Battlefield Earth
| Year: | 2000 |
| Director: | Roger Christian |
| Producer: | John Travolta |
| Writer: | L Ron Hubbard |
| Cast: | John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker |
Another of those films that everyone considers bad by association just because of its awful reputation. I personally think a lot of it is because of the 'uncool' of the subject matter and all its L Ron Hubbard and Scientology connotations.
In Australia, the film was all primed for a cinema release - stand-up displays were starting to appear in theatres and everything before the distributor pulled it for a video release after the notorious reaction it garnered in the US.
But is it really that bad a movie? No worse than most other action or sci-fi films. The costumes, special effects and scripting was adequate for the genre, I just think Travolta - who bore the brunt of the flack while other players like Forest Whitaker and Barry Pepper got off virtually unscathed was seen as the movies' champion; apparently it was something of a vanity project for him.
Having said that, his choice of roles has never been sharp in his current post Pulp Fiction career incantation, and this was a very bad decision.
In the year 3000, humans have been relegated to a primitive life in tiny pockets where they eke out a living and try to stay out of the way of the alien race who's colonised Earth and is trying to either enslave or wipe out the last vestiges of the human race.
The stereotypical one-man-who-wants-to-fight-back, Tyler (Pepper) finds himself in an uneasy truce with the head of security on Earth, Terl (Travolta) as they try to outwit each other for supremacy on Earth.
In Australia, the film was all primed for a cinema release - stand-up displays were starting to appear in theatres and everything before the distributor pulled it for a video release after the notorious reaction it garnered in the US.
But is it really that bad a movie? No worse than most other action or sci-fi films. The costumes, special effects and scripting was adequate for the genre, I just think Travolta - who bore the brunt of the flack while other players like Forest Whitaker and Barry Pepper got off virtually unscathed was seen as the movies' champion; apparently it was something of a vanity project for him.
Having said that, his choice of roles has never been sharp in his current post Pulp Fiction career incantation, and this was a very bad decision.
In the year 3000, humans have been relegated to a primitive life in tiny pockets where they eke out a living and try to stay out of the way of the alien race who's colonised Earth and is trying to either enslave or wipe out the last vestiges of the human race.
The stereotypical one-man-who-wants-to-fight-back, Tyler (Pepper) finds himself in an uneasy truce with the head of security on Earth, Terl (Travolta) as they try to outwit each other for supremacy on Earth.