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Movies / Upcoming / Battlefield Earth
Battlefield Earth

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Battlefield Earth (2000)

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Reviews Counted:121

Fresh:3

Rotten:118

Average Rating:2.3/10

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

US Box Office: $0

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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Reviews for Battlefield Earth

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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The story is quite weak, with the pace all over the place.

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
10/30/01
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Made with the misguided passion only true believers can muster, this adaptation of L. Ron Hubbard’s novel can only (kindly) be described as a monumental folly.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
01/01/00
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's really only one way to summarize my sheer hatred for what is possibly one of the worst movies I've ever seen. And it's through a list.

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

"Battlefield Earth," based on a crappy 1982 sci-fi novel by cult religion dips#*t L. Ron Hubbard, is so inept and pathetic that it should forever end any questions about the validity of Hubbard's manufactured religion of Scientology.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment 2 Comments
04/12/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

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
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
03/10/09
Steve Ryfle
Steve Ryfle
Hollywood.com

If you are looking for something to hate and despise, get thee to this movie.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Bob Grimm
Bob Grimm
Sacramento News & Review

A folly so supreme that it occasionally inspires awe, in the sense that so many people spent so much time and money on it without ever realizing how awful it is.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

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

Watching Battlefield Earth is to a movie-watching experience what having a yeast infection is to having sex.

Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | comment Comment
04/06/06
Mark Bourne
Mark Bourne
DVDJournal.com

Place it next to The Omega Code and The Omega Code shines.

Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS) | comment Comment
02/09/06
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

Travolta, it seems, had wanted to star in a film of Battlefield Earth since first reading the novel in 1982. Only the all-seeing L Ron knows why.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Nigel Floyd
Nigel Floyd
Time Out

John Travolta will forever be haunted by this sci-fi travesty based on L. Ron Hubbard's novel.

comment Comment
10/25/04
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

Blame this mess on Travolta.

Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | comment Comment
06/23/04
Judith Egerton
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

Robin did not review "Battlefield Earth"

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
06/11/04
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Scientologist or not, this is as inane as summer blockbusters get.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
05/22/03
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

If this is what we have to look forward to in the year 3000, count me out.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/14/03
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

The sets are laughably cheap, and the aliens look like geeks from a Star Trek convention who couldn't afford to buy the "good" Klingon costumes

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
03/20/03
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

This film maintains a surprising consistency of bad acting and directing almost from the first frame to the last.

Full Review Source: Film Quips Online | comment Comment
02/08/03
John R. McEwen
John R. McEwen
Film Quips Online

AAAAAAAAGHHHH! MY EYES! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Ron Wells
Ron Wells
Film Threat
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Battlefield Earth

September 24, 2009: How Bad Can It Get? RT's Worst of the Worst List Will Tell You!
Over the last decade, we've collected reviews for thousands of movies. Most films, even profoundly mediocre ones, can expect to receive at least cursory support from the... More...

June 15, 2009: Friedman Blames Scientologists for Firing Opens in new window
Did Roger Friedman lose his Fox News gig because he angered Scientologists? That's what Friedman and his attorney are alleging. More...

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