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Battlefield Earth (2000)

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 11:01 am    Post subject: Battlefield Earth (2000) Reply with quote




Here's a movie that certainly doesn't get a lot of love. Sad

But is it really all that bad? Well, yes and no.

Knowing absolutely nothing about L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology, I read the book about thirty years ago and love it. I found out shortly after finishing the novel when I told a friend what I was reading, and he in turn told me about Hubbard's personal beliefs.

If I'd known about it in advance, I doubt it would have colored my opinion, because the story was good, so who cares about Hubbard's religion, eh?

Ditto for John Travolta, a devoted believer in the religion. I like John's acting (although he's not that great in this movie), so when I went to see this movie I didn't worry about all that stuff.

I didn't love the movie, but then again I did hate it. Apparently, however, I was part of a small minority.

Wikipedia's article says, "The film was a critical and commercial failure, and is frequently described as one of the worst films of all time."

If I had nickle for every film that was called "the worst film of all time", I could build Trump's border wall for him . . . out of nickles.

But critics disliked it so badly that they jeered and laughed during test screenings. Roger Ebert gave the film the rating of half-a-star out of four, and compared his screening to "taking a bus trip with someone who has needed a bath for a long time. (Ouch! Shocked)

Leonard Maltin rated the film a "BOMB" in his book Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide.

Travolta, however, made this amazing statement.

"I felt better about everything when George Lucas and Quentin Tarantino, and a lot of people that I felt knew what they were doing, saw it and thought it was a great piece of science fiction."

Ummm . . . maybe he was talking about some other George and Quentin. Confused

Anyway, this is obviously a movie that would give us a lot to talk about, so if you've seen it, dive right in! Very Happy



_________________ Battlefield Earth - trailer


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_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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alltare
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Joined: 17 Jul 2015
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

P.U. is the best I can say about this movie. Travolta starred in many good movies, but he let his love of Hubbard overcome his common sense this time. Maybe the success of Pulp Fiction and later other successes caused him to think that he could coproduce an equally good film. He miscalculated.

He is reportedly a very good pilot, however.
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2019 12:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

____________


The time seemed right to adapt the long sci-fi novel by L. Ron Hubbard to the screen.

It was the year 2000, and the story took place in the year 3000. John Travolta was still at the top of his game as the nineties were ending, still a bankable commodity following the recharge of his career in Pulp Fiction (94) and a fervent follower of Hubbard's Scientology movement.

The story, epic in its qualities of showing a future Earth under the dominion of giant-sized invaders, seemed like a sure bet to score big on the big screen, in the Star Wars or Independence Day mode.

But, none of these potential positives were realized.


________________

The most eye-rolling moment happens in the final act when thousand-year-old Harrier jets are somehow activated and flown by a small cadre of rebels who had been, until that moment, living like prehistoric cavemen as the few surviving remnants of humanity.

But to me the most serious problem with this film is the performance by Travolta as the alien Terl, one of the invaders. Travolta hams it up so much with his snickering and nearly effeminate line delivery that he destroys any chance to take these alien invaders even a bit seriously.

It doesn't help that the depiction of these invaders, with their dreadlocks, is laughable. They look tall, yes, but the actors look like they're on stilts, as if in some carnival show. In the book, the hairy, 10-foot-tall aliens are described as so fearsome-looking that a human might fall dead with fright at the sight of one.


___________ How BAD is BATTLEFIELD EARTH?


__________


Barry Pepper also stars in the key role of Johnnie Goodboy, the human who figures out a plan to finally strike back at these invaders. He's captured early on but bides his time learning of ways to get back at the aliens.

Forest Whitaker co-stars as another alien and (supposedly) Terl's buddy and confidant. Other humans and potential rebels are played by Kim Coates and Richard Tyson (Three O'Clock High), members of primitive tribes, the only type of society left of the Earthlings. Kelly Preston, Travolta's wife, has a cameo role as a female alien.

Overall, the direction of this film by Roger Christian was also lacking, with many camera shots tilted at an angle for no reason, and a sluggish pace to the whole thing.

BoG's Score: 2.5 out of 10


__ Cinematic Excrement: Episode 52 - Battlefield Earth


__________




BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has 58 trivia items for this infamous movie! Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text. Very Happy
________________________________

~ The film's cinematographer has gone on record as saying that the overuse of color filters and Dutch Angles wasn't his idea, and that he was given the smallest lighting budget he had ever worked with.

Note from me: This comment is very illuminating. (Sorry . . . I couldn't resist. Embarassed )

~ Barry Pepper said that, had he known he was going to win Worst Supporting Actor at the Razzies, he would have shown up to accept his award in person.

Note from me: "When life serves you lemons . . . "

~ John Travolta referred to this film as "like Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) but better" and "the Schindler's List (1993) of science-fiction films" during publicity.

Note from me: Perhaps he meant another Star Wars . . . a rotten one nobody knows about. Sad

~ Barry Pepper blamed the film's failure on "a weak script and poor production values". He claimed that John Travolta's paycheck took most of the budget.

Note from me: John was smart to get his money up front! Shocked

~ John Travolta's contract had him take a large up-front pay cut from his usual fee, to around $10 million, with incentives that would have paid him about $15 million more when-and-if the movie met standards at the North American box office. Unfortunately, for him, it didn't.

Note from me: Okay, he got SOME of his money up front. Rolling Eyes

~ John Travolta plowed in a lot of his own money to finance the film. He also significantly lowered his usual salary demands of $20 million.

Note from me: Okay, fine, let's say he got a PORTION of his money up front, and then he gave a lot of it back . . . which was a big mistake. Rolling Eyes

~ In an interview with Movieline magazine, Barry Pepper said that the food provided on the set wasn't great and that John Travolta decided to summon his personal chef to the movie's Canada location to feed the cast and crew.

Note from me: Well hell, he could AFFORD to pick up the check . . . with the money he had left. Sad

~ J.D. Shapiro, the first screenwriter, openly apologized for this film, and even personally accepted the film's Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Movie of the Decade, 2000-09. He stated in a New York Post article that "the only time I saw the movie was at the premiere, which was one too many times. [...] Looking back at the movie with fresh eyes, I can't help but be strangely proud of it. Because out of all the sucky movies, mine is the suckiest."

Note from me: This is valuable lesson for young people. If you're going to do something badly, do it badly enough to get an award for it! Laughing

~ The investor, Intertainment, sued producer Franchise Pictures for fraud. Franchise claimed the budget was $75 million instead of the actual budget of $44 million. Franchise was ordered by the court to pay Intertainment $121.7 million in damages, and went bankrupt. Intertainment only financed the film because it came as a package deal with The Art of War (2000) and The Whole Nine Yards (2000).

Note from me: Proof positive that one CAN find justice in the world! Wink

~ Almost every shot in the film is at a dutch angle, because, according to Roger Christian, he wanted the film to look like a comic book.

Note from me: Yes, of course, I always turn my comic books at a 45° angle when I read them! Gee, doesn't everybody? Confused

~ When the book was first written, John Travolta wanted to make the movie and star as Johnny Goodboy, the young hero; however, he could get no investors to back him because of the project's association with Scientology. By the time the movie was made he was too old to play the part of the hero and, instead, opted to play the part of the villain, Terl.

Note from me: I knew absolutely NOTHING about Scientology (and still don't) when I read the book in 1985, but I thought is was a wonderful novel (and still do).

~ The original screenplay was heavily re-written at the behest of the studio and star John Travolta. Original writer J.D. Shapiro thought that the changes "killed the movie", and wanted to be credited under his pseudonym "Sir Nick Knack".

However, WGA rules stated that pseudonyms cannot be used when an author gets paid a certain amount of money, so the only alternative to be credited under his full name was to not be credited at all. His agent and attorney talked him out of it, as "there was a lot of money at stake".


Note from me: Love that pseudonym! Very Happy

~ George Lucas recommended Roger Christian as director. He was the second-unit director on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), the art director on Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and directed Black Angel (1980), a short film commissioned by Lucas to be shown before theatrical screenings of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) during its original release in the UK.

Note from me: Behold . . . Cool


____________ Black Angel (1980 short film)


__________


~ The film had a toy line by Trendmasters. It was one of their last.

Note from me: Good grief, the movie even killed a toy company! Shocked

~ The film covers only the first half of the L. Ron Hubbard book.

Note from me: Actually, I remember the second half as being terrific!

~ A sequel to the film was planned to cover the second half of the book, but the panning from critics, poor box office performance, and the financial ruin of Franchise Pictures killed off the plans to do the second half of the novel.

Note from me: A clear case of "cinematic mercy killing".

~ The Psychlos resembles the Klingons from Star Trek: The Original Series (1966).

Note from me: A clear case of "bull crap"! (Geez, I thought IMDB screened these trivia items!) Shocked

~ John Travolta and Forest Whitaker previously starred in Phenomenon (1996) together.

Note from me: Phenomenon is actually a good movie . . . until the ending screws it up. Rolling Eyes

~ Forest Whitaker later went on to star in another science fiction film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) as Saw Gerrera.

Note from me: Now THERE'S a movie that compares well with A New Hope!

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Jun 05, 2020 9:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have to admit that for the most part I found this film unwatchable. Travolta was terrible and Whiticker (Who I've always liked as an actor) was drasticly miscast and really hammed up his role!

I've read a bit of Hubbard's work. In the day his hardcovers with the Frazzeta covers were featured in every Walden Bookstore in town. However trying to actually read them was a chore! For the most part Hubbard was a typical hack pulp writer who cranked out his stories for pennies a word. Don't get me wrong...I've really liked a lot of pulp hack work! Some of it is just fun escapist stuff and doesn't require a lot of deep thinking! A lot of excellent writers came out of the pulp era to become well respected writers, like Heinlien, Azimov and Bradbury! Hubbard's stuff just never came up to that level. If it wasn't for the Scientology money backing it up his books would never have been published!

I won't go into his strange "religion" with it's sci-fi roots. I'll just say I can't say much about the film because it was so bad I couldn't watch it and if I still have the vhs tape somewhere....I'll never look for it!

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

What I remember liking best about the novel was the clever way the hero and his colleagues did some serious damage to ruthless and arrogant alien empire by using their own teleportation technology against them!

Sweet! Cool

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____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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trekriffic
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
________________________________

What I remember liking best about the novel was the clever way the hero and his colleagues did some serious damage to ruthless and arrogant alien empire by using their own teleportation technology against them!

Sweet! Cool


I enjoyed reading the book too. The switcheroo the humans pulled on the aliens using their own teleporters was brilliant writing.
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Eadie
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:


~ The Psychlos resembles the Klingons from Star Trek: The Original Series (1966).

Note from me: A clear case of "bull crap"! (Geez, I thought IMDB screened these trivia items!) Shocked




More true than you would think. Check this out:



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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 12:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud wrote:
Quote:
What I remember liking best about the novel was the clever way the hero and his colleagues did some serious damage to ruthless and arrogant alien empire by using their own teleportation technology against them!

Kind of like in STARGATE...Where they used the aliens teleporter to send a nuke into the pyramid mothership!
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Krel
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
~ The film had a toy line by Trendmasters. It was one of their last.

Note from me: Good grief, the movie even killed a toy company!

George Lucas did it first. The cost of the merchandising rights for "The Phantom Menace" killed the Micro Machine toy line, and the Galoob toy company.

Bill Cosby is responsible for there being a physical Razzie Award. He did a BAD comedy, Leonard Part something. He went on the "Tonight Show", and told Johnny Carson how he was awarded a few (6?) Razzies. He contacted them and told them he wanted his awards, and the Razzie people told him that there actually isn't a physical award, so they can't give them to him. Bill Cosby threatened to sue them for promoting a fraudulent award. This forced them to create an actual award at the costs of thousands of dollars. Shocked Bill Cosby showed the awards off on the show, they were very nice looking. The Razzie people later created a less expensive, and cheap looking award to give to people who asked for their award. Laughing

David.
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