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 | psychotronic film | ape | 

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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

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 June 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Hyperion sewage plant., California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$8,844,595

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,844,595

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:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

All five original "Planet of the Apes" movies were #1 at the U.S. box office when released. "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" spent two weeks as the #1 top grossing film: the week of June 17, 1973 it made $4,864,355 and the week of June 24, 1973 it made $4,294,934.

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Goofs

When Caesar and his search party pause on summit of a sand dune and first see the Forbidden City in the distance, a place where no one supposedly visits, we see them continue their approach on a well traveled sandy path full of fresh footprints ahead of them.

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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

The original video release eliminated all footage with actress France Nuyen, including all shots revealing the bomb. The DVD issue includes the missing footage as bonus features.

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Connections

Featured in The Chronic Rift: Podcast of the Apes (2018)

User Reviews

"All knowledge is for good. Only the use to which you put it can be good or evil."

The fifth and final of the original Planet of the Apes series. In between the last film and this one, there's been a nuclear holocaust and the remaining humans are slaves of the apes. Caesar (Roddy McDowall) tries to rule in peace but gorilla General Aldo (Claude Akins) wants to eradicate all humans. While searching the ruins of a city for recordings of his parents, Caesar comes across mutant humans who attack the apes. This leads to inevitable conflict between Caesar and Aldo as to how best to deal with this new threat.

The least of the Apes movies is still quite good. It has solid acting and a script with good ideas, although it crams in a little more than it should. This was such a good series and it is, I believe, under-appreciated. Yes the first movie is widely praised but the sequels are rarely given their due. They're all smart, entertaining movies that tell a very interesting saga.