Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

The American science fiction film, Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), was directed by J. Lee Thompson with a screenplay by John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington, based on a story by Paul Dehn. It is told as a flashback to the early 21st century, with a wraparound sequence narrated by the orangutan Lawgiver in ‘North America – 2670 A.D.’. This sequel follows chimpanzee Caesar, who is faced with the aftermath of a global nuclear war that has destroyed human civilization. Living with his wife Lisa and their son Cornelius, Caesar must navigate creating a new society while also attempting to bring peace between apes and any remaining humans. However, he faces opposition from an aggressive gorilla general named Aldo, who wishes to confine humans to labor in Ape City.

After calming down Aldo’s followers, who had attacked human teacher Abe for simply saying ‘No’ to the apes, Caesar begins to wonder if his parents could have shown him how to handle such situations better. MacDonald, Caesar’s assistant and the brother of MacDonald from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, shares with him that his brother had mentioned archived footage of Cornelius and Zira in the underground ruins of the Forbidden City, which is now radioactive. Together with his orangutan advisor Virgil, Caesar sets out to find these archives. However, they soon discover that mutated and radiation-scarred humans are residing in the city under the rule of Governor Kolp, who was once responsible for capturing Caesar.