When I signed up for Epinions member Lynus' let's see you review this write-off, I had no idea what to expect. Most likely, due to my reputation for mercilessly bashing bad films, fellow movie reviewer Simply_Crispy chose for my topic, the all time leader in winner of Razzie* awards (7) Battlefield Earth. I can only thank Simply_Crispy for choosing this film during a time that it was airing on HBO, so that I did not have to pay good money to rent this cinematic disaster.

This 2000 film is based on the novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, of which Co-Producer and star, John Travolta is a member. The film, however, has nothing to do with Scientology. In fact, the film is so bad, I was tempted to view it as a farce, even thought it was intended as a serious Sci- Fi film. I know this because John Travolta himself admitted as much in an interview included with the closing credits.

Battlefield Earth is set in the year 3000 when aliens from the planet Psychlos, a supposedly physically and intellectually superior race, have conquered the Earth and are robbing it of it's natural resources. The few surviving humans are living in tribes in pre-historic type caves, and are close to becoming extinct. The Chief Security Officer of the Psychlos, Terl, (John Travolta) has imprisoned a band of "human animals" with the intent of forcing them to mine for gold, Earth's most valuable resource. Terl is in constant competition with his second hand man, Ker (Forest Whitaker) for authority.

One of the human slaves captured by Terl, Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, (Barry Pepper) is called a "Greener", one who travels outside the tribe looking for Greener pastures. Jonnie becomes the ring leader, along with a couple of other slaves, in resisting Terl's efforts to rule the planet Earth with an iron fist and destroy it's resources.

When Terl discovers that Jonnie is one of the more intelligent "human animals" he decides to teach him the Psychlos language and technology for mining using a penetrating radar type beam to the eyes. Terl's plan backfires when Jonnie craftily uses Ker's insecurity to pit him against Terl, to gain his freedom and destroy the Psychlos.

Director Roger Christian, misses the mark from the very beginning by choosing a look for his aliens that is a cross between a Rostafarian and John Goodman's character in Raising Arizona. This is supposed to represent a more intelligent race? It would have made more sense to create a 3 headed, computer generated, Ghoul than a bizarre caricature of a human.

The plot does not fare much better. We are expected to believe that Terl is stupid enough to think that he has to mine for gold, when scores of gold bars have been sitting in open vaults at Fort Knox for 1,000 years. To top it all off, Terl tries to manipulate the humans by feeding them their favorite food. Since he has no idea what they like to eat, he devises a convoluted plan to abandon them in the wilderness and observe the first thing they choose to eat. When it turns out to be rat, he is not the least bit surprised or disgusted.

For once, I refuse to criticize the acting in a bad film. With a script as ludicrous as this one, the actors cannot be blamed. Barry Pepper makes a gallant effort at creating an earnest, sentimental hero. John Travolta's character is so mean spirited, greedy, and controlling that it lacks any credibility. Travolta badly overplays the part, which only makes his character more ridiculous. Forest Whitaker's character is so poorly developed, it is almost impossible to define his personality.

For the first half of the film most of the action consists of nasty verbal sparring and hand to hand combat between the Psychlos' and human slaves. The final 20 minutes of the film is nothing but non stop action that combines what looks liked poorly filmed outtakes from Top Gun and a cataclysmic explosion of the planet Psychlos that seems to come out of nowhere. The only interesting special effect in the film an intricate maze that Terl uses to teach to Jonnie mining techniques in a sort of cosmic magic carpet ride.

I lost interest in Battlefield Earth about mid way through the film. The only reason I kept watching was my commitment to Lynus' write- off. If this film was not intended as a farce, I have to say that the producers missed their mark. With a few tweaks here and there, it may have actually worked fairly well as a satire on bad Sci-Fi films.

*Award given by Hollywood for the worst film of the year

Please read the other reivews submitted in this write-off by the following participants: jankp, shadow8, food_critic, Scigmer, tbthorn, mfunk75, BigJack, KatM, jackai, Susidee34, d_Feinberg, gaelkm, thepremier, dragonfire88, MrsNormanMaine, Kristinafh, patiche, Stephen_Murray, cripper, artbyjude, shaithis, Vormancian, jstlawrence, psychovant, danifilth, Pffrdfudus7, granniemose, annecal, JackSommersby, Aruzenchin, cletta1201, simply_crispy, tigger500, darkmistress, lifestar, mark_dujsik, tjmackey, aliventiasylum, lynus.



Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older