Past the point of no return, the conflict between apes and humans has escalated into full war in Matt Reeves' War for the Planet of the Apes as Andy Serkis' Caesar sets out to avenge those he has lost. Where to Watch: Stream on Max or rent on Amazon and most platforms. Read our review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes here. Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, and Toby Kebbell co-star in this tale of the initial truce talks and attempts at peace that go so so badly because of treachery on both sides. The prequels bring in The Batman's Matt Reeves as director for the next two movies, starting with the superb Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which brings back Andy Serkis' Caesar, years after the Simian Flu has decimated Earth' human population while the intelligence Apes have established a colony near San Francisco. Where to Watch: Stream on Hulu or rent on Amazon and most platforms. Read our review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes here. Set in the 'present day,' Rise of the Planet of the Apes also stars James Franco, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, and Freida Pinto, planting the seeds for what will become a world-wide war. Gollum himself, Andy Serkis, lent his extraodinary abilities to Caesar, a chimpanzee whose intelligence is increased through science, and becomes the heart of a prequel story all about the beginnings of the end for humankind.

Motion capture technology and digital characters were on the extreme rise in the Aughts, allowing the Apes saga to move beyond practical makeup and into a new special effects arena that would allow for more emotion in performance from the lead Apes. But there's no harm in still watching them first. They represent a fully rebooted timeline, presumedly with a different future than the one Charlton Heston's astronaut discovers in the 1968 film. Here's the caveat: The three prequels from the last decade or so are not connected to the original series of films. The Planet of the Apes Movies in Chronological Order

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