The Biggest Plot Holes in the Planet of the Apes Franchise

Beneath the Planet of the Apes ends with what appears to be the ultimate conclusion for the franchise, as Taylor fires a doomsday nuclear warhead in his dying moments that destroys the entire Earth. However, not even the end of the world could derail the Planet of the Apes series, the direct sequel to which in 1971, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, effectively canceled the apocalypse. In the film, intelligent chimpanzees Cornelius (Roddy McDowell), Zira (Kim Hunter) and Milo (Sal Mineo) use Taylor’s spaceship to travel back centuries to 1973, contradicting the original premise.

While the prospect of seeing how intelligent apes react to a world ruled by humans is intriguing, their odyssey through time doesn’t make much sense when further explored. Despite living in a relatively primitive society with guns as their most advanced technology, the apes are able to repair Taylor’s crashed spaceship enough to escape Earth, travel through space, and travel through time. This development becomes even more pointless when you consider that Beneath the Planet of the Apes takes place shortly after the original film, making this massive overhaul even more unlikely.