Stars: John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates, Richard Tyson, Sabine Karsenti, Kelly Preston, Michael Byrne, Christian Tessier, Jim Meskimen

Director: Roger Christian

Summary: In the quest for global domination, in the year 3000, there is no match for the Psychlos led by the all-powerful Terl. The only resistance from humanity comes from a young man called Tyler who decides to take one last stand.

It's the year 3000, and Earth is under the dominion of the Psychos from planet Psychlo, a race of nine-foot-tall aliens intent on strip-mining the planet and using the remaining scraps of backward humanity (which they call Man-Animals) as slave labor. Jonnie "Goodboy" Tyler (Barry Pepper) is an ambitious young man who decides to explore the region beyond his home, to learn more about the monsters who have taken over his world. Terl (John Travolta), head of Psychlo Security, is ready to leave the backwater planet, but when he is denied a promotion he schemes to make himself wealthy and powerful. Terl comes across Jonnie and decides the human's above-average intelligence is just what he needs, educating him and letting him loose to mine gold in an isolated region. Jonnie must take this opportunity to try to destroy the Psychlos and free humanity from oppression, with only the help of the other disorganized tribes still existing on planet Earth, and with Terl watching his every move. BATTLEFIELD EARTH is an action-packed sci-fi movie based on the best-seller by L. Ron Hubbard, which Travolta (who both starred in the movie and produced it) had wanted to make into a movie for more than 15 years.

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Reviewed by: philreyn
Posted on August 31, 2005 1:42 PM

An unusual Sci fi film this, with Earth being taken over by a supposedly superior alien race called the Psychlos. John Travolta steals the show as the leader of the aliens, who has no morals or loyalties other than to himself. In his greed and detemination to elevate his own status, he uses mind improving technology on a human to see if he can improve productivity - bad Idea!. This is by no means a 'must have' for any collection, but I enjoy blowing off the dust to give it a viewing every so often.

Reviewed by: davybozal24-7
Posted on May 9, 2006 9:37 AM

Even though this black comedy Sci - Fi movie bombed at the pictures and is probably classed as a turkey along side such films as Plan 9 From Outerspace , it is by no means a paradox of films of that genre . John Travolta leads in a rather camp film alonside such stalwarts as Barry Pepper as the anti - hero and Forrest Whittaker
as Travola's sounding board . The Psychlos , manipulative aliens
with dreadlocks and big platform boots are on a quest for global domination , plundering all natural resources and leaving planets
desolate wastelands .

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In the 30th Century, when Battlefield Earthis uncovered in a mass grave for bad films by revisionist cineastes, it is more than likely that it will stillbe the worst science fiction film ever made. John Travolta's $73m pet sci-fi project--an adaptation of Scientology guru L Ron Hubbard's rambling pulp novel --is like the long lost sequel to Ed Wood's Plan Nine from Outer Space. Incompetent, incomprehensible and, at nearly two hours running time, way over long, Battlefield Earthis nothing more than a rehash of hackneyed post-Star Warssci-fi clichés. It has the production values of Buck Rogers in the 21st Centuryand a sprawling plot that merges Planet of the Apesand the TV mini-series V.

It is the year 3000 and the Psychlos, a race of dreadlocked aliens, are busy raping the Earth of its natural resources to revive their own dead planet. Peppy young turk Jonnie Goodboy Tyler decides to fight back: he speed-learns the Psychlo language, masters their alien technology and then rallies the beleaguered human race to victory. The Psychlos are at a distinct disadvantage since they persist in wearing ludicrously-stacked heels that make it hard to do anything but totter like stilt-walkers. Therefore, out of necessity, most of the action sequences in Battlefield Earthare shot in slow motion. John Travolta plays Terl, the blustering Psychlo chief of security on Earth, like a pantomime villain delivering leaden dialogue that elicits unintentional pathos. Forest Whitaker in the role of his oafish, double-crossing sidekick Ker erases all traces of screen credibility gained through his role in Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog. And as Tyler, pretty boy Barry Pepper has the charisma of a plastic action figure. Even the tagline for this film--"A saga for the year 3000"--is startlingly banal.

On the DVD:At first glance, this DVD looks to be packed with extras. A director's commentary, two TV spots, trailer and three "making of" feaurettes--but once you've seen one of the featurettes, you've literally seen them all, as the other two simply recut the same footage. After watching this travesty of a film, it is unlikely you'll want to hear British director Roger Christian gushing over his own work on the audio commentary with production designer Patrick Tatopolous. One can only guess that the creative team got stranded on Planet Psychlo and lost all their critical faculties. The main feature is of good enough picture quality to accentuate the ghastly blue and orange hues that colour almost every scene. The film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic format with optional 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. --Chris Campion

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary, Behind The Scenes Documentary, Effects Featurette, Storyboard Montage
Year:	2000
Release Date:	August 6, 2001
Runtime:	113 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D 018566
Keywords:	Earth, Back, Planet, General, Take, Wide, Screen, Fiction, Science, Battlefield, Horror, Sci, Fi
Genre:	Science Fiction