Friday, March 26, 2021

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

*spoilers ahead*

 Intelligent apes live in harmony with humans, but Aldo, a militaristic gorilla, wants to seize power from Caesar, the chimpanzee leader. Caesar is told by MacDonald, a human, that there are tapes preserved with footage of Caesar's parents, so they -- plus Virgil, the genius organgutan -- go on an expedition to the city's ruins. Unfriendly humans still inhabit the ruins, and detect the invaders, who escape after playing the tape. The ruin-dwelling humans decide to locate the ape community and destroy it.

This is the conclusion of the saga, exploring mainly the conflicts between pacifist and warlike apes in a primitive community setting. A minor part of the movie is set in the radiation-contaminated ruins of the human city, where there is a similar conflict between pacifist and warlike humans. As the other sequels, it has some mildly entertaining action-filled plot, with a very thin layer of ideas coating it.

Rating: 31

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