Cast: John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates, Sabine Karsenti, Richard Tyson, Marie-Josée Croze, Kelly Preston
Director: Roger Christian
Producers: Jonathan D. Krane, Elie Samaha, John Travolta
Screenplay: Corey Mandell and J. David Shapiro, based on the novel by L. Ron Hubbard
Cinematography: Giles Nuttgens
Music: Elia Cmiral
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
Upon occasion, fate favors the film critic. Such is the case when a small movie like The War Zone blows an entire film festival audience away. Or when something wonderful like Croupier comes out of nowhere. At the first screening I attended of Battlefield Earth, there was another such moment, although not of the same ilk. 30 minutes into this wreck of a motion picture, with thunder crashing in the sky above, the power went out, mercifully relieving me of my immediate responsibility to endure the rest of the movie. Since I began writing reviews, I have never walked out on a film, but Battlefield Earth would have been a contender had I been so inclined. On this occasion, fate and the local power grid allowed me to make an early exit without blemishing my record. Unfortunately, compelled by the call of duty, I later returned to the scene of the crime to finish the job. In retrospect, I should have stayed away.
In a truncated review I wrote after my aborted initial screening, I pondered the possibility that Battlefield Earth might get better after an unpromising first quarter. I can now definitively state that it does not. In fact, it gets worse. Much worse. The final 30 minutes are so chaotic, badly edited, and poorly constructed that it's virtually impossible to figure out what's transpiring, and, on those rare occasions when the viewer is able to decipher the filmmakers' code, the story doesn't make any sense. I recognize that most summer movies are logic deprived, but Battlefield Earth has undergone a logic lobotomy. When holes are filled, they are done so with laughably absurd contrivances. During any given five minute segment, you'll find at least one. (When the film comes out on video, this can be a party game.) Battlefield Earth makes movies like Supernova and Sphere seem like models of coherence. It takes real effort to make a movie this fragmented. And, worse still, it's a complete bore.
Much has been made of the fact that the author of the novel Battlefield Earth, L. Ron Hubbard, is the founder of the Church of Scientology, but that seems to be a red herring. Scientology and Battlefield Earth have little in common. It is true that John Travolta, a devout Scientologist, was a driving force behind getting this movie made (he produced it and stars in it), but this is in no way a tract or an advertisement for Scientology. Travolta didn't direct Battlefield Earth - that task went to Roger Christian (I don't known if he's a Scientologist or not), whose work here hasn't improved the impression I formed of him after suffering through one of his previous features, Masterminds. Christian shows no hint of skill here. He uses all sorts of camera tricks (including about a dozen wipes that attempt to disguise the lack of legitimate transitions), but none of them have a purpose. He probably has no better idea than I do of why he occasionally tilts the camera or uses slow motion. Maybe he thinks it looks cool.
I read Battlefield Earth 17 years ago, shortly after it first hit the market (it was published in 1982, some 40 years after Hubbard's reputation as a writer was cemented). I don't remember much in the way of details, but, at the age of 15 or 16, I enjoyed it. It's a fast-paced pulp science fiction yarn with compelling characters. And, with a 2 inch spine, it will keep even the fastest reader turning pages for a while. It's engaging material, but not groundbreaking, and certainly not the "classic" some fans have painted it to be. Only in the broadest sense does the movie adaptation bear a resemblance to the novel (this is often what happens when an 800-plus page novel is condensed into a two-hour time slot). Everything good about Battlefield Earth has been stripped away, leaving behind the remnants of a cliché-riddled plot that echoes too many Doctor Who episodes and B-grade science fiction movies and characters who are too thin to be called two dimensional. The less said about the dialogue, the better. Characters speak more intelligent lines in Saturday morning cartoons.
Battlefield Earth takes place in the Year 3000. Earth is no longer ruled by humankind; in fact, it hasn't been for nearly 1000 years. Our species has been virtually exterminated by the vicious Psychlos, who use humans as chattel in their mining operations. The protagonist is the improbably named Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (Barry Pepper, from Saving Private Ryan), an independent and rebellious youth from a mountain colony who is captured and enslaved, then turns against his masters. The basic premise pits the underdog human beings against the spacefaring usurpers, led by the villainous Terl (John Travolta) and his equally evil henchman, Ker (Forest Whitaker). Terl is interested in mining a secret vein of gold so he can buy his way off Earth; Jonnie has decided that eliminating the Psychlos isn't good enough - he wants to destroy their planet.
Virtually everything about this movie is disappointing. As one would expect from a post-apocalyptic tale, it vaguely echoes everything from Planet of the Apes to The Omega Man. Thrown in for good measure is the pretentiousness of Kevin Costner's The Postman. There is no evidence that anyone involved with this project can act. Travolta, looking like a Klingon reject from one of the Star Trek movies, is completely wrong for the part of Terl. Instead of coming across as nasty and dangerous, he's whiny and petulant. Plus, he doesn't have the kind of deep, resounding bass voice necessary to command immediate respect. Instead, he sound like... well, John Travolta. He tries to ham it up, but the result only leaves us giggling and shaking our heads, wondering why someone didn't get Dennis Hopper, Jon Voight, Snidely Whiplash, or Dick Dastardly for the part. The special effects are far from special, relying on obvious matte paintings and unconvincing CGI to depict a futuristic Earth where all the cities have been blasted. (Note: paper appears to be incredibly durable, since the passage of 1000 years hasn't yellowed it at all.) And the editing borders on incompetent, transforming simple, straightforward action sequences into a confusing rush of poorly connected images.
Looking back on this film, I can't find anything nice to say about it. I despised the experience of sitting in the theater while the movie was unspooling. It is an instant front-runner for worst feature of the year, having separated itself from its nearest contender by a wide margin. Following my first, incomplete screening of the picture, I assigned a tentative one star rating. That proved to be too generous. Fortunately, critics and non-critics alike have joined together with one voice to savage this entertainment travesty. In Battlefield Earth, man may be an endangered species, but it's the movie that's headed for a quick extinction.
© 2000 James Berardinelli