Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

Ten years after a worldwide series of ape revolutions and a brutal nuclear war among humans, Caesar must protect survivors of both species from an insidious human cult and a militant ape faction alike.

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Pierre Boulle (characters), Paul Dehn (story)

Stars:

Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roddy McDowall	...	Caesar / Cornelius
Claude Akins	...	General Aldo
Natalie Trundy	...	Lisa
Severn Darden	...	Governor Kolp
Lew Ayres	...	Mandemus
John Huston	...	The Lawgiver
Paul Williams	...	Virgil
Austin Stoker	...	Bruce MacDonald
Noah Keen	...	Abe the teacher
Richard Eastham	...	Mutant Captain
France Nuyen	...	Alma
Paul Stevens	...	Mendez
Heather Lowe	...	Doctor
Bobby Porter	...	Cornelius
Michael Stearns	...	Jake

Storyline

After conquering the oppressive humans in "Conquest for the Planet of the Apes", Caesar must now keep the peace among the humans and apes. Gorilla General Aldo views things differently, and tries to cause an ape civil war. In the meantime, other human survivors learn of the ape city, and decide they want to take back civilization for themselves, thus setting the stage of warring ape factions and humans.

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Plot Keywords:

caesar character | cornelius character | betrayal | ape | gorilla | 

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Taglines:

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!

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 June 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Colonization of the Planet of the Apes

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Hyperion sewage plant., California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$8,800,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Apjac International, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 96 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Colleen Camp's film debut.

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Goofs

During the final battle scene, a pyrotechnic charge and the cable leading to it are clearly visible at the bottom of the screen (at around 14 mins). The holes in which other pyrotechnics charges are buried are visible before they explode.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: North America, 2670 A.D.
The Lawgiver: In the beginning God created beast and man so that both might live in friendship and share dominion over a world of peace. But in the fullness of time evil men betrayed God's trust and in disobedience to His holy word waged bloody wars, not only against their own kind, but against the apes, whom they reduced to slavery. Then God in his wrath sent the world a saviour, miraculously born of two apes who descended on Earth from Earth's own future and man was ...

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Crazy Credits

The 20th Century-Fox logo does not appear on this film.

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Alternate Versions

CBS television version adds a few scenes cut from the theatrical release. One scene takes place after Aldo chases teacher Abe, where MacDonald reminds him why humans should not say "no" to an ape. Another scene towards the end of the film has the surviving House of Mendez cult about to set off the doomsday bomb (as seen in "Beneath The Planet Of The Apes"), but decide not to as it would be a threat to the world.

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Connections

Featured in Troldspejlet: Episode #22.9 (1999)

User Reviews

The Final Chapter of a Classic Series

The Ape uprising has taken place so many years ago, and now in 2003 (by my figuring) Earth has went back to a primitive state in the new era of Apes and Humans living together, yet not equal.

Roddy McDowall reprises his role as Caesar in this one. He is more benevolent than in "Conquest..." in that he is mellowed out and Humans are not as evil as he visioned them in the last film. McDonald is his Human companion and voice of reason when the anti-Human sentiment comes to his mind. As in the end of "Conquest...", McDonald is the Human advocate for mercy for the Human race.

After the Ape uprising an offscrean nuclear war took place, demolishing the big cities of Humanity. Apes are now the superior race, yet rely on them to teach the Apes grammar and such. The Humans are subservient to the Apes, yet under Caesar's rule, they are given latitude when they inadvertently revert to the days of old (when the word "no" is uttered by a Human to an Ape, a grave misdeed in these times). A general by the name of Aldo seems to harbor visions of seizing control of the Ape civilization and directing it in a way much different than Caesar.

Caesar verbalizes his wish to have heard some words of wisdom from his long deceased parents, Cornelius and Zira. McDonald says it is so since the parents were under surveillance upon their coming to 1970's Earth, and that filmed records exist as to the revelations about the future of the Earth. Caesar immediately organizes a party of himself, Virgil, and McDonald to visit the Forbidden City (which is radioactive due to the fallout of the nuclear war) to learn about his parents. They go to the archives and find the records they were seeking. Yet meanwhile, there was a group of survivors that lived in the forbidden city that found out that Caesar was there. These humans were terribly disfigured due to the vast nuclear fallout. They recognize Caesar right away and want to gain vengeance for their fate. Caesar and his entourage flee from the Forbidden City once the Human Mutants go after them.

Anything past this will spoil the ending. This was decidedly the last of the POTA's films, and they left an open ending as to whether Humans and Simians can live together in peace.