By the time the 5th and final original Apes film came down the pike, the production values and overall quality of the series had hit its low point. You can just look at the mask Claude Akins wore and see the truth. Shabby masks and fairly silly scripting aside, Battle is a lot of fun. You'll see both Paul Williams and Claude Akins at their best, dressed as orangutan and gorilla respectively. The monkeys here are now being led in peace by Caesar, who is even trying to get along with humans at this point, a far cry from the 4th film huh? The gorillas though don't want any parts of humanity and are more warlike than ever. Wanting to find info and here the truth about the future from his parent's mouth, Caesar and two others set out for the Forbidden City to find the old tapes made when his parents were 1st studied after their arrival in our time. They soon find mutant humans still alive underground and they ain't too happy to see the monkey that led to their downfall. The group escapes the humans, but is followed back to ape city. The latter part of the film features a final battle for all the marbles, as the human mutants come to attack. Luckily, the apes win and free the remaining 'good' humans, deciding to live as equals. There is one tragic turn though as the leader of the gorillas kills Caesar's son, committing the ultimate crime and leading to moral questioning among the monkeys. The apes have finally come full circle, as did the series. It doesn't come close to the 1st, but wraps things up on a positive note.
By the time the 5th and final original Apes film came down the pike, the production values and overall quality of the series had hit its low point. You can just look at the mask Claude Akins wore and see the truth. Shabby masks and fairly silly scripting aside, Battle is a lot of fun. You'll see both Paul Williams and Claude Akins at their best, dressed as orangutan and gorilla respectively. The monkeys here are now being led in peace by Caesar, who is even trying to get along with humans at this point, a far cry from the 4th film huh? The gorillas though don't want any parts of humanity and are more warlike than ever. Wanting to find info and here the truth about the future from his parent's mouth, Caesar and two others set out for the Forbidden City to find the old tapes made when his parents were 1st studied after their arrival in our time. They soon find mutant humans still alive underground and they ain't too happy to see the monkey that led to their downfall. The group escapes the humans, but is followed back to ape city. The latter part of the film features a final battle for all the marbles, as the human mutants come to attack. Luckily, the apes win and free the remaining 'good' humans, deciding to live as equals. There is one tragic turn though as the leader of the gorillas kills Caesar's son, committing the ultimate crime and leading to moral questioning among the monkeys. The apes have finally come full circle, as did the series. It doesn't come close to the 1st, but wraps things up on a positive note.
