Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) - Soundtrack Collection

This fifth and final entry in the first set of Planet of the Apes films is, for the most part, considered to be its weakest, cheapest, and most uninteresting installment. Which is true. Battle for the Planet of the Apes was the last gasp of an empty creative tank. But even those fumes had something to recommend for a diehard Planet of the Apes fan.

First were all the thematic and storyline "Easter Eggs" that tied the series continuity together into a self-contained unit. Second is Leonard Rosenman's score for the film. A score that Lukas Kendall's liner notes describe as being "driven by a four-note motif expressive of the concept of 'battle' itself." Okay.

Rosenman's score for Battle is all-new music, save for one artistic flourish. The track March to the Dead City contains "the same rising, oppressive brass and winds, along with harp doubled by piano, that characterized his Forbidden Zone music [for] Beneath the Planet of the Apes." Rosenman understood the assignment,