No stranger to flying in the face of convention as I am I confess to not liking number 3 much.

I really like number 4 and not much needs changing there in my book (even the softer theatrical ending helps).

Maybe merging 3 and 5 would be a good idea.

So when Caesar goes to the Forbidden Zone he could see the little film of his parents and lead into a less goofy recap how he got to be with Ricardo in the first place.

I would dodge the current ending of 5.

As nice as it is to get John Huston it goes against what we know to happen and the Apes films are pretty fatalistic in tone (most of the time).

Thanks for your input, Bingo.

What do you think about dropping 5 entirely and merging 3 and 4 instead?

I'd like to end it with a bang; e.g., Caesar saying "... and that day is upon you... NOW!" and then fade to black when the apes start cheering.

I'd like to cut as much from 3 as possible; only leaving in what's necessary to setup the baby-Caesar plot.

The problem, of course, is coming up with a good way to transition from baby-Caesar to adult-Caesar.

I would keep 4 (but make it the new 3) largely unchanged and merge 3 and 5 (and make it the new 4).

Have the revelation of the murder of his parents and the staged human murder of his son push Caesar over the edge and enslave the humans.

Drop the revelation that it was a set up.

I choose to just watch the unrated version of Conquest and skip 5 most of the time.