Watching Battlefield Earth- One of the Worst Films of all Time
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185183/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_Earth_(film)
Image Credit- Morgan Creek 2000
Fair Use- Wikipedia
Released in 2000, over 22-years ago, Battlefield Earth is schlocky and fun science ficton story. Starring John Travolta as the antagonist alien executive “Terl”, Forest Whitaker “Ker” as his alien sidekick and Barry Pepper as the enlightened human who must save his people. This movie is fast, fun and silly at times with a dubious rating of 3% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
I saw this movie on YouTube for the first time this week, and I had read about it long before. It is one of the worst-rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes with a 3% fresh rating, failed at the box office in 2000 and has been slammed by critics. I had forgotten all about it, and needed to see it when I found it for free on YouTube Movies and Shows. I carved out a 2-hour block in my schedule, popped some popcorn and began the film. I am glad I did.
Battlefield Earth is based on the book by L Ron Hubbard, and is an exploration of Earth in the year 3000, as it has been conquered by aliens called “Psychlos” who enslave humans to mine for them. The aliens covet the Earth’s resources, and gold is particularly interesting to them. Jonnie is given knowledge of science and engineering through a machine (similar to Lawnmower Man) when Terl decides to simulate a human revolt so he can escape Earth and steal gold in a plot he devises, a place he hates and believes his post is beneath his education and lineage. The humans, led by Jonnie, proceed to wreak havoc on the Psychlos. Supposedly, when the Psychlos invaded Earth it took them nine-minutes to conquer it (according to Terl) but a small band of humans led by the recently enlightened Jonnie could fully defeat them by destroying their protective city dome. Jonnie’s plan succeeds when he teleports a massive bomb to the Psychlos’ home planet that destroys it Death Star style and Terl is imprisoned at Fort Knox, surrounded by the gold he tried to steal. The end. The battle scenes at the end of the film are fun and action packed for a 2000 release, and I was not bored throughout.
Jonnie leads the human rebellion, and Terl pursues his dreams of leaving Earth while being cruel to everyone he encounters. The dialogue is rigid and silly at times, and I found myself laughing at unintentional times. Terl is a cheeky and cruel villain who satirizes the cutthroat way businessmen operate unethically. The fact that this movie is literally constant action makes it tolerable, and if it drug on due to plot and character over-development it would be unwatchable.
This movie is entertaining and silly. John Travolta does a great job playing the evil Terl, and Barry Pepper’s portrayal of Jonnie is spot on. Despite the 2-hour run time, this movie did not suffer as many movies of this length have- it’s action sequence after action sequence. Despite its rankings and winning of the Raspberry award alongside John Travolta’s award of “worst actor”, this movie is worth watching. It’s worth it to watch movies with low rating some times to compare them with classics, and this one is not a waste of 2-hours. This movie seems to borrow from many famous science fiction film themes including Planet of the Apes, Dune and Omega Man and speaks to the human spirit and the ability of man to overcome.
