La batalla del planeta de los simios

One decade 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.

Screenwriters John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington were brought in after the success of their film "The Omega Man", although prior to that neither one of them had written any science fiction films and, indeed, Joyce Carrington later admitted they had never seen any of the Apes films prior to being hired to write the script for "Battle".

Roger Ebert gave the film a negative review, stating, "Battle looks like the last gasp of a dying series, a movie made simply to wring the dollars out of any remaining ape fans." As usual, Ebert is spot on. This feels nothing like an "Apes" movie at all, and the continuity starts to get a little strange. Even ignoring the paradox of the time loop, there is no explanation of how the apes became able to speak and so forth. If Caesar had a mate and this was 500 years in the future it might make sense, but apes simply do not have the ability to speak!

The last of the original series takes place a decade or so after its predecessor. There's an Ape City, run by Caesar, the benevolent ruler played by Roddy McDowall, and its human denizens are servants to their simian cousins. Caesar's aide tells him of a place in the Forbidden City, now decimated by nuclear strikes, where video footage of Caesar's parents exists. Caesar has no memories of his parents, who were killed when he was a baby, so he, his aide, and the wise Virgil (Paul Williams) travel to the city and encounter a band of now-mutated humans who live in some squalor and are led by Kolp (Severn Darden). Kolp, learning of the apes' arrival, decides to launch a preemptive strike on Ape City to exterminate them all. Meanwhile, there's dissension among the apes - particularly, the combative General Aldo (Claude Akins), who wants to take over because he likes making war and being the Man. Anyway, the movie isn't as good as those earlier in the series, but it's passable. McDowall is very good, and in fact the ape costumes are still top notch. This is a fitting coda to the series.

Definitely the weakest in the series...but alas...my favorite. The final human battle to take over what's left of the Earth is good. One major flaw in the actual battle is when the battle starts we see Aldo and his cavalry charge----then we don't see them again until the battle is over...throwing grenades in the bus. I had this film on Super 8 back in the seventies (the color 9 minute version) and it was a favorite of the neighborhood.

A limp way for the original franchise to finish.

Its predecessor, 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes', was a weak entry too but remained watchable, though 'Battle for the Planet of the Apes' kinda straddles the other side as it's uninteresting. I didn't dislike it and it is very short at around 82 minutes, which helps. Roddy McDowall is the pick of the cast, though even his performance feels weary at this point.

A 'strong' 2½* rating from me, if such a thing exists. It was the right time for them to end this (very good, all in all) series.

MORD39 RATING: **1/2 out of ****

For starters, it's true that this film is the least in the series. But it's still enjoyable and it's got values (something we could really use these days).

The missing scenes involving the nuclear missile were essential to the intelligence of the film; without them, it suffers. I'm basing my review on the full, uncut edition (as a major APES addict, I have it). If there is a real problem with BATTLE, it's mostly due to the lack of a great story and new blood. Each of the previous films gave us some kind of new direction to explore, whereas this fifth movie is more of a rehash.

I disagree about the casting of Paul Williams as Virgil. I mean, was that guy born to play an orangutan or what!? Similarily, I think Claude Akins as gorilla general Aldo was also an inspired piece of casting.

BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES should be a film anyone can enjoy somewhat, and especially by someone claiming to be a fan of the series. Can anyone tell me what film series has an exceptional fifth chapter?