Since my husband has read the book Battlefield Earth he was naturally interested in seeing the movie. I, of course, objected since every critic from here to Psychlo has skewered this film as being the worst ever. But as husbands and wives often do, we struck a compromise. He would watch Charlie's Angels with me if I would endure Battlefield Earth with him. So here I am a few hours later merrily tapping my fingers on the computer keys to tell you what I think.

I've seen better but honestly I have seen a lot worse. I am not a big Travolta fan if he's not dancing but this performance wasn't nearly as bad as his horrible portrayal in Broken Arrow. Barry Pepper kept driving me crazy during this film because I knew I had seen him in something (The Green Mile) but wasn't sure what. Forrest Whitaker was a humorous sidekick and the girl who plays Johnny's girlfriend did a decent job.

The story basically happens far into the future and the world has been taken over by aliens called Psychlos and have been basically forced to seek refuge on radiation pockets throughout the earth. Johnny (Barry Pepper) is tired of staying in his one-horse cave and decides to journey out into the world. He is captured, made a slave and then stages a revolution to gain his freedom. Whether he does or not, I won't give away.

Some elements of the story I found to be pretty okay, if terribly formulaic. My biggest problem with the movie is that if my husband hadn't of been explaining to me what he already knew from the book I would have been confused and bored. Travolta's performance was very cartoonish and if another actor had taken the lead I think it could have been better. Basically I think better casting all the way around would have helped this movie. Barry Pepper was average but someone with more charisma would have been more exciting.

Overall, this movie wasn't nearly as terrible as I expected. Maybe its the reverse of when you hear a movie is so wonderful and it turns out to be not nearly as good as you expect. As bad as this movie might be, I am relieved to find it was not as bad as I imagined. Watch it when it comes on cable but don't rent unless you have a penchant for Travolta.



Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12