All 13 reviews are positive, and the praise clusters on the same things. Most critics treat the film as a political allegory first and an adventure second, and admire it on both counts: the satire of race, religion and class is repeatedly singled out, as is the Rod Serling and Michael Wilson script for blending humour with dread. Charlton Heston’s Taylor draws consistent credit, as do the pioneering ape make-up, Schaffner’s direction and the score. The closing twist is named again and again as the reason the film lasts.
The spread is narrow, and the mild reservations come mostly from 1968. The Guardian finds the film ingenious but too allegorical and too cute, and The New Yorker rates it highly as entertainment while insisting it is not art. Time Out, more recently, files it as a minor classic rather than a major one. Later critics tend to grade it upwards partly by comparison with the sequels and the Burton remake, which several dismiss outright.