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 1h 33m EN

😐

5.7

MID

★5.7TMDB · 1,105

ActionScience Fiction

Synopsis

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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.

“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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Cast

Roddy McDowall
Caesar
Natalie Trundy
Lisa
Austin Stoker
MacDonald
Severn Darden
Kolp
Claude Akins
Aldo
Paul Williams
Virgil
Richard Eastham
Mutant
Lew Ayres
Mandemus

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: J. Lee Thompson
Writers: Joyce Hooper Corrington, John William Corrington, Paul Dehn
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

53 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Planet of the Apes (Original) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by J. Lee Thompson, shot by Richard H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Leonard Rosenman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Alan Jaggs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Roddy McDowall and Natalie Trundy and Austin Stoker carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

J. Lee Thompson directs. Richard H. Kline behind the camera. Leonard Rosenman scores. Alan Jaggs cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 5.2× over at the box office.
353 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "Planet of the Apes (Original) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by J. Lee Thompson, shot by Richard H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Leonard Rosenman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Alan Jaggs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Roddy McDowall and Natalie Trundy and Austin Stoker carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "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!".
10IMDB entry: tt0069768 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Richard H. Kline
Original score: Leonard Rosenman
Editing: Alan Jaggs
Costume design: Morton Haack
Makeup / hair: Carol Pershing
Stunt coordinator: Paul Stader
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,700,000
Box office: $8,844,595
Return: 520% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

Part of

Planet of the Apes (Original) Collection

The original 5 classic films collection.

Also by

J. Lee Thompson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Ian Beale2017-02-16
★ 8/10
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 Apes sequels and definitely the most emotional. Just stick with the first movie and this one. - Ian Beale
John Chard2019-05-28
★ 4/10
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 humans living in the nuked underworld, and that of a power-hungry gorilla general. What follows is a film that sees various simian and human species throw exposition at each other in the vain belief it's literately smart. When the action comes it's half hearted and perpetrated by the least amount of actors possible. The make-up is shoddy, the fun element gone, while the acting is very uneven across the board. There's enough value in the various characterisations to at least keep fans of the series interested, and the photography belies the cheapness evident elsewhere, but really it's a sad closure to what had once been a smartly entertaining franchise. 4/10
r96sk2022-02-27
★ 6/10
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 weary at this point. A 'strong' 6/10 rating from me, if such a thing exists. It was the right time for them to end this (very good, all in all) series.