In the film, Leo Davidson (played by Mark Wahlberg) is part of a space station crew that is researching on genetically enhancing apes for space travel. During a routine space-walk, Leo's station is hit by a strange electromagnetic storm that sends him crashing to a nearby planet.
Upon crashing, Leo is immediately confronted by tribes of humans who are being hunted and enslaved by intelligent apes, who have formed their own society and have evolved with human-like abilities. The apes are led by the ruthless General Thade (played by Tim Roth), who views humans as inferior beings and seeks to eradicate them completely.
Leo is befriended by a group of rebel humans led by a young woman named Ari (played by Helena Bonham Carter), who is sympathetic to his struggle to find a way back home. Together, they try to evade General Thade and his army of gorillas, while also uncovering the secrets of the planet they are stranded on.
As Leo delves deeper into the mysteries of the planet, he discovers shocking truths about its past, including how it came to be ruled by apes and what happened to the original humans who inhabited it.
The film is noted for its stunning visual effects, which brought the world of the apes to life in a way that had never been seen before. It was directed by Tim Burton and was a critical and commercial success upon its release in 2001.