Introduction

Battlefield Earth (also referred to as Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000) is a 2000 American science fiction action film based on the 1982 novel of the same name by L. Ron Hubbard.

It was directed by Roger Christian and stars John Travolta, Barry Pepper and Forest Whitaker.

The film follows a rebellion against the alien Psychlos, who have ruled Earth for 1,000 years.

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Outline

In 3000, Earth is a desolate wasteland. The Psychlos, a brutal race of giant humanoid aliens, have ruled the planet for 1,000 years, and use human slave labour to strip its minerals and other resources, with a special desire for gold. A few primitive hunter-gatherer tribes of humans live in freedom in remote, hidden areas, but after ten centuries of Psychlo oppression they have abandoned any hope of regaining control of their planet. Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (Barry Pepper) rejects this universal hopelessness and leaves his tribe in the Rocky Mountains on a journey of exploration with a nomad hunter named Carlo (Kim Coates). Both are captured by a Psychlo raiding party and transported to a slave camp in the ruins of Denver, Colorado, the Psychlos’ principal base of operations. A massive dome over the base protects the Psychlos from Earth’s atmosphere, which is toxic to them.

At the camp, they meet Terl (John Travolta), the Psychlo security chief, and his deputy, Ker (Forest Whitaker). Terl’s superiors have had him reassigned to his remote Earth outpost indefinitely due to one or more unexplained incidents involving “the Senator’s daughter”. He plans to bribe his way back to the Psychlo home planet by illegally mining gold in areas of high radioactivity. Psychlos avoid such areas because radiation reacts explosively with the gas mixture that they breathe. Terl observes that Jonnie is a resourceful human and selects him to lead the mining operation. Jonnie acquires a comprehensive knowledge of human history and literature in a Psychlo rapid-learning machine. He defiantly declares that one day, humans will overthrow the Psychlos and retake their planet. An amused Terl shows Jonnie the ruins of Denver and its public library and boasts that the Psychlos conquered all of Earth in only nine minutes early in the 21st century. Jonnie spends time in the library and is particularly inspired by the Declaration of Independence.

Terl gives Jonnie a party of slaves and a Psychlo flying shuttle and orders him to find gold. Jonnie locates a plentiful supply at the long-abandoned Fort Knox. He also discovers an abandoned underground military base with working Harrier jump-jets, weapons, and fuel. While they are supposed to be labouring in the mines, Jonnie and his followers plot a revolution, training themselves in aerial combat using the military base’s flight simulators.

After a week of training, the rebels launch their attack. In a suicide mission, Carlo flies his Psychlo flying shuttle into the Denver dome, destroying it and suffocating the Psychlos inside. Jonnie captures a teleportation device and uses it to teleport a dirty bomb to the Psychlo home world. When it detonates, the radiation it releases reacts catastrophically with the Psychlo atmosphere, destroying all life on the planet. The humans have retaken Earth, but face an uncertain future. The sole Psychlo survivors are Terl – who is imprisoned inside Fort Knox, in a makeshift cell of gold bars, as a bargaining chip in the event of a counterattack by Psychlos living off their homeworld – and Ker, who joins the victorious humans in their challenging project to rebuild their civilisation.

Cast

• John Travolta as Terl.
• Barry Pepper as Jonnie Goodboy Tyler.
• Forest Whitaker as Ker.
• Kim Coates as Carlo.
• Sabine Karsenti as Chrissy.
• Richard Tyson as Robert the Fox.
• Kelly Preston as Chirk.
• Michael MacRae as District Manager Zete.
• Shaun Austin-Olsen as Planetship Numph.
• Tim Post as the Assistant Planetship.
• Michael Byrne as Parson staffer.
• Christian Tessier as Mickey.
• Sylvain Landry as Sammy.
• Earl Pastko as the Bartender.
• Noël Burton as the Clinko Learning instructor.

Trivia

• Travolta, a Scientologist, had sought for years to make a film of the novel by Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.
  • He was unable to obtain major studio funding due to concerns about the script and its connections to Scientology.
  • In 1998, it was picked up by independent production company Franchise Pictures, which specialised in rescuing stars’ pet projects. Production began in 1999, largely funded by the German distribution company Intertainment AG.
  • Travolta, as co-producer, also contributed millions of dollars; he envisioned Battlefield Earth as the first in a two-part adaptation of the book, as it only covers the first half of the novel’s story.
• Battlefield Earth was a critical and commercial failure, frequently described as one of the worst films of all time.
• Reviewers criticised virtually every aspect of the film, including the acting, cinematography, script, special effects, and art direction. Audiences were reported to have ridiculed early screenings and stayed away from the film after its opening weekend.
• It received nine Golden Raspberry Awards, which until 2012 was the most Razzie Awards given to a single film, and won Worst Picture of the Decade in 2010.
• Franchise Pictures was later sued by its investors and went bankrupt in 2007 after it emerged that it had fraudulently overstated the film’s budget by $31 million; this, coupled with its poor reception, ended Travolta’s plans for a sequel.
• South Park parodied the film at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Roger Christian.
• Producer(s): Jonathan Krane, Elie Samaha, and John Travolta.
• Writer(s): J.D. Shapiro and Corey Mandell.
• Music: Elia Cmiral.
• Cinematography: Giles Nuttgens.
• Editor(s): Robin Russelle.
• Production: Morgan Creek Productions and Franchise Pictures.
• Distributor(s): Warner Bros.
• Release Date: 10 May 2000 (Grauman’s Chinese Theatre) and 12 May 2000 (US, general release).
• Running Time: 117 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.