too stupid to feed yourself.

2:38 you son of a. You brought my emotions at a high that tease 😂

My only issue with all this is the insistent belief that humans are the only species with language. And I don't think Frans de Waal believes that either. His own research led him to argue that various non-human animals possess complex forms of communication and social interaction that can be considered language-like in nature. Just because animals communicate differently (i.e. in a way that is outside of our narrow definition of what constitutes as a language) doesn't mean they don't have their own form of complex language and maybe, just maybe we as humans simply aren't capable of understanding the full complexities of other living beings.

This movie critique man say good smart words about how us say words both gift and curse. Such wise. Many think. Very wow.

Only LSOO could make such a philosophical, moving, thought provoking video essay on a blockbuster trilogy

"I didn't like War because the most successful trope in action storytelling is not high-art enough for me, and also a story where the main character's family members die and it affects him on a deep emotional level is naturally serious" man i didn't know tiktok brain rot reached youtube essayists already

Loving the inclusion of early Rise reviews from my boys, Chris and Jeremy. GREAT VIDEO!!!

Thank you, this was really good! I loved the new movies and always thought they didn't get the recognition they deserved. Thanks also for introducing me to Frans de Waal! What a brilliant primate.

Ive never really thought about Planet of the Apes before but this video is a masterpiece

the new trilogy is perfect is what the old movies tried to be the old movies had a hint of good stories but were poorly executed, the themes were explored in a shallow level it's crazy that these new movies are as good as they are, Hollywood usually screw up these type of movies

I'm going to re-watch the last 3 movies before the newest one comes out next month. New sub~

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes carries it all even further and it leaves enough cliffhangers in it's wake that the promise of much more to come is all too obvious to those of us who have followed it all with insatiable hunger!

For me personally War is the best out of the three. The personal tension and the emotional drama is so good. I love Rise and Dawn but I really think War is the best.

Great video. Had chills all along. Will now schedule time to watch the new trilogy.

"No real world equivalent analogy in the planet of the apes." Proceeds to give a lifechanging revelation of human nature from an analysis of the story. Amazing writing as always bro.

This series is one of my favorites

I have been thinking a lot about De Waal since his passing, his quote " Humans are a strange lot. We have the power to analyze and explore the world around us, yet panic as soon as the evidence threatens to violate our expectations" feels pertinent here.

When I saw RISE OF APES I wasnt sure what to expect, it was a leap of faith after the...average Tim Burton version, BUT I was also surprised by what I saw, the biggest differance being in the tone of the film very clearly being animal rights, but also a new clever story explaining where it all began in a believable way. I also wasnt sure about using cgi but that also worked, and a first for an apes film (which they proved could be done with MIGHTY JOE YOUNG & the excellent 2005 KING KONG remake) the 2 sequels soon to be 3 I wasnt so keen on because of the much darker tone, & different Directors, & less story layers, BUT with RISE they did what BAT MAN BEGINS did starting afresh with a blank canvass, RISE OF APES is not only the best version since the original 1968 version, but like that also the most important in a different way

While the 2001 Planet of the Apes is bad, you have to admit that the makeup is pretty amazing and it was the reason the Oscars have a makeup and costumes category.

In Conquest it was revealed that there were 2 different endings, the theatrical and the uncut, the theatrical was meant to be more hopeful at the end that a peaceful resolution could be found, while the uncut ending was to solidify that Conquest would lead into the original Planet of the Apes with no sequel in mind. and here's my headcanon as it were The Theatrical Ending leads into Battle for TPOTA and is a split timeline where humanity and apes would live side by side. The Uncut ending leads into the OG timeline and it would do so because it would follow the original planned idea for Battle for TPOTA where Aldo would have killed Ceaser and take over ape society, killing the more intellectual humans and keeping the dumber ones as slaves thus establishing himself as Aldo the lawgiver, rewriting history so that he was the brave ape who stood up to man and lead apes to the society we would see be depicted in POTA

Awesome video.

6:00 Maybe the 3 apes randomly appeared back in time as a completion of the loop that started with the 3 human astronauts... randomly appearing.

Thank you. This is a beautiful take on these movies.

You fumbled on war. But this video is pretty good

What I think is the most important thing the reboot trilogy of Rise, Dawn and War has to show us is showing us someone different to us, perhaps more primitive, but also just like us, for better or worse. In fact layered into this story is a complete deconstruction of the "noble savage" trope, with Rise building it up, Dawn tearing it down and War taking it to the next level by burying it in the ground for good and stirring the mixture to blur all lines and show that we are all susceptible to the same things, the inevitable potential for good and evil in anyone with the capacity to think and to feel and most of all in those with the greatest capacity to do so. By the way, I find it interesting that you compare War to 12 Years A Slave when.... I mean come on? A group being thrown into a concentration camp, forced to work until they die by a group of militant, nationalistic, racist lunatics who scapegoat said group as the destroyers of their civilization?... Yeah it's pretty evident that the apes are the Jews and the Colonel's Militia are the Nazis. And this is part of another broader analogy; Xenophobia. The tendency to fear, dehumanize and demonize those who are different, a consistent through-line of the trilogy, which the trilogy also serves to critique through science fiction, using absurd and outlandish premises as a lens through which we might analyse and view themes and ideas. Here we are shown another race of intelligent apes to demonstrate that none of us are different, better or worse by nature or affiliation, only by circumstance, as well as shining a light on the devastation that may occur when we fail to look someone else in the eyes and see ourselves in them, and worse yet choose to essentialize that which makes us different.

Couldn't agree more about War it's exactly why I don't even re-watch the trilogy and I loved Dawn