Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) is J. Lee Thompson's sci-fi action film, and you can watch online on iFILM. It's the fifth and final chapter of the classic five-film saga. Human civilization has fallen after nuclear war, and the scorched world now belongs to intelligent apes.

Their leader Caesar, played once more by Roddy McDowall, is trying to build a settlement where apes and humans live as equals. Not everyone wants that peace. The warlike gorilla general Aldo schemes for power and is ready to spark a civil war among his own kind, while mutated humans crawl out of a ruined city, convinced the apes are their enemy. Caesar has to hold a fragile truce together as both threats close in on his community at the same time.

Made on a modest budget, this finale is plainly rougher than the earlier entries, but it does honestly finish the story of whether fear between two species can give way to cooperation. One fun bit of trivia: a young John Landis appears as an extra. It's a film for fans of vintage science fiction and anyone wanting to close out the original saga. Stream Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) online on iFILM.