I can not say it's a crap, and in some way it rounds and gives conclusion to franchise, but at the other hand, it completely ruined overall impression of this franchise. In my opinion, they should have stayed on original movie and everything else should have been released in form of TV series, or at least they could have give up on this last one. I am glad I saw how this saga ends, but at the same time overall impression is spoiled. I don't know, it's hard for me to be objective about this. Honestly, I do not recommend it. From this perspective, after seeing them all, to those who did not see this franchise I suggest to watch just original movie and maybe first sequel and leave it on that. First movie leaves impression that lasts forever. Do not let sequels spoil it to you.5,5/10

If "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" looks and feels hamstrung by a lower-than-low budget, well, it's because it is. The fifth and final entry in the original "Apes" series, "Battle" has a lot of heart and ambition but has a distinct odor of a cash-in entry from a series that had been all but wrung dry. That's not to say that there's no joy to be found in the film, but it's certainly nothing worth going ape**** over, either.Immediately following the events of "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes," Ape and Man are living together in the forest under admittedly strained conditions. When head ape, Caesar (Roddy McDowall), enters the decimated city seeking answers about his past, he inadvertently sets off an all-out war with its mutated and jaded human population. Also, because this is a "Planet of the Apes" movie, there is bad behavior by the apes in black and purple, while the apes in green and black prove to be allies to the submissive human population.This is by far the silliest of all the "Apes" flicks (barring, of course, Tim Burton's dreadful 2001 re-do). The plot beats are all too familiar, while the rubber masks worn by the ape actors look cheaper and less convincing than ever. The climactic battle scene itself looks similarly dopey, with the mutant aggressors looking less like the sewer-dwellers from "Futurama" and more like rejects from the original "Mad Max" with poorly applied prosthetic warts and greasy hair. And the less said about the final frame, the better. Having said all that, there is a certain undeniable charm to the film, as with the previous four. If you've come this far in the series, you'd have to be bananas to stop here.

the 1970s, when the "Ape" films were shown on TV every so often, and were popular for what they were. "Planet of the Apes" had a certain sheen to it. A kind of gloss that was science fiction of the mid to late 1960s up through the beginning of the 1980s. Star Wars had it, the first Ape film had it, Logan's Run had, the sci-fi illustrations on sci-fi novels at the time had it. There was a sense of wonderment, distance, a certain "beyond" quality to the best of the genre that this film seems begin to shed.Truth be told, in my personal opinion, I think people were getting tired of the Ape films because the sequels didn't dovetail like other sequels. We were watching epochs of Ape-Human conflict and civilization, as opposed to characters going through one story after another. Somewhat akin to my previous review of "Things to Come", where we see not one character, but the same actors playing the decedents of the parents or grandparents of the previous generation.So it is that the whole series, even though the individual films are interesting, as a whole, has a kind of Wagnerian quality to it that with each passing episode tears away at the gloss. So much that when the final chapter comes around we have a low budget film that does its best to stretch the money to try and deliver A-quality material. The result being that we get a kind of what used to be known as a "made for TV" movie, or "movie of the week" quality to the cinematography and overall production values.Even so the actors give it their best, and the art department also puts its best foot forward to add to the more upscale previous films in the series.The sets, the props, the costumes, the very number of bodies, are all scaled back. Fortunately we have a strong cast to buttress a film for a series that was headed for television in the form of a live action TV series and cartoon.All in all I'm glad I finally saw all of it after all these years. The first film in the series was shown irregularly, the second even less. The third and fourth films got the most airing, and this film would air every so often.Ultimately I think the ape films could have ended on a higher note, and a few dollars more injected into the budget could have realized some better films that might have drawn in larger audiences. But as it stands it's perhaps almost fitting that an interesting series petered out as the social upheavals it was commenting on were taking a rest or simmering down.I've liked the ape films for what they are, though I can't say I've been a huge fan of them. I always did want a better ending for Taylor and Nova, and this film seems to close the book on the entire saga in a low-budget kind of way, without dipping into confirmed B- movie territory. Still, if you must see one of the ape films, then I might recommend sticking with the first two, and avoiding the followups, including this one, unless you're inclined to view the entire saga.An interesting if marginally disappointing watch. Check it out if you're a fan.

Okay, this film has a lot of problems... obviously. Another example of churning out sequels just for money. But even if it was just for money (it was), the film is still very entertaining for a Planet of the Apes fan. It has the great Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, along with many other famous faces covered behind Ape Masks. The acting is stiff, and the effects are awful, but isn't that what makes this series so much fun? It's something to watch for entertainment. The $1.7 million dollar budget didn't help them, but they tried and that's the important part. The school bus is notorious as an example of the film's minuscule budget. But it's hilarious, and I have to say I love the school bus, despite the silliness. If your not familiar with the series, or have never even seen the movies, I recommend to see them first. Because the average movie goer will not appreciate this Sci-Fi "classic". If your looking for some Oscar quality fare, then check out McDowall in Cleopatra instead. But for now... WATCH THE MOVIE LIKE APES!