Battle For The Planet Of The Apes (1973)

Review: written Sep 2024

Battle for the Planet of the Apes at least brings the original Apes movies story full circle, but the script is thin, watered down from any impact the franchise previously had. The slight story has little impact, despite a few interesting ideas – ideas which were fleshed out to excellent effect in “War Of The Planet Of The Apes”, in the more recent series. Paul Dehn, screenwriter from the previous 3 movies, delivered the story outline, but had to withdraw from screenwriting duties for health reasons, and despite coming back for a polish the inconsistencies and logic gaps are occasionally glaring. Less than 20 years on, the world has both succumbed to a nuclear conflict devastating the cities, and the apes can now all miraculously communicate fluently in spoken English discussing abstract scientific thoughts.

We pick up Caesar some time after the events of “Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes”, during which time he has fathered a son, Cornelius, and is now de facto ruler of the increasingly fractious alliance of benevolent chimpanzees, scientific orangutangs and belligerent gorillas. Caesar’s desire to find a workable peaceful relationship with the humans that work among them is hampered by both the gorillas desire to keep them enslaved, and his own difficulty in trusting them as equals. Things come to a head when the mutant humans from the destroyed radioactive city find the encampment, and the ‘Battle’ begins.

It is certainly the weakest of the series, and not surprising the franchise moved off the big screen for several decades. The generous rating is probably more based on the goodwill generated from previous outings than this movie taken on its own merit. Look out for a cameo from John Huston, if you can recognise him. And if nothing else, it's fun debating the meaning of that final shot...