The only people this film could recruit are members of the rock band Kiss, who, with their high-heeled boots and face paint, might figure they've got a spot if this alien thing ever really came down.
Battlefield Earth (2000)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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.
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
Reviews for Battlefield Earth
It's bombastic, chaotic, plodding, visually dreary and patchily written by first-timer Corey Mandell and JD Shapiro, who's too unimportant to rate mention in the press kit.
This is florid science fiction, low-brow but energetic, complete with cheesy thrills.
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?
Movies this dreadful don't come along every day, and hugely expensive movies this wrong-headed, cliched and just plain stupid are rarer still.
While the look is cool -- like a tinted B&W film, all washes of green, blue, amber and red -- the story's broad strokes are painfully clichéd and its details make no sense at all.
It's probably obvious by now that Battlefield Earth is far from cerebral or anything even remotely serious.
Simply put, Battlefield Earth is the worst film I've seen in over 10 years, and believe me, that's saying a lot.
Though the vast majority of our civilization has not survived, it's good to know that most of our clichés are alive and well in the year 3000.
They brought it into existence, this hellbeast of a movie, this monstrosity, this slap in the face of all that is good and right and beautiful and sweet and gentle. Oh, the humanity! Hide the children's eyes!
Battlefield Earth should be shown only at maximum-security prisons when a prisoner is tossed in solitary for bad behavior.
I cannot help but think that maybe [Travolta's] laughing that he was able to sucker people into pouring millions of dollars toward making such an unspeakable waste.
The movie plays like an uglier, Earth-bound Star Wars, interrupted by frequent Psychlo temper tantrums.
You might think it can’t be that bad because science fiction movies often have cheeseball dialogue and cardboard performances and as long as the special effects and explosions are good, it does not really matter. You would be wrong.
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.
What this movie lacks in simple logic, it makes up for in its apparent unintentional campy humor.
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 ![]()
Did Roger Friedman lose his Fox News gig because he angered Scientologists? That's what Friedman and his attorney are alleging. More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- Battlefield Earth at Rotten Tomatoes
- Battlefield Earth at IGN
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

