A film review by Sam Floeter Copyright © 2000 Sam Floeter

Q: All of the armies of earth being defeated in less than ten minutes by aliens from another planet?

A: Sure. Why not?

Q: Teaching a group of spear-chucking cavemen how to fly a squadron of Harrier jets in less than seven days?

A: It’s a long shot, but it’s possible.

Q: John Travolta ever learning how to act?

A: No, my friend, that is science-fiction. That will never happen.

For the second time on big screen, John Travolta dons his platform shoes, but instead of tearing up the dance floor, he’s tearing up the negative script reviews in “Battlefield Earth”.

It is the year 3000, and the human species has been practically decimated by a race of giant Klingon-esque aliens called the Psychlos. Now it seems the Psychlos are such a terrible race that they annihiliated the forces of earth in nine-minutes, yet for all their technological advances, the basic invention of the toothbrush has somehow passed them by. Humans have reverted back to their tribal nature, scavengers and hunters, hiding away in fear of the “demon” Psychlos. Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan, Enemy of the State) plays Jonnie, a cross between William Wallace and The Postman who must lead his people to freedom against the tyranny of the Psychlos. Travolta pays his bills as the evil security Chief Terl, a scheming Psychlo in charge of the manual labor prison who wishes to leave Earth and gain political power on his homeworld. The paths of both characters will pit them against each other in a final showdown for Earth.

In truth, the bad qualitites of Battlefield go hand in hand with the good. It was not made on an extremely high budget, and the script reviews were so pitiful that it’s a wonder the film left pre-production. Yet, somehow, John Travolta and his band of Scientologists have managed to make a fairly decent film. While the movie is relentlessly splattered with bad dialogue, obvious stock footage, rediculous concepts, and camera angles so lop-sided you’d think the third leg on the tri-pod was broken, it DOES have excellent special effects. Next to a PG-13 rating, this is perhaps the films only saving grace, but surprisingly, it works well to hold the story together. I found the final battle scene between the aliens and the resistance to be highly entertaining. So what if those are cavemen flying around in Harrier jets, blowing up buildings! No one questioned it when Arnold Schwarzenegger did the same thing in “True Lies”.

I actually thought that the costume design was quite good, and despite the comparison to Star Trek antagonists, the Psychlos looked pretty neat with their dreadlocks and black leather trenchcoats.

Unfortunately, “Battlefield” has too many scenes that take away from the momentum of the film, and many repititious encounters and escapes. How many times can you watch a man running through an abandoned building in slow motion? How many times can a Psychlo choke a man to the point of death with one hand? How many cow legs can John Travolta shoot off with his laser pistol? Battlefield Earth tries hard to answer these rediculous questions and many more.

Now, I am the kind of movie fan who will go and watch every sci-fi film, no matter how bad the reviews. I was there on opening day for the awesome re-release of “Blade Runner” just as I was for the rancid debut of “Wing Commander”— and let me save you the suspense, while Battlefield Earth may not be the greatest sci-fi flick ever made, it is far from being as horrid as “Wing Commander”. So it’s all a matter of expectation, which is why I found Battlefield Earth to be better than I thought, given the poor reviews. Whatever happens, don’t go into the movie thinking it will be the big smash of the summer, because it most definitely will not.

	Running Time: 117 Min | Rated: PG-13 | US Release: May 12th | More >>

Related Links:

• Official Site
• BattlefieldEarth.com
• JoBlo interviews John Travolta
• Upcomingmovies.com: Battlefield Earth

Prepare for battle.