Where to watch Battlefield Earth
2 Stars
In the year 3000, humanity is no match for the Psychlos, a greedy, manipulative race on a quest for ultimate profit. Led by the seductive and powerful Terl, the Psychlos are stripping Earth of its resources, using the broken remnants of humanity as slaves. What is left of the human race has reverted to a primitive state, believing the invaders to be demons and technology to be evil. After humanity has all but given up any hope of freeing themselves from alien oppression, a young man named Tyler decides to leave his desolate home high in the Rocky Mountains to discover the truth, whereupon he is captured and enslaved. It is then that he decides to fight back, leading his fellow man in one final struggle for freedom.
John Travolta spearheads Battlefield Earth, a subpar adaptation of the mediocre book by L. Ron Hubbard. This long-gestating project, Travolta, was earmarked for the hero but aged out of the role while the film spent 15 years in development hell and the end result is a project full of missed opportunities. That’s not to say all is bad; Travolta and Forest Whitaker bring their charisma and energy to the film, but when either is off-screen, the movie becomes dull and repetitive.
Director Roger Christian uses pan wipes and Dutch tilt angles, employing a lot of style but not the ability to tell a story compellingly. Battlefield Earth isn’t the worst movie of 2000, but it is an embarrassment for Travolta, who cared about the material and the project. General audiences ignored the movie, and the critical backlash aimed at the film and its lead actor bordered on venomous. Nearly 25 years later, Battlefield Earth is considered a campy good time with (unintentionally?) comedic moments interspersed with gaudy special effects. This is a movie that should be studied for the ways a vanity project can go wrong.
Directed by: Roger Christian
Written by: Corey Mandell, J.D. Shapiro, L. Ron Hubbard
Starring: John Travolta, Forest Whitaker, Barry Pepper