Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
I've no doubt this is seen by many as the least of the original apes films and it probably is but it's one i've always enjoyed.
I admit the final battle as humans go for a full assault on the ape city (City is a very loose term) is very small scale with seemingly around fifty humans at most and a few vehicles albeit at least one with some kind of cannon, however there are some beautifully iconic sequences such as gorillas on horseback surrounding a classic yellow American school bus like something out of a John Ford western, which to this day remain memorable.
As much as the film is about the battle with the humans the film works best for me in how it looks at fractures within ape society. In particular the gorilla General Aldo and his intolerance of of both friendly humans and apes with superior intellect such as chimpanzees led here by Roddy Mcdowall's Caesar, which ends in conflict suggesting apes after all are no different to the humans they so despise and fear becoming like.
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