War for the Planet of the Apes broader inspirations from films like "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "The Great Escape". Feeling that there was a need to imbue Biblical themes and elements, they also watched Biblical epics like "Ben-Hur" and "The Ten Commandments". The influences and inspirations were made evident in the relationship between Caesar and Woody Harrelson's Colonel, a military leader with pretensions toward godhood. Reeves has compared their relationship to the dynamic between Alec Guinness's British Commander and Sessue Hayakawa's prison camp Colonel in "Bridge on the River Kwai". Another comparison is in Caesar's journey to find the Colonel, flanked by a posse
Return from the River Kwai Sam Spiegel had threatened legal action over the film's title, thus breaching the contract. Unger argued that the rights had been bought by Columbia from the Spiegel estate in 1959. Unger claimed he offered to change the film's name and attached a disclaimer denying any connection with the Spiegel film. (When released in the United Kingdom, the film carried a disclaimer that it was not related to or a sequel to the 1957 film.) Unger says he suggested the name "River Kwai" be translated into Thai ("Kwae Noi") and Tri-Star agreed, then changed their mind. Unger claims Tri-Star's decision not