This trilogy is so underrated. I almost didn't gave it a chance due to my prejudice, thinking this is just another monster/alien invasion movie with apes instead. Oh how wrong I was! Catching 'Rise' on television with my mom got us interested, then 'Dawn' made us invested. While 'War' was not the most satisfying ending, it was a raw look at rage and still optimistic towards the future. The complexities of each character really goes beyond your regular sci-fi flick; it is a story about apes that revealed so much about humanity's darkness and capacity for hope. The 2nd and 3rd film made me trust in Matt Reeves, no questions asked, and so hype for The Batman. He always pushed an already complex themes to even further depths of darkness, without forgetting the core morality of his characters.
Endingen ar never satasfying enough. Becaus we all knew realisticly its only temporary. Rally is a end satasfying enough. The only Endingen that sacraficed me Personen was the end of Harry Potter (Books as it git the Main thenes better acrose then the movies) and the end of the Xehanort Story in Kingdom Hearts 3. War was also satasfying to me.
This is exactly what I wanted live action Transformers movies to be. A film series where the non humans are the main and aren't treated as secondary characters or a joke. The Planet of the Apes trilogy could have easily fallen into this trap and have the apes become secondary characters in their own film. But no Matt Reeves, Andy Serkis and everyone else took the risk that non human characters and be well written and three dimensional as human characters are normally portrayed
The well that was in the first transformers movie was like every other movies else pretty much only focuses on the human the the first transformers movie balances out both the humans and the transformers hell the final battle has both the military and the transformers fighting back to back to stop the deceptions in the first movie
I always viewed Koba as not acting out of love for apes but out of hate for humanity. In Rise, he showed clearly distain for them during experiments. At the end of the film, he takes pleasure in pushing Jacobs, the businessman in the helicopter, off the bridge. In Dawn, he shows that same glee when killing 2 humans with guns. He treated Ceasar as a traitor for showing compassion for humans. Koba even killed Ash, a fellow ape, in cold blood for not killing a human.
He didn't care enough about his own kind to overtake his hatred for humans. He was willing to kill Caesar, the one who freed him from his previous torture and accepted him as family, just so he could rile up the others into attacking the humans. He pushes other apes aside to grab weapons or push them off a horse in the attack on the human settlement just so he could charge in himself guns blazing. He killed Ash (who was essentially a child/teenager in terms of ape years) for not blindly conforming to his hatred. He only cared about the apes in so far as they could be of use to his main goal of getting back at humanity. Thing is, in a way he is right to not trust humans and to want to be more decisive than Caesar but he basically acted like the same humans who tortured him. He lies, he promises good things to those who put trust in him, he clambers over his own kind just to achieve his goals. "You are not ape" is a powerful line because Koba became as bad as the humans he hated.
Dawn could have been much better if they made it longer and shown more details. Also the Humans in Dawn are just extremely stupid. I enjoyed it the least from this trilogy.
Also wish Gold Man pointed out one last thing in Rise The scene between Will and Caesar where Caesar utters his 2nd and last English phrase of the movie "Caesar is Home" and Will after seeing and experiencing everything across the 3rd act finally recognizes and lets Caesar go and be his own man with his own people not bounded by his or anyone else's rules because he agreed with him that Caesar is home and accepted him just the way he is even if it took him all this time Which makes Caesar coming back to his old home and seeing the videos of him as a baby and Will talking and playing with him in Dawn all the more sadder Despite not being the best father Caesar truly did loved him in his own way despite knowing he needs to be his own person When asked who the man in the video was he simply replied "A Good Man" I am so stoked for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and this new trilogy Its gonna be epic
The new trilogy is going to be great it’s probably going to have a very different status quo that’s closer to the status quo from the original movies and I’m here to see a modern take on that status quo
Caesar is growing up and wants more freedom, but the humans don't let him have his freedom. Doesn't mean Will didn't love him. Just means that the apes are now meant to have the same authority as humans
If Gollum was Andy Serkis' best performance as an antagonist, Caeser is his best performance as a protagonist. A true showcase for his talents in motion capture acting.
@@thegoldman25 Same goes with director Matt Reeves who has done both in Dawn and War. His main focus is on the characters and the stories against the studios wishes. And that inspires me to get into a film major since i am currently at a university level. i find it criminal that Andy didn't get an Oscar award for this.
I literally just rewatched this about 2 weeks ago and my mind was blown. It's crazy that this is unironically one of the best trilogies in modern cinema and Caesar the Ape is one of the best written protagonist.
I watched the trilogy all the way through for the first time last week (today is 4/25/24) - I’d only ever seen the first movie when it came out. I was a kid but loved it! Never checked out the sequels. I was kind of under the impression they’d be like any other 2010s/post-Marvel sequel (sucky, meh at best). Boy was I wrong. I gotta go back to the UA-cam video essay that got me to check all three movies out. Blew my damn mind!
dawn is PERFECT. I love how you completely understand Koba, its so fucking tragic. I love the characters in the planet of the apes, they are done so well, you always understand why somebody does something, it makes everything so much more real and intense
I've always had a special connection with the planet of the apes franchise it was the first piece of media iv ever seen where i share a name with the main character Seeing Caesar's journey from a captive to a revolutionary leader always struck a chord with me. Witnessing him stand up and fight for his kind filled me with pride. But as the series progressed, and Caesar's story came to its inevitable conclusion, I couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. His death hit me harder than I expected, leaving me genuinely saddened. these movies are just so perfect to me.
Koba and Dreyfuss have the same set of priorities, but there's a huge difference on how they order them. Both want survival and see the other side as monsters; both love themselves and their people, but Dreyfuss loves his people more than himself, and Koba loves himself more than his people.
There’s a book called Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm, that fills the gap between Rise and Dawn, but also goes into Koba’s origins, and it is even worse than what we saw in the movies. When he was young, he was raised in a primate research lab with his mother. The scientist taught them both sign language and their keeper was kind. Unfortunately, the keeper was replaced with an abusive man who beat his mother to death in reprisal to the scientist reprimanding his abuse of Koba.
@@thegoldman25 Also in the book, it goes into Dreyfus’ history as San Francisco’s police chief who left office prior to the Golden Gate incident to pursue politics, becoming mayor during the early days of the Simian Flu. There is a lot of good material in novel and comic form that fills in gaps between films and gives detailed back stories to major characters that weren’t shown.
My personal favorite trilogy of all time because each film is great independently while also having so much cohesion at the same time really feeling like one overarching story of Caesar. It’s also the perfect balance of a great blockbuster they are able to have apes using guns, riding horses, and talking and have it not feeling overly goofy.
War for the planet of the apes is also a war within Caesar while doing his best to maintain his core morality in a war Koba has started. And i like you brought out Caesar is consumed by vengeance. It fits the more we thik about this.
@@thegoldman25 What are your hopes for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes? And your thoughts on the new direction Wes Ball is taking us set 300/400 years after War for the Planet of the Apes?
I thought Ceasar not killing the Colonel wasn't out of mercy, but the opposite. The colonel wanted to die, so his vengeance was denying him a "mercy kill."
To me, it was how his character arc concluded. Instead of letting his vengeance drive him to kill the colonel, he decided not to, because as to not let his hated consume him.
I totally agree 👍🏽 most people see it merely as a sign of mercy and compassion but it’s a lot deeper than just that simple thought by Ceaser to “spare him”
I 100% believe this is the best video essay you’ve made. You deserve so much more man, you described perfectly everything I love about this trilogy, SPECIALLY with Dawn (my favorite). I’ve always loved that unlike any other fictional war movie, you don’t get that feeling of triumph with this one, it feels tragic because you understand both sides, it feels like if it was a real war. Props to you ❤
How do we live in a world where a Planet of the Apes trilogy is far superior in every single way and a Star Wars sequel trilogy flounders completely? How is that possible?
I strongly disagree that the Sequel Trilogy flounders completely but I do agree the Planet of the Apes trilogy is a more solid series and very underrated.
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!
Planet of the Apes definitely has biblical ties. There are very large similarities between Caesar and Moses, Will and Pharaoh and especially Kova and Korah.
I think you were a little harsh on Wills character, I think you’re right that he isn’t a great dad but wrong when saying he doesn’t love Caesar that much. I think he truly loves Caesar, he’s just the first to be the father of a smart ape in a town and might not do it right
I recently watched them, too. They're really great movies. I love the campy originals, even the weird Tim Burton one. These ones really make the idea of apes taking over the world seem possible. And they did it right when it came to releasing them. They waited 3-4 years between each one, while other studios would've tried cranking out one every year. Also, just to throw it out there, the 1968 film is based on a French novel from 1963 and takes some liberties with its adaptation. Not to mention, Will is putting himself in some serious danger bringing a chimp into the house because even without being genetically enhanced, chimps will turn on their trainers or handlers at a certain age. It's like once they mature, they become violent and will rip your face off.
I got so emotional watching all the movies. Caesar is truly a hero, despite knowing Will was the literal scientist who created the formula and tested on apes, he still accepted him and wanted to live with peace amongst other humans. In the latest movie Noa reminded me soo much of him ❤️❤️ APE TOGETHER STRONG!
I really disagree with how you interpreted Caesar and Will’s relationship. Sure, in the beginning Will only cared about the experiment. However, by the second half of the movie it’s clear that Will loves Caesar for more than that.
On your criticism about the avalanche scene in war, i thought it was dumb also, but after a second watch, i thought it was more of a symbolism of how humanity lost. Just like the virus, the apes survived the avalanche by being superior creations of humans, and humanity is left running from it unsuccessfully.
I REALLY enjoyed these movies. It took me a while to come around to watch them bc I wasn't a fan of the original or the Mark Walberg movies. These movies hold up all these years later and I genuinely enjoy revisiting them.
I’ve seen all 3 in theaters, twice! Got them all on blu ray and watched it multiple times. I love showing this trilogy to family and friends. My favorite trilogy ❤
I think you are WAY too harsh on Will. What is he supposed to do? He’s in an unprecedented situation: an ape with human (or greater) intelligence isn’t something society is going to accept. People would FREAK at seeing a chimp roaming the streets; I know I would because I know how violent and dangerous they can be. Seeing one on a leash wouldn’t help, because I’d KNOW that chimp is stronger than whoever’s holding the leash. WE know Cesar is kind, intelligent and gentle, but no one else is going to buy that. Will made the best of his situation.
The ending to this trilogy, War, was the one of the best endings of all time. Caesar started out as a pet. When he gets taken from Will, he unleashes his intelligence and leadership skills to cause the ape uprising. The reason he does this, just because he wants freedom. He also wants to do what’s right for the apes. Getting to the forest and being free is what is right for them. In the second film, Caesar really just doesn’t want violence. He wants to protect his apes. Koba is the only reason this movie reached its climax. After the fight between Caesar and Koba, he still hesitates to drop him. Again, he doesn’t want violence. But he realized that the apes would be safer without Koba. Koba was a menace, and would most likely have a freak out and kill another ape or multiple. He drops Koba, for the good of the apes. In the third film, Caesar still regrets what he did to Koba, he has visions and dreams about him. He also is only fighting in this Human/Ape war for the protection of the apes. Koba started this war and killed lots humans, not Caesar. Later in the film, Caesar is tortured and not given food or water. Then near the end, he has a chance to kill the Colonel. Then I’m going to go back to this, Caesar doesn’t want violence. He only fights for the apes. He doesn’t want to kill the Colonel becuase in this part, the Colonel is powerless. He has a chance for revenge, but would that make him any better than Koba? Caesar spares him. He can’t pull the trigger. Nevertheless, The Colonel kills himself. Shortly after, Red Donkey sees that Caesar will do anything for the sake of these apes. Then finally, the apes find a home. Caesar sees that his mission is over. Caesar has done what he was born to do. Then he goes to internal sleep. Just because he has died does not mean his legacy is over. I hope that’s what kingdom is going to mention. (Yes, I have not seen it)
Oh my God man, i have been watching ur kung fu panda retrospective, absolutely loved it, then starting to love the ape trilogy , and now u made this video, you are amazing man !!
Your read of Ceaser's decision not to kill the Colonel is so incredibly different from mine. I read it as Ceaser was very much prepared to pull the trigger, but when Ceaser saw that the Colonel was already suffering a fate worse than death - infection with the virus - Ceaser chose to take his revenge by letting the Colonel continue to suffer. The Colonel killed himself because the virus, the thing he was trying to defeat, was replicating inside him. Both characters responded to the changed circumstance but continued to pursue the motivations which had driven them throughout the film.
Something that I found myself liking a lot thinking back on Dawn is the choice to have put Franco's character out of the film, because it ended up giving Caesar a much less easy way for him to regain some sense of trust in humanity again without having to bring back an old human character he had a bond with.
Idk man something about this trilogy is just so touching. The first is pretty solid on its own- that scene where Caesar speaks for the first time was a cinematic masterpiece. But the second and third films… goddamn. So many emotions conveyed just by mocap and great cgi. I have cried many times. So excited for Kingdom😊
2:03 Will was not a perfect father - no one is. And Will never saw Caesar as just a means to an end. Which is why he saved him anyways, he felt something for him.
Your first 6 minutes of this video is beautiful insightful and extremely right on the mark. And I didn't realize it until watching your video exactly all of that but I knew it without putting it in words and you put it in words what I knew then and realized now so thank you for that
Im making my way through the original movie series. And i got to say, the ape makeup still fascinates me to this day not to mention the interesting story and engaging characters. Ill probably check out this trilogy some time down the line.
Prior to both having fourth installments announced, this and the Toy Story trilogy were my two favorites. No bad movies among them. LoTR is up there, too.
Absolutely agree,one of BEST trilogies ever. Just magnificent. I honestly cannot choose which is the best. They all are the BEST. Thank you for your videos,they are fantastic.😊
I’m really interested to see the newer movie. The first trilogy was excellent. Kind of strange that they didn’t pick up with Cornelius. But the new ape i guess is Caesars 6x great grandson so should be interesting to see what he’s gonna do.
I keep hearing that people don't really like Will that much, but I feel like he did a really good job. You can tell that he has a hard time with the pet vs. Child talk because despite truly loving Ceasar, and imo he does truly love Ceasar, he definitely doesn't see Ceasar as his son. He let the distrust of animals that everyone around him has get to his head, despite him and his father having watched Ceasar grow up and both developing a true relationship with him. I love my cats so much and it would destroy me if something were to happen to them, and will genuinely spend money I don't have to make sure they are happy, but if they got smart enough to rival our intelligence and possibly communicate how the hell would I know the right way to react to that? I'm sure they'd know I love them and that I just want them to be safe, but knowledge also leads to an understanding of what you don't have which for any form of pet would very clearly be "freedom". I think they did a good job of portraying the way their relationship transformed from father and son to owner and pet and it was Will's inability to stand up for how he viewed Ceasar that led to his change in attitude toward Ceasar. Will is the perfect example of "if you do nothing then you are still part of the problem". Sorry this is so long winded, but I love these movies so much, the best way to describe what I just elaborated on and most actions every character takes in these movies is that they are all so incredibly "human". I think a lot of movies try to let their heroes make mistakes, but don't do a good job at portraying how they reach that mistake and there are so many "mistakes" in PotA that are so understandable.(except for the penitentiary, that place is terrible and I genuinely think Will's character would at least try to get Ceasar relocated at the first sign of abuse or try to bring the abuse to light. He doesn't see him as human, but he doesn't dislike or feel indifferent about him by any means. Tldr: i freaking love these movies and there is a severe lack of character driven stories done this well these days and it is so refreshing.
These films got progressively better in my opinion. War was excellent in that it tied up the story from this trilogy while making reference to the starting place of the original 1968 movie.
Crucify me, but I only ever saw Rise, and thought it was pretty good. I recently watched the next 2, and couldn't believe how awesome they were. I'm actually ashamed that I didn't give them a watch back in the day. The 2nd and 3rd are legit incredible experiences
@@thegoldman25 in no particular order bc thats just too hard -alien(twice) alienS lol -batman trilogy(nolan) -star wars OT -PoTA (2010s) -pirates of the caribbean 1-3 (as my honorable mention or if i push the list to 5) lmk what you think
I really enjoyed this commentary & your viewpoints on this video. So well done!! I would love to see you do a video like this for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Koba is probably one of the most sympathetic villains I've seen. He was tortured, imprisoned, humiliated, and mutilated by humans. He has every right to hate them. It doesn't make him righteous, but it is understandable.
For starters, I've wanted new video essays on these movies for a while. Your video arrived at a good time. That said, as it's the case with other videos of yours, I have some disagreements and with this video it starts early. First, when it comes to Will's love towards Caesar, you mention things like Caesar being leashed as a sign Will doesn't love him that much. I think you don't see it from the right angle. For example, most dogs have to be leashed outside of private property. But some breeds have to have a muzzle guard, legally. Does it mean the owner likes the dog less than if it was another breed that doesn't require a muzzle guard? Well no. It's just the law forcing him to take stronger preventive mesures in case the dog is badly raised and attack somebody. Which kinda happened with their neighbor in the movie. Caesar saw his "grandfather" being attacked and responded. The same way a dog would defend its owner, and depending on the breed the dog would be able to deal potentially more or less damage than another. Hence the different laws for the different breeds. So what I mean is that Will leashing Caesar doesn't show how Will love him. It only shows how society sees how dangerous Caesar could be, as erratic and instinct driven as a dog. So to avoid legal liability, Will leashes Caesar most likely against his will (no pun intended). I'm not sure I layed down my thought efficiently, but I hope you ponder on it and come to a more informed assessment of what's depicted in the movie. And wow, didn't expect to go that deep into details. I'll post this first comment and I'll see if I edit it later to add something about the other movies or other issues I have. Or I'll create a new comment per issue/movie to be more efficient. That said, even though I disagree with you more often than I'd like, I don't wanna live in an echo chamber, so I'll keep having you challenge my opinions whether you change, affect them or not. Cheers from France my man! 🍻
I remember that I wasn't too kind to the planet of the apes back then. Not because I hated them, I just I didn’t have any interest. Now, with the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, that might change me how I view these movies.
I 100% agree with you that the writers did their own take with the virus on the aspect of humanity destroying themselves. What I also think is an extra little nod to the sight of a national landmark is the Golden Gate Bridge. When Caesar first climbed up the redwoods, the bridge was completely covered in clouds and continued so in the third act of Rise. It only isn’t until after they have found their freedom that the bridge is revealed in full. It just reminded me of the last scene of the original movie with the Statue of Liberty. I don’t know.
Caesar vs Koba is still one of the most intense finales I’ve ever seen.
“You are no ape” gives me chills
I agree
When he said 'you are not ape', it shows Caesar saw Koba as nothing but a broken monster.
My favorite line is
“caesar weak”
“Koba weaker”
@@mattv3237apes together strong!
@@mattv3237 such a limited vocabulary yet such a hard line 🔥 Caesar wasn’t playing
This trilogy is so underrated. I almost didn't gave it a chance due to my prejudice, thinking this is just another monster/alien invasion movie with apes instead. Oh how wrong I was! Catching 'Rise' on television with my mom got us interested, then 'Dawn' made us invested. While 'War' was not the most satisfying ending, it was a raw look at rage and still optimistic towards the future.
The complexities of each character really goes beyond your regular sci-fi flick; it is a story about apes that revealed so much about humanity's darkness and capacity for hope. The 2nd and 3rd film made me trust in Matt Reeves, no questions asked, and so hype for The Batman. He always pushed an already complex themes to even further depths of darkness, without forgetting the core morality of his characters.
I couldn't have said it better!
Endingen ar never satasfying enough. Becaus we all knew realisticly its only temporary.
Rally is a end satasfying enough.
The only Endingen that sacraficed me Personen was the end of Harry Potter (Books as it git the Main thenes better acrose then the movies) and the end of the Xehanort Story in Kingdom Hearts 3.
War was also satasfying to me.
Not underrated at all its very popular, has 1.68 billion box office
How was "War" optimistic? That was one of the most depressing and pessimistic movies I have ever seen!
Underrated by who ???? Everyone loves these movies
Watched War, two nights ago at 3am. Cried when it ended. An underrated masterpiece of a finale.
I thought that was by far the weakest part of the trilogy and was extremely depressing.
@@MatthewTheWanderer I think that's the point, it's meant to tie up the trilogy and it did
Literally me last night 😅😂
@@MatthewTheWandereryeah i agree with you it was super dark ceaser lost his son and wife his people get enslaved like it’s pretty dark
@@justthinking650yeah true but got dang he had to lose his wife and kid and then he died like it had me mad
This is exactly what I wanted live action Transformers movies to be. A film series where the non humans are the main and aren't treated as secondary characters or a joke. The Planet of the Apes trilogy could have easily fallen into this trap and have the apes become secondary characters in their own film. But no Matt Reeves, Andy Serkis and everyone else took the risk that non human characters and be well written and three dimensional as human characters are normally portrayed
The well that was in the first transformers movie was like every other movies else pretty much only focuses on the human the the first transformers movie balances out both the humans and the transformers hell the final battle has both the military and the transformers fighting back to back to stop the deceptions in the first movie
Easier to do that with apes then huge metal cgi monsters
@@Rushking20 Bumblebee?
@@Rushking20 the first transformers movie only the decepticons were the monsters the autobots were the good guys
One of the best film trilogies ever made, along with the OT and LOTR.
Never actually saw any of these but I might check them out! Do you recommend them?
@@kdusel1991if he says it’s the 3 best trilogies, I’d assume he recommends them 😅
Indeed, it’s out there with the likes of Star Wars, & Harry Potter.
OT?
What is ot
I always viewed Koba as not acting out of love for apes but out of hate for humanity.
In Rise, he showed clearly distain for them during experiments. At the end of the film, he takes pleasure in pushing Jacobs, the businessman in the helicopter, off the bridge.
In Dawn, he shows that same glee when killing 2 humans with guns. He treated Ceasar as a traitor for showing compassion for humans. Koba even killed Ash, a fellow ape, in cold blood for not killing a human.
Great breakdown. 100% agree.
That line has also still stuck with me.
"Ceasar gone. Apes. Follow. Koba. Now."
Yeah. It's a monkey dude.
He didn't care enough about his own kind to overtake his hatred for humans. He was willing to kill Caesar, the one who freed him from his previous torture and accepted him as family, just so he could rile up the others into attacking the humans. He pushes other apes aside to grab weapons or push them off a horse in the attack on the human settlement just so he could charge in himself guns blazing. He killed Ash (who was essentially a child/teenager in terms of ape years) for not blindly conforming to his hatred.
He only cared about the apes in so far as they could be of use to his main goal of getting back at humanity.
Thing is, in a way he is right to not trust humans and to want to be more decisive than Caesar but he basically acted like the same humans who tortured him. He lies, he promises good things to those who put trust in him, he clambers over his own kind just to achieve his goals. "You are not ape" is a powerful line because Koba became as bad as the humans he hated.
@@caldw615 Great assessment. I fully agree!
These right here....
They are some of the best films made in Modern Hollywood
Dawn could have been much better if they made it longer and shown more details. Also the Humans in Dawn are just extremely stupid. I enjoyed it the least from this trilogy.
Also wish Gold Man pointed out one last thing in Rise
The scene between Will and Caesar where Caesar utters his 2nd and last English phrase of the movie "Caesar is Home" and Will after seeing and experiencing everything across the 3rd act finally recognizes and lets Caesar go and be his own man with his own people not bounded by his or anyone else's rules because he agreed with him that Caesar is home and accepted him just the way he is even if it took him all this time
Which makes Caesar coming back to his old home and seeing the videos of him as a baby and Will talking and playing with him in Dawn all the more sadder
Despite not being the best father Caesar truly did loved him in his own way despite knowing he needs to be his own person
When asked who the man in the video was he simply replied "A Good Man"
I am so stoked for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and this new trilogy
Its gonna be epic
He says "Caesar is home"
The new trilogy is going to be great it’s probably going to have a very different status quo that’s closer to the status quo from the original movies and I’m here to see a modern take on that status quo
@@joshuaoddo3489 I just hope it carries the themes established by the trilogy up to now
to me that is Caesar's true legacy
Caesar is growing up and wants more freedom, but the humans don't let him have his freedom. Doesn't mean Will didn't love him. Just means that the apes are now meant to have the same authority as humans
Reboot trilogy is a 10/10 perfection and stayed consistent
If Gollum was Andy Serkis' best performance as an antagonist, Caeser is his best performance as a protagonist. A true showcase for his talents in motion capture acting.
Cesar yelling no made everyone in my theater go silent. You could have heard a pin drop. Still an impactful and shocking moment to this day.
Andy Serkis gives an amazing performance as Caesar through acting and motion capture performances in all three movies!
It's an all time performance
@@thegoldman25 Same goes with director Matt Reeves who has done both in Dawn and War. His main focus is on the characters and the stories against the studios wishes. And that inspires me to get into a film major since i am currently at a university level. i find it criminal that Andy didn't get an Oscar award for this.
I literally just rewatched this about 2 weeks ago and my mind was blown. It's crazy that this is unironically one of the best trilogies in modern cinema and Caesar the Ape is one of the best written protagonist.
Certainly!
I watched the trilogy all the way through for the first time last week (today is 4/25/24) - I’d only ever seen the first movie when it came out. I was a kid but loved it! Never checked out the sequels. I was kind of under the impression they’d be like any other 2010s/post-Marvel sequel (sucky, meh at best). Boy was I wrong.
I gotta go back to the UA-cam video essay that got me to check all three movies out. Blew my damn mind!
All 3 of these movies are in my top 10 favorite movies of all time with Dawn being my all time favorite movie
Dawn is definitely in my top 10
dawn is PERFECT. I love how you completely understand Koba, its so fucking tragic. I love the characters in the planet of the apes, they are done so well, you always understand why somebody does something, it makes everything so much more real and intense
I hope that Kingdom does justice to this trilogy’s story.
Me too
It looks like total 💩
@@randyschwagginsReviews are in, and it’s getting very high praise indeed.
I saw it and I loved it! ❤❤ Noah the new character did awesome!
It does way more then that! It builds upon the trilogy
I've always had a special connection with the planet of the apes franchise it was the first piece of media iv ever seen where i share a name with the main character Seeing Caesar's journey from a captive to a revolutionary leader always struck a chord with me. Witnessing him stand up and fight for his kind filled me with pride. But as the series progressed, and Caesar's story came to its inevitable conclusion, I couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. His death hit me harder than I expected, leaving me genuinely saddened. these movies are just so perfect to me.
It’s been 7 years since this series ended?? I really look forward to the next installment!
Same!
@nolansword9820 Same!
I will see the next installment as a new beginning of a new serie.
@@axelpettersson1482it is, i think its supposed to be a trilogy aswell?
Koba and Dreyfuss have the same set of priorities, but there's a huge difference on how they order them.
Both want survival and see the other side as monsters; both love themselves and their people, but Dreyfuss loves his people more than himself, and Koba loves himself more than his people.
Great framing!
@@thegoldman25 Thanks!
Dreyfus doesn't like bananas...so different to Koba
My favorite fact about the series, Koba is named after Stalin. Stalin originally used the name “Koba” when he started out.
Wow never knew this!
There’s a book called Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm, that fills the gap between Rise and Dawn, but also goes into Koba’s origins, and it is even worse than what we saw in the movies. When he was young, he was raised in a primate research lab with his mother. The scientist taught them both sign language and their keeper was kind. Unfortunately, the keeper was replaced with an abusive man who beat his mother to death in reprisal to the scientist reprimanding his abuse of Koba.
Sheesh, I never knew that
@@thegoldman25 Also in the book, it goes into Dreyfus’ history as San Francisco’s police chief who left office prior to the Golden Gate incident to pursue politics, becoming mayor during the early days of the Simian Flu. There is a lot of good material in novel and comic form that fills in gaps between films and gives detailed back stories to major characters that weren’t shown.
Thank you for the information. I’ll get “Firestorm” and a box of Kleenex too. Poor Koba, he went through so much, it’s no wonder he hated humans.
My personal favorite trilogy of all time because each film is great independently while also having so much cohesion at the same time really feeling like one overarching story of Caesar.
It’s also the perfect balance of a great blockbuster they are able to have apes using guns, riding horses, and talking and have it not feeling overly goofy.
Most underrated trilogy I absolutely agree.
I could listen to The Gold Man talk about movies all day long
You're too kind
War for the planet of the apes is also a war within Caesar while doing his best to maintain his core morality in a war Koba has started. And i like you brought out Caesar is consumed by vengeance. It fits the more we thik about this.
Good point!
@@thegoldman25 What are your hopes for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes? And your thoughts on the new direction Wes Ball is taking us set 300/400 years after War for the Planet of the Apes?
I don’t really go into things with hopes anymore. I just want a good movie with good characters that honors the themes of the franchise. That’s it
@@thegoldman25 You and me both. i am more enthusiastic on storytelling just as any moviegoers and Ape fans.
I thought Ceasar not killing the Colonel wasn't out of mercy, but the opposite. The colonel wanted to die, so his vengeance was denying him a "mercy kill."
To me, it was how his character arc concluded. Instead of letting his vengeance drive him to kill the colonel, he decided not to, because as to not let his hated consume him.
I totally agree 👍🏽 most people see it merely as a sign of mercy and compassion but it’s a lot deeper than just that simple thought by Ceaser to “spare him”
That's how I took it too. Almost a "I'm not going to be merciful and give you what you want. Live with it or do it yourself" type thing
In short, he didn't want to become like Koba
My favorite film trilogy, even the best trilogy’s have at least one weak link, but planet of the apes doesn’t. All movies are incredible
War isn't great
@@randyschwagginsNah, it was still good. But I think Dawn overall was the best of the trilogy.
@@randyschwagginsI wanna say the second one wasn’t as good, but you’re right, War didn’t give the same feeling as the other two
I 100% believe this is the best video essay you’ve made. You deserve so much more man, you described perfectly everything I love about this trilogy, SPECIALLY with Dawn (my favorite). I’ve always loved that unlike any other fictional war movie, you don’t get that feeling of triumph with this one, it feels tragic because you understand both sides, it feels like if it was a real war. Props to you ❤
That's so kind! Thank you!!!!
How do we live in a world where a Planet of the Apes trilogy is far superior in every single way and a Star Wars sequel trilogy flounders completely? How is that possible?
Appreciate greatness!
@@thegoldman25 I know right. Where do you think this trilogy succeeds where the SW sequel trilogy fails or tried to succed but couldn't?
I strongly disagree that the Sequel Trilogy flounders completely but I do agree the Planet of the Apes trilogy is a more solid series and very underrated.
@@kaiserz0154 there's some good elements, like the acting, the music, certain breathtaking scenes and sequences that work very well.
@@kaiserz0154SW remake is big trash, compared to the OG. Planet of the Apes trilogy is much better than it’s predecessor movies
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!
I wish I remembered that, I was too young
@@thegoldman25 i was 19 at that time. It was the best cinematic experiences i had ever had!
It's the fight between Gollum and Malfoy
Probably my favorite trilogy of the past few decades
Literally finished this trilogy like a couple hours ago, truly masterpieces, all 3 movies
I can't wait to watch Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Thank you for this amazing analysis, can't wait for more of your videos.
Glad you enjoyed it!
My biggest gripe with war was Nova's invisibility powers that somehow got her inside the compound unseen and unheard to give water to Caesar.
This series may be the best reimagine/reboot in media.
16:16 Seeing scenes like this is heartbreaking. Koba really became someone in the society Ceaser started. Koba was being a good person.
Planet of the Apes definitely has biblical ties. There are very large similarities between Caesar and Moses, Will and Pharaoh and especially Kova and Korah.
Nah man
Koba is ape Satan , ceaser is ape Jesus
Yup
I think you were a little harsh on Wills character, I think you’re right that he isn’t a great dad but wrong when saying he doesn’t love Caesar that much. I think he truly loves Caesar, he’s just the first to be the father of a smart ape in a town and might not do it right
Once he was getting that Pinto 😺 Will didn't give AF about Caesar
Gary Oldman was looking at a picture of his own family in this movie, damn good actor there.
One of the best to ever do it
I recently watched them, too. They're really great movies. I love the campy originals, even the weird Tim Burton one. These ones really make the idea of apes taking over the world seem possible.
And they did it right when it came to releasing them. They waited 3-4 years between each one, while other studios would've tried cranking out one every year.
Also, just to throw it out there, the 1968 film is based on a French novel from 1963 and takes some liberties with its adaptation.
Not to mention, Will is putting himself in some serious danger bringing a chimp into the house because even without being genetically enhanced, chimps will turn on their trainers or handlers at a certain age. It's like once they mature, they become violent and will rip your face off.
I got so emotional watching all the movies. Caesar is truly a hero, despite knowing Will was the literal scientist who created the formula and tested on apes, he still accepted him and wanted to live with peace amongst other humans.
In the latest movie Noa reminded me soo much of him ❤️❤️ APE TOGETHER STRONG!
I really disagree with how you interpreted Caesar and Will’s relationship. Sure, in the beginning Will only cared about the experiment. However, by the second half of the movie it’s clear that Will loves Caesar for more than that.
On your criticism about the avalanche scene in war, i thought it was dumb also, but after a second watch, i thought it was more of a symbolism of how humanity lost.
Just like the virus, the apes survived the avalanche by being superior creations of humans, and humanity is left running from it unsuccessfully.
I REALLY enjoyed these movies. It took me a while to come around to watch them bc I wasn't a fan of the original or the Mark Walberg movies. These movies hold up all these years later and I genuinely enjoy revisiting them.
I think this is one of the best trilogies out there. I would argue it gets better with each entry, with War being my favourite in the trilogy.
I’ve seen all 3 in theaters, twice! Got them all on blu ray and watched it multiple times. I love showing this trilogy to family and friends. My favorite trilogy ❤
You ❤ apes
Among the greatest adaptations ever made.
Right up there with the best of them.
This and the dark knight trilogy are easily my favorite of all time
I think you are WAY too harsh on Will. What is he supposed to do? He’s in an unprecedented situation: an ape with human (or greater) intelligence isn’t something society is going to accept.
People would FREAK at seeing a chimp roaming the streets; I know I would because I know how violent and dangerous they can be. Seeing one on a leash wouldn’t help, because I’d KNOW that chimp is stronger than whoever’s holding the leash. WE know Cesar is kind, intelligent and gentle, but no one else is going to buy that.
Will made the best of his situation.
bro this video so underated, the video is also very very well edited and just good overal in general
Glad you enjoyed it!
The ending to this trilogy, War, was the one of the best endings of all time. Caesar started out as a pet. When he gets taken from Will, he unleashes his intelligence and leadership skills to cause the ape uprising. The reason he does this, just because he wants freedom. He also wants to do what’s right for the apes. Getting to the forest and being free is what is right for them. In the second film, Caesar really just doesn’t want violence. He wants to protect his apes. Koba is the only reason this movie reached its climax. After the fight between Caesar and Koba, he still hesitates to drop him. Again, he doesn’t want violence. But he realized that the apes would be safer without Koba. Koba was a menace, and would most likely have a freak out and kill another ape or multiple. He drops Koba, for the good of the apes. In the third film, Caesar still regrets what he did to Koba, he has visions and dreams about him. He also is only fighting in this Human/Ape war for the protection of the apes. Koba started this war and killed lots humans, not Caesar. Later in the film, Caesar is tortured and not given food or water. Then near the end, he has a chance to kill the Colonel. Then I’m going to go back to this, Caesar doesn’t want violence. He only fights for the apes. He doesn’t want to kill the Colonel becuase in this part, the Colonel is powerless. He has a chance for revenge, but would that make him any better than Koba? Caesar spares him. He can’t pull the trigger. Nevertheless, The Colonel kills himself. Shortly after, Red Donkey sees that Caesar will do anything for the sake of these apes. Then finally, the apes find a home. Caesar sees that his mission is over. Caesar has done what he was born to do. Then he goes to internal sleep. Just because he has died does not mean his legacy is over. I hope that’s what kingdom is going to mention. (Yes, I have not seen it)
You are correct, the character building in these movies is phenomenal.
Dawn may be my favorite movie of all time. It’s incredible! !!
It's in my top 10 for sure
These movies are so good. Theyll look amazing in 50 years.
Most chilling lines in each film.
Rise: NO
Dawn: GO
War: LEAVE HIM
oooooooo
Do t know why it took me this long to finally go through this trilogy but wow. What a complete 3 piece story. Incredible
Oh my God man, i have been watching ur kung fu panda retrospective, absolutely loved it, then starting to love the ape trilogy , and now u made this video, you are amazing man !!
Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!!
I legit just watched these movie over the past few weeks for the first time, and wow they are incredible 🙏🏽
Your read of Ceaser's decision not to kill the Colonel is so incredibly different from mine. I read it as Ceaser was very much prepared to pull the trigger, but when Ceaser saw that the Colonel was already suffering a fate worse than death - infection with the virus - Ceaser chose to take his revenge by letting the Colonel continue to suffer. The Colonel killed himself because the virus, the thing he was trying to defeat, was replicating inside him. Both characters responded to the changed circumstance but continued to pursue the motivations which had driven them throughout the film.
Something that I found myself liking a lot thinking back on Dawn is the choice to have put Franco's character out of the film, because it ended up giving Caesar a much less easy way for him to regain some sense of trust in humanity again without having to bring back an old human character he had a bond with.
Agreed. I would've loved to have seen Will but it was probably the right choice
Idk man something about this trilogy is just so touching. The first is pretty solid on its own- that scene where Caesar speaks for the first time was a cinematic masterpiece. But the second and third films… goddamn. So many emotions conveyed just by mocap and great cgi. I have cried many times. So excited for Kingdom😊
People like you prove that apes are superior to humans 😂😂😂
2:03 Will was not a perfect father - no one is. And Will never saw Caesar as just a means to an end. Which is why he saved him anyways, he felt something for him.
It’s kind of ironic that the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy was way better than the Jurassic World trilogy with its main message.
Ironic?
War is one of the most emotinal movies i've ever seen
Just hinged all 3 between 12 am to 9 am. WELL WORTH IT!
Your first 6 minutes of this video is beautiful insightful and extremely right on the mark. And I didn't realize it until watching your video exactly all of that but I knew it without putting it in words and you put it in words what I knew then and realized now so thank you for that
Im making my way through the original movie series. And i got to say, the ape makeup still fascinates me to this day not to mention the interesting story and engaging characters. Ill probably check out this trilogy some time down the line.
you're 100% correct. Even the Mark Wahlberg movie has amazing make up for the apes
Fantastic analysis always click your video when it pops up!
You rock!
@@thegoldman25 I know 😎
Everything you said about this trilogy is how I feel about it too. Wonderful video.
Thank you for watching!
Are you looking forward to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes?
Loved the way you have narrated Caesar
Commissioner Gordon was so angry cause the apes took the bat light. Gordon couldn't signal Batman and the world fell apart
Just watched all 3 yesterday for the first time and I was so surprised with how good they were. Literally cried in all three movies haha
It's not an adaptation... it's a prequel
This is for me one of the greatest trilogies of all time.
I recently rewatched the entire trilogy backwards for some reason after seeing Kingdom. But my god is Caesar’s trilogy phenomenal.
Prior to both having fourth installments announced, this and the Toy Story trilogy were my two favorites. No bad movies among them. LoTR is up there, too.
Absolutely agree,one of BEST trilogies ever. Just magnificent. I honestly cannot choose which is the best. They all are the BEST. Thank you for your videos,they are fantastic.😊
Thank you for the kind words!
I’m really interested to see the newer movie. The first trilogy was excellent. Kind of strange that they didn’t pick up with Cornelius. But the new ape i guess is Caesars 6x great grandson so should be interesting to see what he’s gonna do.
Me too!
I keep hearing that people don't really like Will that much, but I feel like he did a really good job. You can tell that he has a hard time with the pet vs. Child talk because despite truly loving Ceasar, and imo he does truly love Ceasar, he definitely doesn't see Ceasar as his son. He let the distrust of animals that everyone around him has get to his head, despite him and his father having watched Ceasar grow up and both developing a true relationship with him. I love my cats so much and it would destroy me if something were to happen to them, and will genuinely spend money I don't have to make sure they are happy, but if they got smart enough to rival our intelligence and possibly communicate how the hell would I know the right way to react to that? I'm sure they'd know I love them and that I just want them to be safe, but knowledge also leads to an understanding of what you don't have which for any form of pet would very clearly be "freedom".
I think they did a good job of portraying the way their relationship transformed from father and son to owner and pet and it was Will's inability to stand up for how he viewed Ceasar that led to his change in attitude toward Ceasar. Will is the perfect example of "if you do nothing then you are still part of the problem".
Sorry this is so long winded, but I love these movies so much, the best way to describe what I just elaborated on and most actions every character takes in these movies is that they are all so incredibly "human". I think a lot of movies try to let their heroes make mistakes, but don't do a good job at portraying how they reach that mistake and there are so many "mistakes" in PotA that are so understandable.(except for the penitentiary, that place is terrible and I genuinely think Will's character would at least try to get Ceasar relocated at the first sign of abuse or try to bring the abuse to light. He doesn't see him as human, but he doesn't dislike or feel indifferent about him by any means.
Tldr: i freaking love these movies and there is a severe lack of character driven stories done this well these days and it is so refreshing.
I have been searching for a awhile for someone to run down this trilogy the way you did in this video .. Amazing amazing video keep it up!
These films got progressively better in my opinion. War was excellent in that it tied up the story from this trilogy while making reference to the starting place of the original 1968 movie.
Y’all keep calling that boy “Draco Malfoy” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Crucify me, but I only ever saw Rise, and thought it was pretty good. I recently watched the next 2, and couldn't believe how awesome they were. I'm actually ashamed that I didn't give them a watch back in the day. The 2nd and 3rd are legit incredible experiences
TOP 4 trilogy EVER.
what is your top 3?
@@thegoldman25 in no particular order bc thats just too hard
-alien(twice) alienS lol
-batman trilogy(nolan)
-star wars OT
-PoTA (2010s)
-pirates of the caribbean 1-3
(as my honorable mention or if i push the list to 5)
lmk what you think
@@DR.slzzzp💩
@@DR.slzzzpno lord of the rings is crazy
@@ezraromer05 very good trilogy it just fell a little flat for me at the end 1&2 were amazing but 3 was ehh
I am happy I own the Blu-Rays for this series. Seeing this I am going to watch them again. Thank you.
I need to buy them!
It was beautiful
Sad that people only remember it as "Ape together strong"
Never saw the trilogy. But I've heard it's supposed to be pretty good!
you're missing out!
I really enjoyed this commentary & your viewpoints on this video. So well done!! I would love to see you do a video like this for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Caesar as a kid is kind of like curious George
From Curious George to Furious George, Caesar came a long way
That's racist. George is a monkey. Caesar is a chimp.
You are definitely white.
I love all of these movies
Me too
i remember getting the trilogy for dvd blu ray and digital for only around 20 to 25$ what a steal
Could X-Men 97 show some of the same lessons.
I haven't seen it
@@thegoldman25 it’s really good
How many of these 36 minute Planet of the Apes videos are there?!
There should only be 1, any more than that and I’m gonna have a problem
@@thegoldman25 😂 in all seriousness, great vid man, and congrats on 100k!!
Koba is probably one of the most sympathetic villains I've seen. He was tortured, imprisoned, humiliated, and mutilated by humans. He has every right to hate them. It doesn't make him righteous, but it is understandable.
Yeppers
For starters, I've wanted new video essays on these movies for a while. Your video arrived at a good time.
That said, as it's the case with other videos of yours, I have some disagreements and with this video it starts early.
First, when it comes to Will's love towards Caesar, you mention things like Caesar being leashed as a sign Will doesn't love him that much. I think you don't see it from the right angle.
For example, most dogs have to be leashed outside of private property. But some breeds have to have a muzzle guard, legally.
Does it mean the owner likes the dog less than if it was another breed that doesn't require a muzzle guard? Well no. It's just the law forcing him to take stronger preventive mesures in case the dog is badly raised and attack somebody.
Which kinda happened with their neighbor in the movie. Caesar saw his "grandfather" being attacked and responded. The same way a dog would defend its owner, and depending on the breed the dog would be able to deal potentially more or less damage than another. Hence the different laws for the different breeds.
So what I mean is that Will leashing Caesar doesn't show how Will love him. It only shows how society sees how dangerous Caesar could be, as erratic and instinct driven as a dog.
So to avoid legal liability, Will leashes Caesar most likely against his will (no pun intended).
I'm not sure I layed down my thought efficiently, but I hope you ponder on it and come to a more informed assessment of what's depicted in the movie.
And wow, didn't expect to go that deep into details.
I'll post this first comment and I'll see if I edit it later to add something about the other movies or other issues I have. Or I'll create a new comment per issue/movie to be more efficient.
That said, even though I disagree with you more often than I'd like, I don't wanna live in an echo chamber, so I'll keep having you challenge my opinions whether you change, affect them or not.
Cheers from France my man! 🍻
Community question: What is a trilogy that you yourself love and you think is underrated
I'll go first pirates of the Caribbean.Yes even 4 and 5
planet of the apes
Damn good content you have here. Enjoyed every second of it. Thanks for that ✌🏼
Thank you for the support!
I remember that I wasn't too kind to the planet of the apes back then. Not because I hated them, I just I didn’t have any interest. Now, with the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, that might change me how I view these movies.
Rewatch them!
People use the word underrated way too much. It's very rated
There's nothing that will could've done about situation of the keepers. He did everything he could to get him out of there.
What about the finders, losers and weepers?
I 100% agree with you that the writers did their own take with the virus on the aspect of humanity destroying themselves. What I also think is an extra little nod to the sight of a national landmark is the Golden Gate Bridge. When Caesar first climbed up the redwoods, the bridge was completely covered in clouds and continued so in the third act of Rise. It only isn’t until after they have found their freedom that the bridge is revealed in full. It just reminded me of the last scene of the original movie with the Statue of Liberty. I don’t know.