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Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Play trailer Poster for Battle for the Planet of the Apes G 1973 1h 32m Sci-Fi Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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33% Tomatometer 27 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 06/04/2007
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. Go to Full Review
Time Out 01/26/2006
[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. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 10/23/2004
2/4
Battle looks like the last gap of a dying series, a movie made simply to wring the dollars out of any remaining ape fans. Go to Full Review
Dick Lochte Los Angeles Free Press 12/31/2019
The problem here is basically one of script, though the lowering of production values has taken its toll. Go to Full Review
Zaki Hasan Zaki's Corner 10/31/2018
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. Go to Full Review
Chris Alexander Alexander On Film 09/17/2018
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. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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JJ T Nov 10 There's nothing specifically wrong with it, per se, but it's just kind of pointless. There's a power struggle between chimp and gorilla that slow boils its way to the forefront for the first hour, then an underwhelming "battle" in the last half hour. The performances are fine, but it just kind of feels like a footnote in the saga of the whole story, like "one day there was a brief skirmish, but everything was fine." There's nothing to hate on here, but it's sad to see the series limp its way to the finish line like this. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Oct 13 All ages admitted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The worldwide gross is $8,844,595.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Jace T @CineChamber Sep 28 Battle for the Planet of the Apes is just a very middle of the road, nothing special to see here movie in general, and really caps out the Planet of the Apes original franchise series on a dull and unfortunate note. It really is just trying to recreate a lot of the first film, but in a lesser way all the way around. See more Jacob B Aug 2 The weakest of the original Planet of the Apes film series, if not the entire franchise? Yeah, probably. An outright cinematic travesty? I dunno, this film doesn't really do anything outstandingly bad. It's not good but it's hardly on the same level as The Room. The actors all do a good job, the orangutan is a likeable character, the titular battle is alright and I do like the attempts to align this film with the earlier installments, implying a stable time loop. Too bad the movie looks cheap, the pacing feels oddly slow for such a short film and there isn't much focus on social commentary this time around in favour of trying to appeal to a younger audience. To be fair, it's not as juvenile as you might expect but it does have a lighter vibe that makes certain scenes feel out-of-place rather than shocking. And much like what happened with Conquest, the rebooted film series would do a substantially better job dealing with these ideas, compared to how this film suddenly shifts to post-apocalyptic territory without any natural transition thanks to budget cuts. While the POTA films set in the original continuity ended on a bit of a whimper with this film, it's hardly the worst example of dropping the ball and would honestly comes off as unremarkable were it not for the issue that other, more well-received movies exist in the form of the first and third films plus the reboot era, which draws heavily from the fourth amd fifth films, improving upon their source material, making them look even more primitive by comparison. At least this one tried to be more optimistic seeing how it was meant to be the final chapter, a then-upcoming TV show notwithstanding...which I've heard is the true culprit for how this film turned out. This was a glorified pilot episode all along! See more Blu B Jul 8 I think this is considered the worst of the original run of movies but I don't know I didn't find it bad at all really at first but the more I think about it the more I can see why save for the acting which was ok. The problem here is more than anything I felt so numb and soulless watching it. I didn't care for a single one of these characters and there is again legit no development in this at all. These are the same ideas we've seen explored how many times now in this series and once again it's not done anywhere as good as the first. It just has a feeling of Deja Vu running through it the entire time. The final battle is so underwhelming, not good, and drags on a long time. Everything is alright at first but the longer it goes the more subpar it feels especailly if you've seen the other ones. The story makes sense and the effects are alright enough I guess. But the final battle there legit marching down the field 1800's European Warfare style and the Apes aren't hitting anything. And there is like 30 of them....You really could'nt get a couple hundred....Than the Forbidden City is so dark you can barely see it most of the time. The direction in general is so basic. This clearly had low funding just like the previous one. It's all settings we've seen before already too. On top of that you can tell stuff is missing here that was left on the editing room floor. The character development or backstory outside of Caesar just is nonexistant. Everyone is so forgettable here. Caesar has no prescene at all. The story doe make sense but it's soooo unfocused. It reminds me a bit of like Matrix Revolutions although that was better for what it's worth. The ideas it tries to fit in just once again never go anywhere and never does anything with them. The music is...off.. like it's used a lot but it just feels too over the top and just off. I don't know how else to describe it. I just had no interest at all the entire time. This has all the problems of the sequels and has nothing good that any of those had. It's not a broken film but just underwhelming and uninspired, not executed well, and just repeating the same stuff in a poor conclusion. I'm not sure if even adding the leftover edited stuff back in would've helped this. Skip it. Yeah this is probably the worst one but it's not like a Superman 4 or Jaws 4 type of bad. Just very underwhelming even when measured to the sequels. See more George M May 28 I first saw this in the movies, first run, on a double feature with Planet of the Apes (one of the greatest scifi movies ever made and the better of the two large budget Scifi films that came out in 1968). OK, the theatrical version is, thanks to cheapness of Fox, weak. HOWEVER, the uncut version, which ties this into Beneath the Planet of the Apes, with footage of the Alpha Omega weapon and the start of the Mendez cult, makes this a far better movie. See more Read all reviews
Battle for the Planet of the Apes

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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
Apjac International, Twentieth Century Fox
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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