Battlefield Earth

Battlefield Earth is the name of both a science fiction novel written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard as well as a film adaptation of said novel produced by and starring John Travolta.

The movie

After his success in the movie Pulp Fiction, Hollywood star John Travolta pushed hard to make a movie adaptation of Battlefield Earth a reality. Travolta, a devoted Scientologist and one of the organization's most vocal supporters, described the book in interviews as "like Star Wars, only better." The movie Battlefield Earth based on the novel came out in 2000 and was produced by Franchise Pictures, JTP Films (Travolta's company), and Morgan Creek Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros. in the U.S. It was directed by Roger Christian and starred John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates, Richard Tyson, Sabine Karsenti, Michael Byrne. Travolta's wife Kelly Preston also appeared; her role is often incorrectly described as "starring" even though she only appears in one scene.

Related Topics:
Pulp Fiction - Hollywood - John Travolta - Star Wars - Movie - 2000 - Franchise Pictures - JTP Films - Morgan Creek Productions - Warner Bros. - Roger Christian - Barry Pepper - Forest Whitaker - Kim Coates - Richard Tyson - Sabine Karsenti - Michael Byrne - Kelly Preston

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In this futuristic epic, a greedy alien security chief, played by John Travolta, enslaves human prisoners to mine gold for him. Barry Pepper plays the human (or "man-animal") who decides to liberate his people by fighting the security chief.

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The film received nothing but bad reviews, including from The New York Times and acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert. It was also voted on the Internet Movie Database as one of the 100 worst films of all time. http://us.imdb.com/bottom_100_films The ultimate insult came in 2001, when the movie received seven Razzie Awards, including Worst Movie of the Year and Worst Actor (Travolta), effectively classifying the movie as the worst film made in Hollywood since Showgirls. In 2004, the movie received a Razzie for Worst 'Drama' Of Our First 25 Years. The negative reaction to the movie halted plans to make a sequel.

Related Topics:
The New York Times - Roger Ebert - Internet Movie Database - Razzie Awards - Showgirls - 2004 - Razzie - Sequel

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Released in over 3,300 theaters, Battlefield Earth grossed a total of $29,725,663 worldwide, falling far short of its $73 million production budget and $30 million in estimated marketing costs.

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