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Battle for the Planet of the Apes

G Released Jun 15, 1973 1h 32m Sci-Fi Action List
36% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 30% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
"Battle for the Planet of the Apes" is the final chapter in the sci-fi movie series. In this chapter, a tribute of human atomic bomb mutations are out to make life miserable for the peaceful ape tribe. The story is told primarily in flashback with the opening and closing taking place in the year 2670.
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Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

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Critics Consensus

Bereft of bright ideas and visually shabby, Battle for the Planet of the Apes takes a celebrated franchise and blows it all up -- the maniacs!

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Critics Reviews

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Variety Considering the usual fate of sequels, it's not so much that this final effort [from a story by Paul Dehn] is limp, but that the previous four pix maintained for so long a good quality level. Jun 4, 2007 Full Review Time Out [It] seems reluctant to use the potentials for astute comic strip philosophy that all the other films revelled in to a greater or lesser extent. Jan 26, 2006 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Battle looks like the last gap of a dying series, a movie made simply to wring the dollars out of any remaining ape fans. Rated: 2/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Dick Lochte Los Angeles Free Press The problem here is basically one of script, though the lowering of production values has taken its toll. Dec 31, 2019 Full Review Zaki Hasan Zaki's Corner Some solid ideas at its center expounding on the series' omnipresent themes of race relations and destiny vs. free will, but is hobbled by its too-apparent dime-store budget and a singular lack of ambition. Oct 31, 2018 Full Review Chris Alexander Alexander On Film Battle ends with a deep sense of melancholy and grace, a timeline defying notion that Caesar's decency in fact altered the course of history. Sep 17, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Edward R I was enjoying it until the final low budget battle. Gov Kolp was a bad character. So was the evil gorilla whose name I don’t remember. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/27/24 Full Review Christopher R While Battle may suffer from a low budget, it represents a more than adequate conclusion to the original Apes pentalogy. The acting and writing of the characters is strong. In particular Roddy McDowall brilliantly portrays a Caesar at a crossroads in his leadership between choosing the highest of human -- or in this case simian -- ideals and the depravity of a dystopian cynicism. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/05/24 Full Review Conrad C A very mediocre movie, without any glaring flaws but also nothing to recommend it. It added very little to the ongoing story, and connected poorly to the film before it, despite a lengthy introduction using borrowed footage. The themes in this movie felt forced and the characters stayed very surface level. Not much of an ending to a five-film franchise. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 07/30/24 Full Review Nathan W When the first 5 minutes of a feature is scenes from the last 2 movies to pad the runtime, you're already off to a bad start. The last 20 minutes was good. You know when we finally get to "battle" part of the movie. Unfortunately we had to sit through an hour of boring to get there. The story was dull and the writing felt lazy for most part. I didn't hate it, but I expected much better to wrap up the series. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/09/24 Full Review Robson C Cesar tenta administrar após os eventos anteriores e a detonação de uma guerra da humanidade que dizimou a população mundial. Os macacos se desenvolveram, afora conseguem falar e possuem inteligência. Construíram uma cidade e criaram leis. Os homens, agora, são escravos dos macacos. Porém, as ameaças não param. De um lado o General Aldo, decidido a exterminar todos os homens do planeta, de outro, os humanos que sobreviveram a guerra, porém estão doentes e deformados por causa da radiação. Este é o último filme desta primeira fase da franquia. O orçamento reduzido é nítido, principalmente nas cenas da "batalha", onde os mutantes desfilam o seu grande poderio militar: um ônibus escolar, um jipe, uma caminhão e algumas motos. O motivo que leva os mutantes a atacar a cidade dos macacos é forçado: Cesar quer ver as gravações dos depoimentos de seus pais à Comissão Federal do terceiro filme. No máximo, tem os áudios e frames congelados. Depois, nada disso é usado no decorrer do filme. O filme é toda uma preparação para um grande evento que se transformou numa bombinha de São João. Mas, com tudo isso, pelo menos é um pouco melhor que o filme anterior. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 04/15/24 Full Review Pedro Henrique C I couldn't understand this movie, it's a mess Rated 1 out of 5 stars 04/14/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Battle for the Planet of the Apes

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" is the final chapter in the sci-fi movie series. In this chapter, a tribute of human atomic bomb mutations are out to make life miserable for the peaceful ape tribe. The story is told primarily in flashback with the opening and closing taking place in the year 2670.
Director
J. Lee Thompson
Producer
Arthur P. Jacobs
Screenwriter
Paul Dehn, John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox, Apjac International
Rating
G
Genre
Sci-Fi, Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 15, 1973, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Runtime
1h 32m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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