Have you had the opportunity to check out Roger Christian’s BATTLEFIELD: EARTH? Well consider yourself lucky if you answered ‘no’ to that. You see the sci-fi tale recently won the Razzie Award for ‘Worst Movie of the Decade.’ Ouch.
I’m sure many of you agree with that title, and if that is indeed the case then I’m sure many of you will be very amused by today’s article. You see scribe J.D. Shapiro, who shares the blame for BATTLEFIELD: EARTH with Corey Mandell and director Roger Christian, recently wanted to bury the hatchet on the whole BATTLEFIELD: EARTH fiasco. The writer shared his thoughts on the film and explains how it got started over at the New York Post. Here’s some of the goods:
“Let me start by apologizing to anyone who went to see “Battlefield Earth.” It wasn’t as I intended — promise. No one sets out to make a train wreck. Actually, comparing it to a train wreck isn’t really fair to train wrecks, because people actually want to watch those. It started, as so many of my choices do, with my Willy Wonker.”
“….And then she said as a Sea Org member, you can’t have sex unless you’re married. I asked her if she was married. She said yes. So I said, “Great! That means we can have sex!””
“A few days after I finished the script, a very excited Travolta called, told me he “loved it,” and wanted to have dinner. At dinner, John said again how much he loved the script and called it “The ‘Schindler’s List’ of sci-fi.””
“My script was very, VERY different than what ended up on the screen. My screenplay was darker, grittier and had a very compelling story with rich characters. What my screenplay didn’t have was slow motion at every turn, Dutch tilts, campy dialogue, aliens in KISS boots, and everyone wearing Bob Marley wigs.”
“I refused to incorporate the notes into the script and was fired.”
“The only time I saw the movie was at the premiere, which was one too many times.”
“No way do you get any action by boldly going up to a woman and proclaiming, “I wrote Battlefield Earth!” If anything, I’m trying to figure out a way to bottle it and use it as birth control. I’ll make a mint!”
….. Oh yeah, it’s definitely an interesting piece. Head right over HERE to check out the rest! So what do you guys think? Should we accept Shapiro’s (above) apology? Was BATTLEFIELD: EARTH really that bad? Hit us with your thoughts below!
Shapiro was actually in NATIONAL LAMPOON’S PUCKED with the gorgeous Estella Warren
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