Four astronauts embark on a perilous journey at near the speed of light to a distant planet. When they emerge from hibernation they find their ship damaged and sinking in a lake and only three have survived the trip.
Taylor (Charlton Heston), Dodge (Jeff Burton) and Landon (Robert Gunnar) escape to the shore with minimal supplies and strike out across the desolate world looking for food.
They eventually find some people but they are primitive and uncommunicative. It turns out something else rules here...
Science fiction worth the name likes to take pot-shots at real world issues and this one is on full auto.
It has a go at war, racism, vivisection, slavery, religious dogma, greed and a great swathe of humanity's weaknesses, some in a more concerted way than others but even when it's only a line or two they are excellent.
Taylor is the victim at the hands of the apes but also comes to realise mankind's monstrous nature. Religious zealot Dr, Zaius (Maurice Evans) might be the antagonist but he is protecting ape society from a terrible truth that the well meaning scientists Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Zira (Kim Hunter) have stumbled across.
No major character is unsympathetic.
The main weird bit is the insertion of Nova as a kind of 1000000 million years BC rag clad eye candy. She can't say anything and just hangs about.
It also has one of the most famous closing scenes in cinema.
9/10 If you haven't seen this are you some kind of unthinking ape?