Thread by @jeffs_comics

Now watching
1973s Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Its been years since I watched the 5th and last of the original #PotA franchise.

Its told in flashback by the Lawgiver, saying Man put Apes in Slavery (Zaius never would), so its possibly unreliable (apart from time travel)

'Battle' begins with a recap (as unreliable flashback), but while it says Caesars Rebellion coincided with The Human Apocalypse, it doesn't explain the connection or how other apes became sapient

The new franchise ties both events to the Ahlzeimer experiment and resultant plague

The story proper begins with a mixed Ape / Human community but: The Apes are clean, groomed, and in clean color coded clothing we have seen in the first movies, while the Humans filthy, disheveled and in filthy assorted rags (with one exception)

Remember that unreliable narrator

You can immediately see the social order. Already the gorillas are a police force - strong and arrogant and bullying the weaker humans.

The wheel has turned quickly for these humans (and notice they are white, and the exception human a person of color)

Battle was written by Paul Dehn, a few years before his death. Dehn wrote all the PotA sequels as well as nominated for an Academy Award for 1974's Murder on the Orient Express

In WW2, Dehn was a British SOE operative, doing 'dirty work' behind the lines.

The clothing for the Apes in Battle must be anachronistic. It reminds me of medieval paintings, depicting classical or biblical characters in then contemporary clothing

(Teatament and Death of Moses, 1482)

There are lots of franchises. From Charlie Chan to Francis the Talking Mule to James Bond to Jaws to Alien to Rocky to Die Hard. Some sequels are different, some not, and some get reboots (PotA included)

What do you think of the original 5 PotA movies as a franchise?

PotA had 'shrinkage', as George would say. Here are the budgets in millions for the 5 original movies:

1st: $5.8
2nd: $4.7
3rd: $2.1
4th: $1.7
5th: $1.7

I think the Jaws franchise also had shrinkage problems

One of the issues with Battle for the Planet of the Apes is scale. Here its branded as a battle to control the planet, and its like 50 on 50.

The humans mostly arrive on a single school bus.

Oddly, I'm more accepting the micro scale of Battle for the Planet of the Apes after years of The Walking Dead.

How big was Woodbury vs The Prison? About the same.

Sure, it was local, but it was the World to the viewers.

Speaking of that, which villain is better?

The Governor of Woodbury
Or
The Governor of the Forbidden City

Aldo (ahem, General Aldo) is a great character.

'Aldo' is the name given by Cornelius to the First Ape the said No, and lead the Rebellion, but that timeline is suspect. This Aldo is also a revolutionary, but is in it for the authority.

Aldo is strong, but cowardly. He's a schemer, but not very smart. When his attempt to get the gorillas to back his coup is overheard by a child, he takes steps to silence him.

Notice the other gorillas don't intervene either then.

Later, when the secret of Who killed the Child comes out, the Gorillas either also accuse Aldo, act to prevent his flight, and one is shocked - shocked - Aldo did this.

Can one murder avenge another, asks Caesar
Only the future knows, replies Virgil

School and education come up in Battle.

'The Teacher' is a white man, but poorly respected who cannot tell his students 'no' at the risk of his life.

Aldo is antagonistic to it, wanting only to learn survival skills to avoid embarrassment. He starts a riot.

The framing story is also a school, 500 years later and optimistically contains both ape and human.

But there is that famous tear on the statue too...

But its also no accident the cowardly Aldo (who absented himself during the battle) takes joy in attacking a school bus.

In todays world, its rather more chilling then intended.

Another symbol that Aldo is ruled by his ego and passions, never his intellect.

Battle closee with the lawgiver saying 'only the dead know the future', and the camera focusing on what seems a statue of Caesar crying.

The writer says its because the future with feral humans happens.

But its up to you. The last we see is a joint human ape community

The use of John Huston as the Lawgiver was genius. His career is massive, but of note is Huston as the voice of God in 1966s The Bible: In the Beginning.

Huston would later be the voice of Gandalf in the Rankin Bass Tolkien productions

Another orangutan in Battle is Mandemus - keeper of both the armory and of Caesars conscience.

Guns, horses, cars - all symbols of power in Battle. Caesar places a pacifist in charge of the armory.

One of the lessons of Battle is about generalizations. There are violent apes, and pacifist apes - and its the same for the humans.

There is a lesson here in the movie that trust is vital - despite the past or present alliances.

In the beginning, Caesar says humans will not be equal until apes learn to trust them again.

At the end, the question is to build walls or bridges. Virgil reminds Caesar both sides can be aggressive (and we seen a pacifist mutant Virgil is unaware of)

Its a lesson for 1973 and today. Its about trust, and respect and knowing there will be factions among groups - yours and theirs, but the choice for reconciliation remains.

The closing scenes with Caesar are paralled back in the Forbidden City. Here there is another Virgil (Mendez) who persuades Alma to not launch the Alpha Omega bomb.

'From this day forward, what we are will be beautiful'

While Battle has not been my favorite of the Original Five, and its usually rated the lowest, its still a decent film. Roddy emotes well, a child is killed as collateral damage of a coup, bullies, pacifists, moving forward despite the past, unknown allies, etc

Battle for the Planet of the Apes was still before the Great Star Wars Merchandise Boom. There really isn't anything I can think of.

However, this toy for the TV series is pretty good.

Several excellent Planet of the Apes fans I've found on Twitter. Give @Walker_KM a follow especially, as I think she has an Ape-centric podcast coming out today.

@Walker_KM The five original Planet of the Apes films can be a circle. You can fit the tv series in there, somehow between the Lawgivers time and Taylors arrival.

Is PotA history a predestined loop?

What would a 6th film have added?

@Walker_KM @Walker_KM here is that Planet of the Apes podcast I referred to.

Karen is very knowledgeable on Planet of the Apes, and has a great sense of humor.

@Walker_KM And just for fun since I ran across Sparkle Hair Zaius