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Movies / On DVD / 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

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 fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A botched adventure that looks suspiciously like any number of other sci-fi tales you will have seen, and pales instantly by the comparison.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Anwar Brett
Anwar Brett
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A disaster of epic proportions.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie is so outrageously, spectacularly, unbelievably bad that we stare at it with some sort of appalled curiosity. It fails on so many levels that it's fascinating, although not so much that I'd sit through it again.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

It doesn't help that the film's premise, which sees stoneage cavemen turn into ace fighter pilots with only a week's training, is as naive as that of the 1939 serial Buck Rogers.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
12/02/02
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Sight and Sound

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You never care about anyone as they give their lives to save humanity. Ho hum. That's the worst crime in this otherwise so-bad-it's-good mess.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Is it worth seeing once? Sure.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment 10 Comments
01/01/00
Bob Graham
Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle

Despite starting off like a bad Star Trek episode, this film eventually graduates to a higher level.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment 9 Comments
01/01/00
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

It's been a while since we've seen dumb entertainment this unpretentious, so why worry that it doesn't make a lick of sense?

comment Comment
01/01/00
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times

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

Bad science-fiction has a new name, and it is Battlefield Earth, the early frontrunner for this year's worst movie.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

This Battlefield's girth is all flab, a bombastic concoction of miscued camp and underachieving action.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online

Mish-mosh of dank dialogue and predictable plot.

Full Review Source: BeatBoxBetty.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
BeatBoxBetty.com

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

Deeply dumb, depressingly derivative and just plain nonsense.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Andy Seiler
Andy Seiler
USA Today

Battlefield Earth has the feel of a movie made by a precocious 8-year-old with access to too many leftover costumes from Clan of the Cave Bear and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
01/01/00
Arne Johnson
Arne Johnson
Citysearch

It can stand as the quintessential example of big moviemaking ineptitude.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
rec.arts.movies.reviews

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

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

Travolta and his fellow bad guy (played by Forest Whitaker) spend an inordinate amount of time cackling and showing off poor oral hygiene.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Battlefield Earth

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