Severn Darden | Through the Shattered Lens

And so, we reach the end of the original series of Planet of the Apes films. Battle for the Planet of the Apes was the cheapest of the Apes films and most critics agree that it’s also the worst. Sad to say, I happen to agree with them. If nothing else, Battle For The Planet of the Apes is the only one of the original Apes films that fails to even reach the meager level of quality of Tim Burton’s remake.

The film begins a decade after the end of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. A nuclear war has destroyed what was left of human society. It’s never made clear if that war was between apes and human or between humans and humans. All that is clear is that the Apes are now firmly in charge of the world. Caesar (Roddy McDowall) leads the Apes civilization. Humans, while clearly second class citizens, are treated relatively well by the Apes. Early on in the film, Caesar views archival footage of his parents and learns of what the future holds. He immediately makes move to try to prevent that future from occurring.

However, all is not well. Gorilla general Aldo (Claude Akins) hates humans and is secretly plotting a military coup to overthrow Caesar. Meanwhile, over in the Forbidden City (a.k.a. New York), there’s a tribe of radiation-scarred humans who are being led by Kolp (Severn Darden), the sadistic torturer from Conquest of The Planet of the Apes. Driven mad by the ravages of war, Kolp and his followers are plotting to launch their own last-ditch attack on Caesar and the apes.

So much of this film can be legitimately criticized, from the cheap look (the apes are no longer characters but instead just actors in rubber masks) to the predictable storyline. So, instead of focusing on what’s wrong with this film, I’m going to highlight the handful things that actually did work. While few of the performers make any effort to invest their characters with any sort of life, both McDowall and Darden give strong performances. Darden, in particular, makes a great villain and it’s a shame that he didn’t get a better film in which to show off. Predictable as the film is, there’s a few memorable touches, my favorite being Kolp and his followers converting a bunch of school busses into armored attack vehicules.

As well, Battle for the Planet of the Apes may ultimately feel like an unnecessary chapter in the whole Planet of the Apes saga but the film, at the very least, makes the effort to provide some sort of continuity with the other films in the series. Kolp and his followers are obviously meant to be the ancestors of the bomb-worshipping mutants from Beneath the Planet of the Apes and, in one of my favorite little touches, Kolp’s assistant is named Mendez. If you’ll remember, the leader of the mutants in Beneath was named Mendez the Tenth.

It’s those little touches that show that the filmmakers, at the very least, respected their viewers enough to maintain the continuity of the series. As bad a film as Battle is (and it’s definitely not very good), it can still teach a valuable lesson to today’s filmmakers.

(WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW)

Released in 1972, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was the fourth film in the original Planet of the Apes saga. Taking place two decades after the end of Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest details how Caesar, the son of Cornelius and Zira, eventually rallies his fellow apes to overthrow humanity. Caesar, in this film, is played by Roddy McDowall and Conquest features what is probably his best performance of the series.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is definitely the most radical film of the series and it’s probably one of the most radical films of the 1970s. Once you peel away the sci-fi/fantasy wrapping, you’re left with one of the few “mainstream” studio films to ever promote the idea of overthrowing society with a violent revolution. Even when viewed today, it’s odd to consider that this violent and rather dark film was actually given the same G rating that was otherwise exclusively given to children’s films. Obviously, the poor critical reputation of the Planet of the Apes series kept the Hollywood censors from really paying attention to what they were watching.

Director J. Lee Thompson goes for a far different direction from the previous more television-orientated directors involved with the series. Thompson emphasizes that savage, totalitarian aspect of future human civilization. This is a film in which the most sympathetic human character (the circus owner played by Ricardo Montalban) is graphically tortured and murdered within the first few minutes of the film. This is followed by Caesar being given electro-shocked treatment by the cheerful torturer Kolp (Severn Darden, who is a chilling villain) and finally, Caesar and his fellow apes violently overthrowing society while the futuristic city burns in the background.

Director Thompson reportedly based the ape uprising on contemporary news reports about the Black Panthers and it brings a real sense of urgency to the film. What sets this film apart is that director Thompson is clearly on the side of the Apes and by the end of the film, so is the audience. McDowall’s passionate performance is neatly contrasted with an equally impassioned performance from Don Murray (who plays Breck, the racist leader of the humans) and the audience is firmly on McDowall’s side by the end of the film, cheering as their own civilization is destroyed.

Originally, Thompson wanted to end the film with McDowall giving a fiery speech announcing that the time of man was finished. However, this finally proved to be too much for the film’s producers and, at the last minute, the scene was clumsily redubbed to allow Caesar to suddenly — out of nowhere — have a change of heart and call for a peaceful co-existence. This revised ending — though it did leave things open for yet another sequel — is an undeniable weakness. It just doesn’t feel right.

With that in mind, here’s Thompson’s original, unseen ending, in which Caesar watches as his apes followers murder Don Murray. It gives you a feeling of the type of film that Thompson was going for: