An epic Space Opera, ‘Battlefield Earth’ (a.k.a. ‘Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000’) is a American dystopian science fiction action film released in 2000, based upon the first half of L. Ron Hubbard’s 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 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 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 commercial failure and critical flop and has been widely acknowledged as being one of the worst films ever made. Reviewers universally 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.
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