When Does "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (1973) Take Place?
"Battle for the Planet of the Apes" is a science fiction film written by Paul Dehn with John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington and released June 13th, 1973.
It takes place on the Planet of the Apes universe timeline in the year:
We know this because Mandemus says, "This armory's been my home for 27 years" so the settlement referred to a few times as Ape City must have been there at least that long. To be safe from radiation poisoning, Ape City could not be built in the remains of any human city-- it is a new enclave of new buildings. Since the main action of the film must take place after the previous film, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" (1972), which takes place in 1993 AD (or 1991 AD according to a title card), we can place it in or soon after 2020 AD (or 2018 AD).
2020 AD
We know this because Mandemus says, "This armory's been my home for 27 years" so the settlement referred to a few times as Ape City must have been there at least that long. To be safe from radiation poisoning, Ape City could not be built in the remains of any human city-- it is a new enclave of new buildings. Since the main action of the film must take place after the previous film, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" (1972), which takes place in 1993 AD (or 1991 AD according to a title card), we can place it in or soon after 2020 AD (or 2018 AD).
1993 + 27 = 2020
(or
1991 + 27 = 2018).
Additionally, it's important to note that the film opens and closes with a frame sequence clearly labeled with a place and time setting title card that tells the audience it is 2670 AD at the movie's very first shot. The Lawgiver recaps the previous two films in the beginning and says, it is "some 600 years after Caesar's death" at the end. 600 years previous to that only puts the main action of the film roughly sometime before 2070 AD.
Although it is a chronologically midway film in the original "Planet of the Apes" pentalogy, it can be watched fifth after the fourth film, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" (1972). [Expanded elements enrich the experience: It can be watched after reading "Revolution on the Planet of the Apes" #1-6 (2005-2006).]
It was loosely remade in two parts as "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" in 2014 and "War for the Planet of the Apes" in 2017.
