This movie is now somewhat of a cross between the original "Planet of the Apes" and the TV show "Sliders", i.e. alternate representations of ape evolution and rule based on time travel intrusions by who else but ... us. The theme is that your actions change the future and that past actions changed the present time. Present being 2029, that is. Mark Wahlberg plays Leo Davidson, an astronaut in the year 2029 who jumps into the future (his future), where apes rule earth. On this future earth he discovers his old space crew crash landed thousands of years earlier, according to a revelation from a character in the movie. This is what changed everything. When Leo escapes and returns to 2029 earth (his present time), the effects (of his old space crew's intrusive visit to earth thousands of years ago) become painstakingly clear as he sees an altered world ruled by apes. That's why this remake has an ending that shows an altered earth, now complete with ape policemen in Washington D.C., ape citizens, a global ape population walking and talking. His old comrades messed it all up thousands of years prior to even 2029. Clear as mud? :) _________________________ Lucas_: I think this explanation is wrong or at least unclear.Both Wahlberg and his crew initially land on another planet, not earth. TulsaDavid: Care to cite your answer as an "answer", then let others rate it?

I think the ending does not really make sense. Hence, I did not write a reply at first, but I've rated down the other answer, so it's only fair to give you a chance to rate down mine :-) Before we get to the ending, we should review what happens during the film. Wahlberg and his crew are in a shuttle near earth doing experiments. Wahlberg and a chimp accidentially fly into a wormhole and eventually land on a different planet (unlike in the first Planet of the Apes movies, this second planet is clearly *not* earth, as established several times during the movie). This second planet is ruled by apes, while humans are enslaved. Eventually, Wahlberg finds the remains of the shuttle where he was at the beginning of the movie. It seems that his crew tried to rescue him and followed him through the wormhole. They landed on the same planet, but a few hundred or thousand years in the past. During this time, the apes that had brought with them become more intelligent (probably due to the humans' experiments) and enslaved the humans. Wahlberg then travels back to earth, only to find that apes have taken over earth, too. Now, let's look at possible explanations. I can see several, among them: - Wahlberg did not go back to earth, but landed on the second planet again, yet another few thousand years in the future - Apes from the second planet discovered how to fly to the past earth and took over before Wahlberg returned - Wahlberg went back to earth, but again, a few thousand years in the future. The fact that apes will rule over humans is inevitable and will happen everywhere, eventually - Wahlberg traveled to another earth in a parallel universe where apes rule over humans - There is no explanation Actually, the last explanation is the most likely one. I found this quote: "Well guess what kids, there isn't an explanation. Make of the ending what you will because your explanation is just as valid as anyone else's. The producers have admitted that they only sought to startle and confuse the audience. They have no point to make and no logic to explain it." http://www.tnmc.org/batcave/pota.shtml Hope that explains it for you :-)

I think Wahlberg was sent into the future to start with thousands of years after the apes have took over Earth. Then when he transports back with his spaceship he goes back in time maybe a few hundred years after the apes took over. In one scene you'll notice the apes talking about how humans once run the earth. I cant remember exactly what it was now but the apes had a object refering to this time. This object belonged to Wahlberg.

Since he went in time if you change the future, you change the past so, meaning from the movie apes were taking over and used humans as slaves. so on his way back to earth he went back to the past or even further to the future. so when he landed and was in washington d.c. so sice apes are becoming extinct now they made humans become exctinct and the space person guy got caught by the apes because he was the only person left.

Can it be that the world Wahlberg travels to in the beginning is really earth, and that the monkey he sent before him was actually the one ape that started the evolution on earth? Because humans evolved from monkeys, and then the spaceship that traveled to find leo and came before leo to this planet and was made slaves, and in the end when Wahlberg is going further into time, General thad has gotten a hold of the weapon that wahlberg had, and then has not only been a monkey in the evoution towards humans, but has actually evolved into some high intelligence monkeys? That the monkey that he sent would be the start of what we know today, but since leo went after in the beginning, the spaceship with all the intelligent monkeys follows, and they were set free, and the monkeys were superintelligent and outevolved humans, and then got a hold of the weapons, and evolve and not take over the world, but there were never any humans, they just evolved the same way as humans do. they say in the movie that humans are far more dangerous because of technology, but when thad gets a hold of that weapon in the end, he becomes a "human" because he is an ape with humanintelligence AND technology? I realize that this is not written very well, or in any order that makes it easy to read, but you get the idea.