Pretty much the Showgirls of sci-fi shoot-'em-ups.
Battlefield Earth (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:29
Fresh:1
Rotten:28
Average Rating:2.4/10
Consensus: Ugly, campy, and poorly acted, Battlefield Earth is a stunningly misguided, aggressively bad sci-fi folly.
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis:
In the year 3000, there are no countries, no cities... Earth is a wasteland. And man is an endangered species.
A millennium ago, vicious Psychlo aliens swept down from the skies and wiped out...
In the year 3000, there are no countries, no cities... Earth is a wasteland. And man is an endangered species.
A millennium ago, vicious Psychlo aliens swept down from the skies and wiped out Earth’s entire defense force in nine minutes. Now, the handfuls of surviving humans are either used as slaves, stripping the mineral resources from the planet for use by the Psychlo race, or hiding out in remote mountain villages, primitive and cut off from the rest of humanity.
One of the most powerful figures on this new Earth is Psychlo Chief of Security Terl (JOHN TRAVOLTA), a brilliant and monstrous alien who believes he was destined to conquer galaxies.
What he does not know is that one human, Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (BARRY PEPPER), is about to put a kink in his plan to exploit Earth’s human slaves for his own personal gain. A hunter who sets out to make life better for his people, Jonnie is captured and made to work as a slave in one of the Psychlos’ mines. It is here that his journey really begins – a grand adventure that will lead him to discover places and things he never knew existed.
Terl holds every advantage, with the massive strength of invincible Psychlo machinery and the vast Psychlo empire behind him. Jonnie is an insignificant animal to Terl, but he is about to turn the tables, and unleash his unfailing hope in a final showdown for the future of Earth.
Starring: John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates
Starring: John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates, Sabine Karsenti, Richard Tyson, Kelly Preston, Michael Byrne, Jim Meskimen, Christian Tessier
Director: Roger Christian
Director: Roger Christian
Screenwriter: Corey Mandell
Producer: Jonathan D. Krane, Elie Samaha, John Travolta
Composer: Elia Cmiral
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Reviews for Battlefield Earth
This 117-minute adaptation of an 800-page SF adventure for teenagers seems like a miscalculation on multiple levels.
The first few moments of the film evoke heroism and noble struggle. After that, it's Grade A drivel.
If you're the kind of sci-fi fanatic who has to see every new futuristic action movie no matter how crummy it is then of course you'll check out Battlefield Earth regardless of how many cheap jokes critics crack at its expense.
Younger, less discriminating viewers (5-year-old boys) will eat it up.
Battlefield Earth saves its scariest moment for the end: a virtual guarantee that there will be a sequel.
And after about 20 minutes of this amateurish picture, extinction doesn't seem like such a bad idea.
The words 'so bad it's good' strain to make themselves heard through the film's coarse bluster and grimy din.
Remarkable mainly for rendering the prospect of human extinction inconsequential.
Looking back on this film, I can't find anything nice to say about it.
Battlefield Earth begins as retro pulp and ends up, figuratively speaking, as tons of wet cardboard.
This is florid science fiction, low-brow but energetic, complete with cheesy thrills.
The movie plays like an uglier, Earth-bound Star Wars, interrupted by frequent Psychlo temper tantrums.
Battlefield Earth is just a lumbering, poorly photographed piece of derivative sci-fi drivel, full of grunting extras scampering around in animal pelts and more dank, trash-strewn sets than I ever care to see again.
Latest News for Battlefield Earth
September 24, 2009:
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June 15, 2009:
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