From Deseret News archives:
Battlefield Earth
Film review
There are only two ways to react to a film this completely awful you can either flee in abject horror, or better still, you can embrace it in all of its cheesy, stupid glory.
After all, you're unlikely to see as hilarious a sight this year as the vision of pudgy star John Travolta wobbling on mini-stilts, trying to deliver bad dialogue as if it had been written by Shakespeare. The fact that he looks like one of "Star Trek's" Klingon characters but with worse teeth certainly doesn't help.
It's the shockingly inept tale (based on L. Ron Hubbard's best-selling novel) of man's enslavement in the 31st century. Earth has been taken over by the Psychlos, vicious 10-feet-tall aliens who are using humans as labor for their mining operations.
However, one man dares to rebel and bring new hope to mankind, a recently enslaved hunter named Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (Barry Pepper, from "Saving Private Ryan").
His chief opponent is Terl (Travolta), the Psychlo's chief of security, who toys with Jonnie when he's not thwarting takeover plans by his scheming second-in-command, Ker (Forest Whitaker).
And as bad as the whole cast is here, Travolta is the king of ham, employing a pompous laugh that suggests he's been watching the "Austin Powers" movies too much (Dr. Evil he's not).
"Battlefield Earth" is rated PG-13 for science-fiction violence (including hand-to-hand battle and blaster fire), and scattered, mild profanity. Running time: 117 minutes.
You can reach Jeff Vice by e-mail at jeff@desnews.com
Recent comments
My roommate had a whole collection of Battlefield Earth collectors...
Tery | Aug. 15, 2009 at 9:00 p.m.
Cast: John Travolta, Forest Whitaker, Barry Pepper
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