We’re back! The latest entry in our comprehensive score rankings is here, and this time, we’re taking on all 10 (as of this writing) major installments of the Planet of the Apes franchise!

Feel free to check out our previous rankings here.

The Planet of the Apes franchise has always been something of an enigma. It’s no secret that the films deal with serious social issues and controversies – racism, evolution, nuclear war, human rights, animal rights – but they still fall victim to short-sighted public criticisms from audiences who can’t see past the conceit of “talking apes.” Or, in the case of the original series, sometimes laughably bad costumes.

Nevertheless, the original Planet of the Apes (1968) remains one of the most thought-provoking pieces of science fiction from the 20th century. And it launched a franchise that swept the nation during the late 60s and 70s… and is honestly still going strong today.

In this ranking, we’ve included the five original films, the 1974 TV series, Tim Burton’s 2001 catastrophe, and the recent “Andy Serkis as Caesar” trilogy. What’s not included? We left out Dean Elliott’s music for the 1975 animated Return to the Planet of the Apes since it never had a soundtrack release. It’s therefore not fair to judge its music based on some questionable YouTube snippets.

As big a fan as I am of the franchise, I’ll readily admit that the quality of these films runs the spectrum from all-time classic to forgettable cheesefest. But keep in mind that we’re not here today to talk about the merits of the films themselves. We’re here to talk about the music.

We’re ranking the orchestral scores – not the movies.

If you’re interested in exploring these soundtracks for yourself, I’d highly recommend La-La Land Records’ new releases of the original series and the TV show. They’re both phenomenal releases, newly restored and remastered, with extensive liner notes, expanded tracks, and previously unreleased music.

The music in this franchise is really interesting. Unlike something like Star Wars or Star Trek, there’s no single (or even dominant) theme throughout. Indeed, most of these soundtracks don’t have hummable themes at all.

If there is a common theme, it’s not a melodic one – it’s percussion. Most of these scores heavily feature drums and other more unique forms of percussion. With the exception of the recent trilogy, much of the music is surprisingly dissonant – and even atonal at times. The music of the franchise is certainly an acquired taste.

On the whole, they’re incredibly atmospheric and make great background or work music, but they’re probably not going to be soundtracks you return to again and again.

I mean, I do, but I’m a Planet of the Apes nut. Your mileage may vary. So without further ado…

#10: Beneath the Planet of the Apes

• composed by Leonard Rosenman (1970)
• listen to: “Underground City,” “March of the Apes”

The first Planet of the Apes sequel was a grim, humorless film, and Rosenman’s music for it avoids themes entirely. At times dissonant, it has “layers of sound interspersed with effects or brief rhythmic devices for specific moments.” It avoids upper strings and incorporates a number of unique instruments, such as lujon, jawbone, echoed synthesizer, and electric guitar. Oh, and it also has a totally wackadoo choir singing a psalm to the nuclear bomb (a twist on the hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful”).

#9: Battle for the Planet of the Apes

• composed by Leonard Rosenman (1973)
• listen to: “Main Title,” “Mutants Move Out,” “The Battle”

In doing these rankings, it’s become clear that I’m not a fan of Leonard Rosenman’s work. His two soundtracks for this franchise sank to the bottom, and his one contribution to Star Trek (1986’s The Voyage Home) was that franchise’s worst score. But in 1973, Battle stretched the franchise’s popularity a bit too thin, and Rosenman wasn’t up to the task of saving it on the merits of its music. Indeed, I think Rosenman got a raw deal with Planet of the Apes since he was asked to compose the two worst films in the franchise. Like Beneath, his music is relentless and bold. But hardly something you’ll want to return to again and again.

#8: Planet of the Apes

• composed by Danny Elfman (2001)
• listen to: “Main Titles,” “The Hunt,” “The Return”

Despite Danny Elfman’s uncanny ability to write superbly memorable music, his score here is relatively bland and unmemorable. Ironically, it’s still probably the best thing about this film. The score incorporates more percussion than Elfman uses uses, but it’s mostly atmospheric and only occasionally melodic. By introducing a “full orchestra” sound to the franchise – yet retaining the iconic heavy percussion – this score feels like a modern update to the classic series scores. But it still fails to be top tier.

#7: Escape from the Planet of the Apes

• composed by Jerry Goldsmith (1971)
• listen to: “Main Title,” “Shopping Spree,” “Mother and Child”

After scoring the original film, Goldsmith returned to the franchise for this third installment (replacing Leonard Rosenman as composer, something that also happened on the Star Trek feature films). Escape stands out in the classic series since it’s ultimately a comedy (aside from its incredibly dark ending). As a result, much of Goldsmith’s music is comparatively upbeat and playful.

#6: Planet of the Apes (TV series)

• composed by Lalo Schifrin, Earle Hagen, & Richard LaSalle (1974)
• listen to: “Main Title,” “Your World,” “Riding for Urko”

Far too few people have seen the Planet of the Apes TV series (which ran for  single season in 1974). That’s their loss. The show is surprisingly good and had more time to explore social issues such as racism, torture, and chemical weapons. There are no real themes or melodies here – the music is mostly atmospheric with an emphasis on brittle percussion and aggressive horns – but the composers took risks and used a smorgasbord of unique instruments: cimbalom, harp, vibraphone, echoplexed flute, electric organ, and gamelan, to name a few. (The CD release linked above includes the music from 9 of the 14 episodes; many of the later episodes had smaller budgets and were forced to recycle tracks from previous episodes.)

#5: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

• composed by Michael Giacchino (2014)
• listen to: “Caesar No Evil, Hear No Evil,” “Primates for Life,” “Planet of the End Credits”

Giacchino’s first foray into the Planet of the Apes franchise is a fairly solid action score that is surprisingly quiet (for the most part) and atmospheric. Much of it’s actually reminiscent of his score for LOST, which – to be fair – isn’t exactly a bad thing. Also, in keeping with most of Giacchino’s soundtracks, his pun game is ON POINT in the track titles here.

#4: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

• composed by Patrick Doyle (2011)
• listen to: “Bright Eyes Escapes,” “Off You Go,” “Caesar’s Home”

This one was a surprise. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. Rise was originally quite a bit lower in the ranking, but it just kept creeping up. Doyle was tasked with rebooting the franchise’s music, and though he did more to “modernize” it than Danny Elfman did in 2001, it’s still not overly thematic or melodic. Nevertheless, Doyle nails it, and I find this one endlessly relistenable.

#3: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

• composed by Tom Scott (1972)
• listen to: “Main Title,” “Ape Revolt Begins,” “Apes Attack”

I’ll admit I’m surprised at how high this one landed. Tom Scott had a rough go with Conquest, the fourth Apes film. The original cut of the film got slapped with an R rating (for an incredible amount of violence), and the studio was forced to drastically edit the film. As a result, a lot of Scott’s music ended up on the floor and out of the movie. In fact, the film’s climax was ultimately tracked with Jerry Goldsmith’s music from the original film. Scott’s original score, though, is a blast and filled with an array of exotic percussion instruments, including dakadebello (a wooden xylophone invented by Scott), slide whistle, and echoplexed synthesizer.

#2: War for the Planet of the Apes

• composed by Michael Giacchino (2017)
• listen to: “Exodus Wounds,” “Apes Together Strong,” “Paradise Found”

This is the closest the franchise gets to sweeping melodies and hummable tunes – yet it still feels at home with the rest of this group. The rebooted trilogy is one of those rare film cycles that does the seemingly impossible – it gets better with each installment. As does its music. Giacchino takes his time to establish the film’s sound (the opening track is almost 11 minutes long), and he builds up to crescendo that will sweep you away. Also, his use of a choir is surprisingly subtle. It doesn’t overpower; rather, the voices surreptitiously sneak their way into your subconscious and squeeze your core. Taken as a whole, this soundtrack is among Giacchino’s best.

#1: Planet of the Apes

• composed by Jerry Goldsmith (1968)
• listen to: “The Hunt,” “No Escape,” “A Bid for Freedom”

You had to see this coming. The music may not be melodic or hummable, but it’s just a classic sound for a classic film. Goldsmith created a unique score perfectly suited to the “otherworldly,” alien feel of the film. And he set a precedent for the franchise that more than half a dozen other composers would seek to emulate (and try to innovate). Goldsmith invented a bass slide whistle for the film and also incorporated an entire lineup of percussion instruments you’ve never heard of: scraped gong, log drums, bamboo angklungs, boobams, cuica, and shofar. His music here is meant to disorient. It’s meant to make you feel like Charlton Heston, lost in time and in a place where nothing makes sense. Goldsmith’s music for the original film was nominated for an Academy Award (the only film in the franchise to earn that distinction), but it ultimately lost to John Barry’s The Lion in Winter. The music of Planet of the Apes might be an acquired taste, but this is unquestionably the pinnacle.