Battlefield Earth (2000)

Battlefield Earth (also referred to as Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000) is a 2000 American-Canadian dystopian science fiction action film based upon the first half of L. Ron Hubbard's 1982 novel of the same name. Directed by Roger Christian and starring John Travolta, Barry Pepper, and Forest Whitaker, the film depicts an Earth that has been under the rule of the alien Psychlos for 1,000 years and tells the story of the rebellion that develops when the Psychlos attempt to use the surviving humans as gold miners.

Travolta, a long-time Scientologist, had sought for many years to make a film of the novel by Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. He was unable to obtain funding from any major studio due to concerns about the film's script, prospects, and connections with Scientology. The project was eventually taken on in 1998 by an independent production company, Franchise Pictures, which specialized in rescuing stars' stalled pet projects. Travolta signed on as a co-producer and contributed millions of dollars of his own money to the production, which was largely funded by a German film distribution company. Franchise Pictures was later sued by its investors and was bankrupted in 2004 after it emerged that it had fraudulently overstated the film's budget by $31 million.

Battlefield Earth was released on May 12, 2000. The film was a major critical and commercial failure and has been called one of the worst movies of all time. Reviewers panned the film, criticizing virtually every aspect of the production including Travolta's acting, which many described as "hammy", overuse of angled shots and slow-motion, poor script, several plot holes and narrative inconsistencies, art design, and dialogue. Audiences were reported to have ridiculed early screenings and stayed away from the film after its opening weekend, which led to Battlefield Earth failing to recoup its costs. The film went on to receive a total of nine Golden Raspberry Awards, which until 2012 was the most Razzie Awards given to a single film.

Travolta originally envisioned Battlefield Earth as the first of two films to be adapted from the book, as the screenplay only covered the first half of the novel. However, the film's poor performance at the box office, as well as the collapse of Franchise Pictures, ended plans for a sequel.

Synopsis

In the year 3000, Earth has been ruled for 1,000 years by the Psychlos, a brutal race of giant humanoid aliens. The remnants of humanity are either enslaved by the Psychlos and used for manual labor or survive in primitive tribes living in remote areas outside Psychlo control. Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (Barry Pepper), a member of one such tribe, leaves his home in the Rocky Mountains on a journey of exploration. He joins forces with Carlo (Kim Coates), a hunter, but both men are captured by a Psychlo raiding party and transported to a slave camp at the Psychlos' main base on Earth, a giant dome built over the ruins of Denver, Colorado.

Actors