Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Pierre Boulle (characters)
Paul Dehn (story)

Release Date:

15 June 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The final chapter in the incredible Apes saga. The most suspenseful showdown ever filmed as two civilizations battle for the right to inherit what's left of the earth!

Plot:

Ten years after conquering the Earth, ape leader Caesar wants the ruling apes and enslaves humans to live in peace. But warning factions of apes led by a militant gorilla general as well as various human groups threaten the stability.

Plot Keywords:

Ape | General | Gorilla | Planet Of The Apes | Slavery

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Roddy McDowall	...	Caesar
Claude Akins	...	General Aldo
Natalie Trundy	...	Lisa
Severn Darden	...	Governor Kolp
Lew Ayres	...	Mandemus
Paul Williams	...	Prof. Virgil
Austin Stoker	...	MacDonald
Noah Keen	...	Abe the Teacher
Richard Eastham	...	Mutant Captain
France Nuyen	...	Alma
Paul Stevens	...	Mendez
Heather Lowe	...	Tanya the Doctor
Bobby Porter	...	Cornelius, Son of Caesar
Michael Stearns	...	Jake
Cal Wilson	...	Soldier

Also Known As:

Colonization of the Planet of the Apes

Runtime:

93 min | USA:96 min (extended version) | UK:86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Brazil:Livre | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:G | Canada:PG | Singapore:PG | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Ranch, Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Apjac International

Trivia:

Colleen Camp's film debut.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the humans from the dead city and two of Aldo's gorillas meet in the desert, Governor Kolp watches the gorillas through his binoculars. He then issues orders to shoot the gorillas with a cannon. The cannon fires in a completely different direction to the way he was looking, but hits them anyway.

Quotes:

Virgil: Teacher only reverted to type under provocation. He... he spoke like a slavemaster in the old days of our servitude when we were conditioned to mechanical obedience. He, uh, he uttered a negative, uh, imperative.
Caesar: Could you put that into words which even Caesar could understand?
Virgil: Uh, he said, "No, Aldo, no!"

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Big Bang Theory: The Pancake Batter Anomaly (#1.11)" (2008)

Full circle?

This movie had big ambitions:the hero,Ceasar,Cornelius's and Zira's son,has to change the future,like Bruce Willis would have to do a quarter of century later in "twelve monkeys" -no pun intended-.But the results are not up to scratch,by a long shot:the last two sequels are the poorest of a saga which brilliantly began with Shaffner's classic in 1967(adapted from Pierre -Bridge on the river Kwai-Boulle's absorbing book).

One should note than the first five minutes are footage from 'escape from...." which tend to reinforce Ceasar's Christlike nature ;and it's even enhanced by John Huston's patriarch "lawgiver" (sic) character. And if we consider there are still two or three minutes of footage of "escape" in the middle of the movie,one realizes "battle" is really short weight.No character on the screen ( in spite of Roddy McDowall) can sustain interest as Taylor,Nova,Cornelius,Zira,Zaius and co used to do. Better watch the first one again and again,and avoid Burton's remake.