Battlefield Earth
by Roger Christian
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, John Travolta, Kim Coates, Sabine KarsentiDirector: Roger Christian
Brand: TRAVOLTA,JOHN
Producer: Andrew Stevens
Producer: Anson Downes
Producer: Ashok Amritraj
Producer: Don Carmody
Writer: Corey Mandell
Writer: J.D. Shapiro
Writer: L. Ron Hubbard
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-01-16
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Battlefield Earth
Movie Review: The greatest comedy ever made!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Normally a movie this bad would get at a 1 star rating on Amazon. I haven't seen a movie THIS bad. It's bad down to every last little detail. The plot, the cinematography, the acting, the special effects, the script, the music.
So why did I give it five stars? Because it's the definition of "So bad it's fun to watch". I mean, I even own a freaking copy of this movie for that reason. Whenever I am down and depressed and need a laugh, I put it on for a good laugh. I mean, it's really a just an extremely crappy yet hilarious movie.
Like I said, every last thing about this movie is bad as hell. For one, I have read the book and it's bad as well, it reads like it was written by a monkey going crazy with a bunch of alphabetical fridge magnets. I couldn't remember the book though before watching it so I just decided to turn my brain off for some cheesy fun. Basically, the plot is a ripoff of Star Wars (different planet, Johnny Goodboy Tyler = Luke Skywalker) and Star Trek (the amazingly dumb "Psychlos"). The psychlos are dumb enough to refer to humans as "Man-animals". Which makes me think... we drive "Car-automobiles" and go to "Business-work"!!! Seriously!!!! How could you not laugh at the term "Man-animal"????
The cinematography is one thing you'd notice almost immediately. Every shot is slanted at a 45 degree angle. It takes two seconds to get annoying and just adds to the general crapiness. Also, WTF is with those double door wipe transition? When the screen double door wiped into the credits at the end, I fell on the ground laughing (literally).
The DVD has a special feature called "Creative Special Effects". Yeah, they're creative alright. Creatively BAD, that is. They look like they were done on a MacIntosh computer. The film is shot in 67% purple-blue filters, which also gets annoying quick.
And the acting. Barry Pepper is basically Kristen Stewart in this movie. He rarely ever changes facial expression. Travolta's "acting" (I use that term very loosely) consists of over-emphasizing every word (While YOU were still learning to SPELL YOUR NAME!!!! I was being TRAINED to CONQUER GALAXIES!!!!!).
The "music" (I also use that term loosely) is a low point too, and sounds like a boom microphone being banged against the inside of a huge metal drum.
Also, for a good laugh, watch the movie with the commentary on. I guarantee you it's even funnier listening to Roger Christian's BS excuses for the choices in direction. I love how he keeps comparing it to comic books with "Jonnie is a Comic Strip charatcter" and other BS like that.
Overall, this movie is howlingly bad. But it's so bad it's hilarious, and I recommend it for that reason.
Summary of Battlefield Earth
The security chief for the alien Psychlos, who have conquered the Earth, decides to use human slaves to mine for gold, but a young man decides to challenge Psychlos domination.Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 16-JUL-2002
Media Type: DVD
When Battlefield Earth was released in May 2000, this inept sci-fi epic qualified as an instant camp classic, prompting Daily Variety to call it "the Showgirls of sci-fi shoot-'em-ups." Other reviews were united in their derision, and toy stores were left with truckloads of Battlefield Earth action figures that nobody wanted. As the film's star and coproducer, John Travolta must have felt an urge to enlist in the witness protection program.
Recklessly adapted from the novel by sci-fi author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and set in the year 3000, the film is no worse than many cheesy sci-fi flicks, but the sight of Travolta as a burly, dreadlocked alien from the planet Psychlo provokes unintentional laughter from first frame to final credits. As Terl, the Psychlo security chief who conquers Earth and hatches a secret scheme to steal all the gold from Fort Knox (which sits conveniently in wide-open vaults), Travolta hams it up as if he knows he's in a camp-fest. (In a cameo as a long-tongued Psychlo seductress, Travolta's wife, Kelly Preston, only adds to the absurdity.) Barry Pepper (the praying sharpshooter from Saving Private Ryan) tries his best to convey charisma as Jonnie, the human slave who leads an uprising against Terl's tyranny, but he's adrift in a foolish plot that makes even smart humans look stupid.
The decrepit look of a dreary future is convincingly established (the ruins of Washington D.C. recall Logan's Run on a grander scale), but in the wake of its ludicrous climax, the best that Battlefield Earth can hope for is a Dune-like fate: it might improve in a longer director's cut--but that's wishful thinking. --Jeff Shannon
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