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Movies / On DVD / Battlefield Earth
Battlefield Earth

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Battlefield Earth (2000)

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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. [More]

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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Release:

Jan 16, 2001

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Reviews for Battlefield Earth

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Pretty much the Showgirls of sci-fi shoot-'em-ups.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 1 Comment
03/26/09
Dennis Harvey
Dennis Harvey
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This 117-minute adaptation of an 800-page SF adventure for teenagers seems like a miscalculation on multiple levels.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
01/06/07
Lisa Alspector
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader
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[It looks like] Klingons having a bad hair day.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
03/19/02
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ebert & Roeper
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The first few moments of the film evoke heroism and noble struggle. After that, it's Grade A drivel.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
01/01/00
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
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Deeply dumb, depressingly derivative and just plain nonsense.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Andy Seiler
Andy Seiler
USA Today
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Is it worth seeing once? Sure.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment 9 Comments
01/01/00
Bob Graham
Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle
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Younger, less discriminating viewers (5-year-old boys) will eat it up.

Full Review Source: Mr. Showbiz | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cody Clark
Cody Clark
Mr. Showbiz
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Battlefield Earth saves its scariest moment for the end: a virtual guarantee that there will be a sequel.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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And after about 20 minutes of this amateurish picture, extinction doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell
New York Times
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The words 'so bad it's good' strain to make themselves heard through the film's coarse bluster and grimy din.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
01/01/00
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
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Remarkable mainly for rendering the prospect of human extinction inconsequential.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
01/01/00
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice
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Looking back on this film, I can't find anything nice to say about it.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
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Battlefield Earth begins as retro pulp and ends up, figuratively speaking, as tons of wet cardboard.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
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A truly dire and silly rehash of Planet of the Apes.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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This is florid science fiction, low-brow but energetic, complete with cheesy thrills.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Louis B. Parks
Louis B. Parks
Houston Chronicle
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Battlefield Earth simply asks too much and delivers too little.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Matt Crenson
Matt Crenson
Associated Press
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The movie plays like an uglier, Earth-bound Star Wars, interrupted by frequent Psychlo temper tantrums.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
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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.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
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