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Battle for the Planet of the Apes

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!

1973 • 93 min • Action · Science Fiction

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Synopsis

The fifth and final episode in the Planet of the Apes series. After the collapse of human civilization, a community of intelligent apes led by Caesar lives in harmony with a group of humans. Gorilla General Aldo tries to cause an ape civil war and a community of human mutants who live beneath a destroyed city try to conquer those whom they perceive as enemies. All leading to the finale.

Our family guide

Best from age 7

Movie Knight Score

1089 reviews

80 Reviewers · 5 · 65%
57 Audience · 1084 · 35%

In a post-apocalyptic future, ape leader Caesar strives for peaceful coexistence between apes and humans. Their fragile harmony is threatened by a rebellious gorilla general and a community of hostile human mutants. This final chapter explores the struggle for peace amidst rising tensions and old prejudices.

Violence & peril: 3/10
Language: 1/10
Drinking, drugs & smoking: 0/10
Romance & sensuality: 0/10
Scary moments: 3/10

Heads up

Some fighting between apes and humans
Explosions and crumbling structures
Themes of discrimination and war

What it models well

Coexistence
Leadership
Forgiveness
Equality

Talk about it after

The challenges of building a new society
Overcoming prejudice and fear
The importance of peaceful leadership

Written by the Movie Knight editorial team for Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Our own words, our own scoring — always double-check against your family's standards.

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Top billed cast

Director: J. Lee Thompson • Crew: John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington, Paul Dehn

Trailers & clips

Trailer

John Landis on BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

Reviewer notes

Recommended
**_The most comic booky of the original five films, but sociologically interesting_** A dozen years after a nuclear war, Caesar (Roddy McDowell) oversees a village of apes mixed with subservient humans. He and his advisor (Paul Williams), as well as Ceasar’s human assistant (Austin Stoker), make an excursion to the Forbidden City for important data, but this incurs the wrath of Kolp, leader of the underground m...
Wuchak, TMDB Community

Recommended
Well the last film was last year, but that's ten years for an ape so we now find "Caesar" (Roddy McDowell) living with his family and presiding over what I think Shakespeare referred to as a "loose confederation of warring tribes". The militaristic gorillas, led by "Aldo" (Claude Atkins) are just itching for a fight - and they might just get their way as the humans under the command of a surviver from the command ...
Geronimo1967, TMDB Community

Recommended
A limp way for the original franchise to finish. Its predecessor, <em>'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'</em>, was a weak entry too but remained watchable, though <em>'Battle for the Planet of the Apes'</em> 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 ...
r96sk, TMDB Community

Not recommended
In the beginning God created beast and man so that both might live in friendship and share dominion over a world of peace. The original Planet of the Apes film franchise closed down with a whimper as budget restrictions, general screenplay lethargy and contempt of familiarity swamps the production. Plot finds the apes and humans trying to live in harmony, but find their efforts stymied by a tribe of mutant huma...
John Chard, TMDB Community

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers
**The best of the sequels** _Battle for the Planet of the Apes_ is the best of the Planet of the Apes sequels - a film packed with emotion and incident. Caesar (Roddy McDowall) seeks his parents in the ruins of a destroyrd city and irks a gang of crazed freaks who all wear silly hats and _skiing goggles_. Leonard Rosenman gives us a nice score and the photography is beautiful. The classiest looking of the Ap...
IanBeale, TMDB Community