Projections - Movie Reviews

Battlefield Earth

If you have read the 1980 novel by L. Ron Hubbard, you would expect a spectacular sci-fi drama to be played out on screen.  What you actually get is possibly one of the top 10 worst sci-fi films to date.

The films premise of a conquered Earth in the year 3000 never gets off the ground.  The characters are one dimensional and there are more holes in the plot than Swiss cheese!  Staring John Travolta as the evil Terl of the planet Psycho and Forest Witataker as his side kick Ker, we see actors delivering lines that are at times funny, as no foundation has been laid for them.  With Barry Perrer portraying Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, the would be hero of Earth, things only get worse.  There are scenes of old cities that after 1000 years still have working technology.  A prime example is a flight simulator - who knows how it still runs.  I would think a power source working after a 1000 years is a bit of a stretch considering that mankind has been returned to cave dweller status.

I could keep going with the inconsistencies of the film, but I would have to go frame by frame to get them all.  Even the final sequence where mankind triumphs over a "superior" race (you feel no jubilation like when the Death Star is destroyed in Star Wars) you are simply glad the film is over.  If you still decide you need to fill 117 minutes of your life, try snapping yourself with a rubber band for that amount of time, it will be as pleasurable.

Battlefield Earth

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