Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000

[dh1989]

Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000



Directed By: Roger Christian(Nostradamus).

Written By: Corey Mandell(TV's Love Kills) and J.D. Shapiro(We Married Margo). This film is an adapation of a book by the late science fiction novelist L. Ron Hubbard.

Produced By: Jonathan D. Krane(Face/Off), John Travolta, and Elie Samaha(FearDotCom).

Starring: John Travolta(Pulp Fiction), Barry Pepper(Saving Private Ryan), Forest Whitaker(Platoon), Kim Coates(Bad Boys), and Kelly Preston(Jack Frost).

Plot: "In the year 3000, man is no match for the Psychlos, a manipulative race of aliens on a quest for global domination. Led by the sadistic and powerful Terl (Travolta), the Psychlos have taken all natural resources for themselves and left mankind behind to rot. It is after humanity has given up the fight against this alien race that a young man named Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (Pepper) decides to leave his desolate home high in the Rocky Mountains and take a final, courageous stand to TAKE BACK THE PLANET."



"Man is an endangered species."
- Terl

That is the basic plot of this film. Aliens have taken over our planet and we have become either slaves to serve them or cavemen-like people who hide in areas where the "Psychlos" cannot go. Either way, mankind is quickly dying out, and there is little hope left. That is until one brave man decides to fight an epic battle to save our people and our way of life. Original? On the most part, no. Fun as hell? Hell yes!

This film is a pure delight for sci-fi fans. It is cheesy, but incredibly energetic. I was never bored by this film, and I was almost always on the edge of my seat, craving more of this comic book-like movie. The Psychlos are over-the-top villians to be sure, and the humans are over-the-top macho men, but that is what I personally wanted. When I saw this film way back in 2000, and I do own the DVD, I had few expectations. The only real BIG expectation I had of this Roger Christian film was a fun ride. I wanted it to be cheesy, corny, but big, bad, and brutal at the same time. My wishes were filled beyond my wildest dreams.

John Travolta is clearly having fun playing the main character in a film that is adaptated from a novel he clearly loves and cares for. It is nice to see this talented man venture from his typical "nice guy" roles, and he is in top form as Terl. He is gleefully over-the-top, and felt like he had just been poured out of some cheesy 1950's AMAZING FANTASY comic. Travolta steals the show.

Barry Pepper is solid, if not entirely memorable. After seeing Travolta's performance, most people will forget this low-key actor's mostly subtle performance, but it is nice. He has still not broken into household name territory, but I smell it in his future.

Forest Whitaker is also pure delight as Terl's replacement, Ker. Whitaker takes the role and hams it up the best he can, and I smiled through every one of his scenes. He can really chew come serious scenery!

The supporting cast is strong, but nothing really spectacular to mention.

This movie is an all-out fantastic achievement on the technical side of things. The special effects are all realistic, and I would've never thought that the crew was working with a somewhat smaller budget in terms of big-ass blow 'em away summer blockbusters. The minature work is also worthy of mention as they all have nice detail. You can almost see the sweat and blood of the crew on this film. They all seem to have a passion for Hubbard's work.

The direction is perfect. The whole film is shot in an original fashion. I loved it all! I adored the "slant angles". I adored the filters. I adored the way Roger build tension. I loved the direction work!

The script is also excellent. I am not really familiar with the writings of Hubbard, but I did love the way the film worked. Every note is pitch perfect, and the action scenes come at just the right place. I know, I know, this film is not believable! It is so damn far-fetched, it is shocking, but I still enjoyed it. This is a big greasy bucket of good popcorn entertainment.

At the end of the day, I really don't understand why people hated this. I don't understand why malls had trouble selling action figures from this film. I don't understand why this movie was not a blockbuster. I KNOW it will become a cult classic like Blade Runner.

Now, remember earlier, when I said I owned the DVD? Does anyone know why they edited it for home video? Pleas let me know......

Overall, this is one fun flick. Love it or hate it? I love it. A guilty pleasure.......

7.5/10

[bob]

You can't account for taste.......

[dh1989]

Originally posted by bob


You can't account for taste.......

Yikes! You really layed down the facts about why you loathe this film so much. Oh, wait you didn't, I am sorry, but I just cannot take that message seriously........

[bob]

Well, I'll put it this way: Look at your post. Write the exact opposite of everything you wrote on a sheet of paper. Paste paper to computer screen. Pretend it is my opinion of the movie.

[Fisting Ackbar]

BUHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

....

Well, I guess even abominable movies have an audience

[Dude]

Bob,

Though I feel that everyone should post at least "some" reasons on why they did or didnt like a movie...

THAT statement was freeking FUNNY!

But we cannot have that "tone" around here young man... people who dont have taste may be insulted... and darn it, they may just tell you about it!

No offense to the reviewer, just taking a fun poke due to another thread.... for me being accused of insulting people with "half a brain"


Battlefield Earth: 5/10

This was meant to be Travoltas' OPUS to Scientology... he optioned the book and took this project DEAD SERIOUS.... that is why I didnt like the film.... not because of some wacky religion, but because this wasnt meant to be taken "funny".. and when movies elicit the opposite response of what was intended, I cannot get into them.



****SPOILERS*****






BAD acting
BAD grunting acting
Tilted camera angles for 3/4 of the film... hurt my head as much as Blair witches "shaky cam"
Implausible set-up... thousands of years old fighter planes working... then being flown by supposedly stupid humans, who got smart in some sort of intelligence machine... the machine is SO IMPORTANT, that none of the aliens guard it, thus allowing it to be "secretly used" by the stupid humans...
The library.... the gold.... the way the aliens mined, but so obvious of how they had other options....

This film was a mess... I guess it's truly one of those that, its so bad its good type of deals... and there is an audience who likes that sort of thing... I am NOT... sometimes I wish I were however... oh well.... BFE unintentionally turned out CAMPY... but it wasnt meant to be that way. The script could have used some tweaking.... my MAIN gripe is the director.. I dont care for ANY of that guy's movies.... I didnt know who directed it when I watched it, but afterwords it figured as much.

[SLAW]

Dude, I think Travolta taking the project of getting the movie made seriously and the movie being serious itself are two completely fucking different entities. This movie as far as the story itself goes was never meant to be taken seriously and was meant as a family action film. People took WAY too many things into consideration before watching this film. First, yeah, scientology. Oh my God Scientology! It's so evil and twisted because I'm not apart of that religon! Who cares? The movie or story has nothing to do with it. Who knows how many things we've read or watched by people with different beliefs? Secondly, somewhere people thought it was meant to be a really serious comic book sci-fi film about aliens conquering Earth in the year 3000. And of course, hearing everyone else say it was bad before seing it. I believe Arrow said it best when he basically said that the film is "science fiction candy." That's just what it is.

It's almost like DH1989 and I are meant to feel bad for liking this movie. I happen to think I have great taste in movies. And I pride myself in seing something in any film I see that no one else does. The film has layers, but the story itself is not deep. LORD OF THE FLIES showed how quickly humans can reverte back to their primate status, BE shows how through inspiration from others and through knowledge of books, man can bounce back just as quickly.

I remember someone a while back asking what the atmosphere on the set of BE was like. Well, I know there were a lot of re-writes and adding of scenes by the director and cast. Travolta and his wife (Kelly Preston) wrote in their own scene with her tongue together. Director Roger Christiansen wrote in more action to the story to make it flow. And Barry Pepper himself wrote his final speach at the end of the film which is great IMO. It really seemed like a pretty laid back and "kickin" place to be in the DVD documentary.

Obviously, this film cannot be looked at for what it is right now. I'm hoping that future generations can and that it will become a cult classic (something i also hope for the film IMPOSTOR with Gary Sinise). All I see when I watch BATTLEFIELD EARTH (and I really just happen to like the cheasy elements) is a visionary film. Stylistic in its truest form.

[Dude]

Wow.. I NEVER thought I'd see the day where someone used the words "visionary & stylistic" in describing Battlefield Earth.

Note: HUMOR follows.....


"Houston... we think we have located the remaining last 2 people on the face of the planet who actually LIKE Battlefield Earth"..... "uh, roger that Gulfwing, the remaining 2, correct"?..."affirmitive Houston, affirmitive".... "roger that Gulfwing,... according to computer calculations, this now brings the total to..... whats that GRAND total again Houston"?....

...7 ....Gulfwing...7.... the total of people on the planet who admired Battlefield Earth is 7, Houston.....over"....




Every movie has a fan.... even Battlefield Earth.... that's cool.


I'm afraid however, that the ONLY thing this movie is going to be remembered as, is the movie made the most fun of....

[bob]

I'm not saying dh and Slaw have bad taste in films, they both love some movies that I love, and they both hate some movies that I hate. My posts were purely against the movie, not the people who like it.

[Jon Lyrik]

7.5/10? That's a hell of a high rating for such an atrociously written, acted, directed, and shot movie. This film's existance should have turned the world into a vacant, worthless sphere of dirt and water. Luckily the Earth survived after this putrid film's release.

Taken from my HollywoodBitchslap.com review....

(eeevily) Muhahahahahahahaha!


Holy shit. I never thought it was possible to waste $80,000,000 on such an awful, amateurish production. This film looks like a high school play filmed on a tilted camera. It has awful matte paintings masquerading as sets made from a trashed alley, the visual effects are cheesy, there is practically no direction to speak of, and the acting would be too campy for an episode of the 60’s Batman. As for the script: the plot is incredibly inane, the dialogue is a vacuum of idiotism, and the characters have the most stupid names since Jack Ass (a man who sued MTV for naming one of their shows Jackass).
The movie is about an alien race called Psychlos (or how ever you spell it) who invades Earth in 2000 A.D., reducing humans to cavemen who fight over who will get to eat the toxic waste and stuffing them into small greenhouses.

Fast forward to 3000 A.D. We meet a group of isolated people in a remote, alien-less area who set out to see if these monstrous Psychlos really exist. They get caught by the Psychlos and are threatened until John Travolta (under awful make-up and Jamaican dreadlocks) decides to use them in his scheme to mine for gold. After 100,000,000,000,000 uses of the word “leverage” and the villainous “MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” they foil his plan. If you think I spoiled the film, don’t worry. It’s not like you WOULDN’T expect them to foil his plan.

Here is the wonderful list of plot holes:
-How the hell can jets last for 1000 years stationary if they only have a shelf life of 10?
-Why does the alien’s dialogue always seem to switch from English to Psychlonian? Or does the director think the audience is too ignorant to read subtitles?
-How come that library is in so good condition after a millennium?
-Supposedly humans can’t read or write anymore, so how come at the end Barry Pepper’s character reads a speech out of a book?
-How do the humans and Psychlos understand each other if they don’t know each other’s language?
-If the Psychlos are so damn advanced, why do they seem to be as bright as a rock, and why are they so unclean and unorganized?
-I’ll stop here; otherwise this part of the review will get too damn long.

The cinematography in this film is horrid. It’s nothing more than pseudo-stylized, heavily filtered crap. It is also tilted for no particular reason. I guess the guy who shot this thought tilting a camera would make him artistic. What a poor, misguided, foolish hack.

The acting is lazy, rancid, and moronic. John Travolta gives no end of a headache on his over-the-top performance. Shouting “MUHAHAHAHAHAHA” in a flamboyant, girlish accent will not convince people that you are evil, John. Barry Pepper just sits there squinting, saying whatever dialogue is on his cue card. The supporting actors are equally nauseating.

The directing is dull, dank, cold, and forgettable. Roger Christian doesn’t know how to create excitement or even slight interest. Not a single scene in this film is entertaining. It is pure tedium. I doubt Roger Christian will end up making any more films after this.

The make-up and sets are dreadful. The make-up is laughably overdone and looks like it wasn’t properly put on. The sets are mostly matte paintings. Matte paintings can either look good or bad, and in this case, they are bad. My god do they look phony.

Technically, the film is also terrible. The special effects are rubbery and cut-rate, especially in the chase scene in the beginning. The editing is piss-poor, disrupting the flow of the movie. The sound editing has many laughable glitches that should have been immediately fixed. Not to mention that ear-piercing, bombastic score that has that would-be epic feel to it, only it is out-of-place and grating.

The screenplay sounds like two 5-year-olds wrote it with an IQ below 50. There is no logic, the dialogue is atrocious, and the plot holes are amazingly abundant. The film feels like huge chunks of the plot were taken out, leaving confusing gaps between scenes. The people who wrote this film out to be beaten with books on logic, that’s how bad the script is. This film makes no sense.

When a film this bad is made, one wonders how the hell can the people involved be so stupid that they’d make a film so vile. When a film this illogical and wanna-be epic is made, one wonders if the writers actually have been educated. This is filmmaking when all involved are colossal dickheads. No one with any real intelligence would make a film this bad. 0/10.

Sucks All Ass.

[SLAW]

Here is the wonderful list of plot holes:
-How the hell can jets last for 1000 years stationary if they only have a shelf life of 10?

In a comic book film it shouldn't matter, but yes things happen that wouldn't happen in real life. I know I know. We watch movies for absolute realism at all times.

-Why does the alien’s dialogue always seem to switch from English to Psychlonian? Or does the director think the audience is too ignorant to read subtitles?

It's just translated as if they were speaking english, but they are always speaking Psychlo. That is from the book

-How come that library is in so good condition after a millennium?

Again, a comic book film. It's not about realism in that matter. The library scene represents the house of knowledge man kind forgot. It's a metaphore for people and knowledge. In the movie people obviously stopped reading at some point. The books are there for them, but they do not read.


-Supposedly humans can’t read or write anymore, so how come at the end Barry Pepper’s character reads a speech out of a book?

The learning machine taught Jonnie (Pepper) everything the Klinko's learned about man, which would include him learning how to read

-How do the humans and Psychlos understand each other if they don’t know each other’s language?

The learning machine. Only Jonnie learns the Psychlo's language in the film. He is the only one able to communicate with them. The Psychlos cannot understand the human language and the humans (except Jonnie) couldn't understand there's.


-If the Psychlos are so damn advanced, why do they seem to be as bright as a rock, and why are they so unclean and unorganized?

The Psychlos on Earth are a mining community of Psychlos who don't actually want to be there. It's shown Earth is the place where the Psychlo corperation sends the less bright and less achieved Psychlos. They really just know how to make things (Machinery) work. I mean, jeez! They spend most of thier time getting wasted anyway. And I feel the movie was more about the Psychlo's (through Travolta's character mostly) falling to their own weaknesess, rather then the humans being so powerful.


PS: And I have a feeling you're someone who would argue me to the death about all this, but I can assure you these were the intentions.

[Jon Lyrik]

SLAW, are you sure it was meant to be a comic book movie? Because I heard it was a would-be epic. A film can't be both, unless it's a very schizophrenic flick.

>>>The Psychlos cannot understand the human language and the humans (except Jonnie) couldn't understand there's.<<<
But the Psychlos had to communicate with them somehow before Johnny came around, so how would they without being able to understand each other?

[SLAW]

Originally posted by Jon Lyrik
SLAW, are you sure it was meant to be a comic book movie? Because I heard it was a would-be epic. A film can't be both, unless it's a very schizophrenic flick.

>>>The Psychlos cannot understand the human language and the humans (except Jonnie) couldn't understand there's.<<<
But the Psychlos had to communicate with them somehow before Johnny came around, so how would they without being able to understand each other?

I've always thought of an epic being something over an hour and 20 minutes.

The Psychlos never did communicate with the humans. Do we communicate with our animals here when we throw them in a zoo?

[Dude]

If Ed Wood had ever been given an $80 Million dollar budget, THIS is the film he would have made.

[Jim H]

"Oh my God Scientology! It's so evil and twisted because I'm not apart of that religon!"

Well, it pretty much is. Unless you consider brainwashing and slave labor to be A-OK, not to mention the founder of it all but said he created the religion to make money.

The movie was awful, but I enjoyed parts of it anyway. I'd give it a 6/10.

Oh yeah, and I reccomend the book. The book is truely really good. Very very long though, the movie is only like 1/3 of the book. And Ker is actually a real good guy in the book, one of very very few good psychlos (and they also eventually explain why they're all sadistic and psychotic). The movie could of been quite good if it had been closer to the book, especially the scenes were Johnny kicks ass. I can say without exaggeration that his ass kicking scenes were awesome in the book. Like in one sequence he mops up a small army of humans with a tommy gun.

Slight trivia note: the evil ruling class of the Psyclos are the Catrists. Keep in mind Hubbard thought psychologists/psychiatrists were evil and destroying the earth. Psychlocatrists? HAHAHAHA. WITTY!!!!!!

[kubotakhan01]

WOW! Battlefield Earth really really sucks! I can't think of a more terrible, ego driven film. Travolta made the film and thought he could let it ride simply on his name. For Shame Travolta!!


First off, how can you squash a 400(Or is it 500?) page book into 2 hours and expect it to be much more than trash? It was tried a long time ago with a "mildly" popular book called "DUNE". didn't work then, didn't work this time either.


Dirt poor acting, dirt poor special effects, dirt poor directing= A whole lot of wasted money that could have been used to make a better film.


RATING-Why bother.

[Jim H]

The paperback edition of the book is 1050 pages. Hardcover edition is around 800. So you're way low, and the movie is only 1/3 to 1/2 of the book anyways (they changed it really a lot, making it worse in nearly every change). I guess you're actually right though, since if it was half the book it's 500ish pages.

The book is essentially 3 parts.

Retaking Earth (the movie).

Fortifying Earth (removing the various Psychlo outposts left as well as preventing this drone thing from killing all life on earth)

And finally, holding Earth - they try to prevent a bunch of enslaving nasty races of aliens from stealing earth out from under them. Johnny becomes a diplomat - it's helpful that he's not only a great warrior, but a genius and brilliant orator as well..

He's soooo over the top, heroic in every way... It's really great.

[Jon Lyrik]

>>>The Psychlos on Earth are a mining community of Psychlos who don't actually want to be there. It's shown Earth is the place where the Psychlo corperation sends the less bright and less achieved Psychlos. They really just know how to make things (Machinery) work. I mean, jeez! They spend most of thier time getting wasted anyway. And I feel the movie was more about the Psychlo's (through Travolta's character mostly) falling to their own weaknesess, rather then the humans being so powerful.<<<

That just creates another plot hole: what kind of intelligent cooperation would send very unintelligent Psychlos to conquer a planet?

[SLAW]

Originally posted by Jon Lyrik
[BThat just creates another plot hole: what kind of intelligent cooperation would send very unintelligent Psychlos to conquer a planet? [/B]

They don't think much of Earth or the humans to begin with, so...

[The Delfonics]

Originally posted by bob
I'm not saying dh and Slaw have bad taste in films, they both love some movies that I love, and they both hate some movies that I hate. My posts were purely against the movie, not the people who like it.

Ya me and slaw even have 2 of the same movies under our avatars

[Sad man]

I hated this "movie".It´s the worst film of 2000, acting sucks, the visual effects sucks and the plot sucks.And what about that big package all the aliens or whatever they were had?...I laughed at the movie all the time.Terrible, terrible movie.I can´t belive some people actually liked it.

1/10(And I don´t usually give this rating, but this movie deserves it)

[Cronos]

ive watched this twice now, i expected to hate it on a second viewing but i ended up still liking it. despite its flaws, the poor acting, shoddy script and illogical plot i found it to be a lot of fun. there are many fun action sequences and chases, theres also some great CG sequences towards the end of the film that looked great with stuff exploding. i wasnt that bothered by the plot problems and many stupid holes that littered the film because i was never bored, maybe they helped keep the film fun.

sure it was crap but it was fun crap

7/10