Why HBO Max’s New #1 Movie Is Taking Over The World (The Sci-Fi Masterpiece Is Now Streaming)

It’s always interesting to discover that a movie from the past has vaulted its way to the top of a major streaming service’s chart. That’s just what’s happening right now, as the film that has been trending on HBO Max and currently sits in the #1 spot is 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes.

In fact, the top two films on HBO Max’s worldwide charts right now are War for the Planet of the Apes and its predecessor, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. It’s great that the film is doing so well because it’s a sci-fi masterpiece that everyone should watch at least once.

War For The Planet Of The Apes Culminates A 3-Part Sci-Fi Film Series

War for the Planet of the Apes is especially great because it concludes the modern Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy. The original film, from way back in 1968, is considered a true cinematic classic. The sequels over the decades were a mixed bag and the franchise felt dead after the 2001 iteration disappointed.

2011 arrived and the series returned with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It worked as a brilliant origin story for the protagonist Caesar and marked the debut of Andy Serkis’ remarkable turn as the ape. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was released three years later and changed things going forward.

This was now set in a world where humans were nearly extinct and apes were the dominant franchise. It was met with widespread acclaim and set the stage for an epic conclusion. That’s just what we got with War for the Planet of the Apes, and as the title suggests, an all-out battle between the apes and humans goes down.

The entire trilogy was incredibly well-received. Rise has an 82% Rotten Tomatoes rating, Dawn sits at 91%, and War has the highest score at 94%. Not many trilogies in history can match up to that kind of consistent quality and even fewer can say that their final installment is the best.

Why War For The Planet Of The Apes Is Worth Watching

War for the Planet of the Apes is a must-see movie for a handful of reasons. For starters, Andy Serkis is masterful as Caesar in each film, but this might be his best work. His revenge mission and the loss that he struggles with make for a totally different kind of performance from the actor.

The movie also looks stunning, evidenced by it being nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards and winning in that category at the Critics’ Choice Awards. However, the real reason that you need to see this is just for the expert way it culminates a trilogy.

These Planet of the Apes movies tell an incredible story across three very different films. The escalation of the stakes to the point where a war breaks out makes for the perfect capper to Caesar’s tale. If you love the first two movies, there’s no better way to wrap things up than what we got here.

Even if you haven’t been able to check out the first two installments, War for the Planet of the Apes can also work as a standalone film. You’ll get more out of it if you follow the prior movies, yet you can still appreciate what this film does on its own. That’s a difficult trick to pull off.

The end result is that War for the Planet of the Apes is a legitimate sci-fi masterpiece and one of the best movies in the genre released over the past 25 years. It’s a special film that deserves to sit atop any streaming service’s charts.