Building off of "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes," Battle does for this series what many great sequels have done in the past, making the set-up even better once you get to the action. Everything that happens in this film is for a purpose, even if it brushes through everything quickly due to it's very low budget. The budget has been noticeable in this entire series, and that has always been a downfall, but I rather enjoy how everything looks at times. Every one of these films had their one moment to shine, and this film delivers more of that once again. Sure it's dumb and lazy at times, but it's a satisfying conclusion to a very up and down series. This saga was very enjoyable.

The Lawgiver tells the children of the future a tale of the planet earth and the influence of two apes who went back in time and had a son Caesar. Caesar liberated the apes on earth and brought mankind and apekind together after the war. However an exploration into the ruined cities brings the apes into conflict with the mutants and the humans get trapped in the middle. The final of the films is the real low point of the series but its hard to blame the film makers, the budget was at a all time low here and the studio wanted a more lite family film here. The plot lacks the dark undertones and fatalism of the other films and an attempt to `get deep' at the end doesn't do it alone. The basic plot is a war between the mutants and the gorillas with the peaceful chimps and loving humans in-between. The action is average at best and the dialogue leaves no room for subtexts. Worse still is the makeup which has declined far away from the standard set in the original. Here the actors clearly wear rubbery masks - General Aldo being the worst by miles! The mouths barely move and certainly don't move in time with the words. It's a shame but it does show how the standards of the first two films had fallen so far by this stage. The cast are OK but the majority are trapped behind unhelpful masks. Even John Huston looks trapped behind a mask that almost totally renders him unrecognisable and unemotive. McDowall continues his monkey madness with yet another role and he's actually quite good. The human roles are the best as they are free to talk and the mutant leader (Eastham) even manages to get a few funny lines out before all the fighting kicks off. Overall the quality of the makeup reflects the effort put into the film. The makeup is shoddy and the plot and subtexts are back of matchbox stuff. There are a few nice touches and it tries to add insight in the last 10 minutes but by then it's all a bit late......mind you it's still better than the remake of the original.