Battlefield Earth - Kampf um die Erde

(1 star for the film, 4 stars for the blu-ray)"Battlefield Earth" (or as I prefer to refer to it as "Dutch Angle: The Movie") was released to theaters back in 2000 receiving almost universal scorn critically while grossing only $29.3 million against a production budget of $73 million. It was based on the first half of the novel of the same name by L. Ron Hubbard (who founded the church of Scientology by the way.) If the film had been a hit, the sequel would have covered the second half of the novel. The film was a passion project of star John Travolta due to being a devout Scientologist. Forest Whitaker and Barry Pepper also co-star.I saw "Battlefield Earth" during its initial theatrical run purely out of a morbid curiosity to see if the film was as awful as the pre-release buzz indicated. It was even worse than I was expecting. While I am a fan of so bad it's great cinema, "Battlefield Earth" is just awful while practically daring you to watch it. The direction is terrible, the script & dialogue is awful, John Travolta is laughably bad, the special effects work highly uneven, and the soundtrack pedestrian at best. While a cult following has grown towards the film over the past 20 years, I do not think the film transcends its badness to become something highly entertaining but for reasons not intended by the filmmaker (like other classic best worst movies such as Troll 2 have.)Mill Creek Entertainment gives "Battlefield Earth" its long overdue blu-ray debut with a nice budget priced special edition that should please fans.The film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 utilizing the AVC codec at a solid bit rate usually hovering between the low to mid 20's, dropping into the upper teens usually during darker scenes. This is more than likely an older HD master due to some digital noise reduction (DNR) is visible giving the movie a somewhat smooth and grain free appearance, though I did not find the use of DNR in this particular instance to be egregious. Detail is decent overall with accurate colors and balanced contrast/black levels. While the blu-ray is certainly a noticeable step up from the ancient DVD, it is not as massive a leap in picture quality that a new 2K or 4K scan from the original camera negative could have yielded. But taking into consideration the low asking price for this blu-ray release, I thought the movie looked perfectly fine and more than watchable.Sound is presented in English DTS-HD 5.1 channel master audio. I thought that the dialogue and the annoying score were balanced pretty well. Everything sounded clear to my ears. English subtitles are included for the hearing impaired.Mill Creek Entertainment partnered with Ballyhoo to create some nice and informative extras for this disc which are as follows:- Saga in the year 2000: Directing Battlefield Earth Interview with Roger Christian (HD 12:54)- Leverage: Writing the First Script Interview with J.D. Shapiro (HD 15:46)- Endangered Species: Scoring Battlefield Earth Interview with Elia Cmiral (HD 10:58)- Domes and Drones: Creating the Miniatures Interview with E. James Small (HD 13:32)- Psychlo Circus: Designing Battlefield Earth Interview with Patrick Tatopoulos (HD 14:12)- Trailer (SD 00:54)All of the interviews are audio only due to restrictions imposed by the current pandemic and play out over footage from the film. There is a ton of great information provided and it is very nice, honest and brave of some key people involved to discuss what their intentions were with bringing the movie to the big screen. A commentary track would have been cool added icing on the cake though.With a low asking price currently of $12.99 for "Battlefield Earth" on blu-ray, I am pleasantly surprised that it wound up being a full blown special edition. The movie looks decent, sounds good and the extras are quite informative and much more extensive than I was expecting. Your mileage with the film itself will most definitely vary. While I find it to be one of the worst movies of all time, it does have a small but fervent cult following who should be thrilled to finally own the film in high definition. Recommended!

As a kid I read the book and, for a young adult, the book was good. Oh, you know the science was not the best, the aliens, called Psychlos, had that weird, and very rare, problem in science fiction stories in which the alien race was both too alien yet not alien enough, and the human Hero was named Jonnie Goodboy Tyler which just seems wrong, but the author was L. Ron Hubbard who, if given enough pages, could explain everything to the point where it seemed realistic or was buried under so much cow patties that you gave in and moved on. And this novel was 1050 pages long. At least the aliens had to wear suits.Now, before I get into the film I will let you know that I understand there was meant to be two movies - and this first movie only covers the events in the first part of the book. Also, I understand they had problems, before, during, and after production of the movie. So I will not judge the film based on the book and I will give it some leeway for all the problems it had in its birth.I also went into this KNOWING I was going to watching one of the worse films ever made. I ordered pizza to have while watching it, with wings and dessert. The works. So, now the result.To say this film has lots of plot holes would be a grave understatement. The movie is ONE huge hole. Not just plot holes. Character plots. Logic plots. Camera angle holes.First, all the camera shots are angled and tilted. So, please remember, that everything I talk about is also at an angle.We open up with the humans rushing into their compound at night and closing their wooden...garage door? The main character's girlfriend is worried that if they close the gate he can't get in. But its ok, because after they close the door he rides up with his horse and enters the compound. He didn't need to get through the wooden barrier. Than what was the point of having it? And when, later in the movie, the girlfriend wants to leave to find him she has to open the gate to escape. WHY? The wall does not go all the way around the compound. That makes no sense! Than we have the aliens. The aliens come across as way too stupid to be able to do anything. Now, the book did a good job at explaining this but the movie does not have the time to do so and did not even try. The humans, in the film, figure out how to repair and fly military jets within weeks. 1000 year old military jets. There are books still in one piece after being neglected for a 1000 years. And the aliens never searched for gold mankind had already dug up and refined? Really?Sure, I liked some of the scenes. The humans being kept in a zoo being feed what looks like greenish oatmeal. The fact that the humans sometimes made primate sounds, like....primates, was amusing and, I felt, a good idea. The setting of the dark, gritty future touched something inside me, that part of me that finds 1984 and dark futures so interesting.But if the humans are so worthless to the aliens, why bother to have them? Surely there is equipment, machinery, robots who could do the same work, faster? And if the Earth's gravity was so light when compared to the alien's own planet why were they so slow? Scared to fall over? Did they never get use to walking about? Why did their equipment look so backwards? Is standard alien equipment made to be used by fools? And when the aliens are having pieces of their body SHOT off they don't seem to bleed or feel pain? What the heck - how did that evolve in their species? Why did they take over human buildings to live and work in if they were so uncomfortable and the humans were so stupid? They have been there so LONG why haven't they made more comfortable quarters for themselves? I could go on, and on, and on.Even I was not prepared for the level of badness, even with the pizza, all the warnings from the reviews, and being a fan of MST3K. Still, some parts made me laugh and I did enjoy John Travolta's alien Hamlet.So, if you plan to watch this movie, watch it with the knowledge that is it a BAD movie. Not just a B-movie bad. No. There are a few extras and a commentary track, and behind-the-scenes documentary. But if based just on the movie I would say - unless you want to say you saw the worst-movie-ever-made - skip it. Buy  The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey (2012)  Or  Skyfall , or maybe  Lincoln , they're all good.I can't say I hated it but it is a one star rating no matter how you slice it.

As Described AAA+++

This is by no means the "Worst movie ever." People now, as much as back in 2000 pretty much hate this movie on sight. These are usually, but not necessarily always, fans of John Travolta who simply hated seeing him in this unusual role, folks who read the book who, after all the horrible adaptations ever made, still expect the movie to be as good as the book, people who have not actually watched many, or ANY B rate sci-fi films over the last 20 years and younger folks who inexplicably expect 2020 equivalent graphics from a 20 year old movie. This movie is a good watch, and for Prime Video sci-fi (non-Pay-Channel options) available right now, it is definitely one of the better movies out there. The graphics are decent, the acting is decent, the story has some holes, but not so bad that it ruins the story and the flow gives you the chance to simply ignore them. This is not a serious movie. It is a fun movie. Give it a go.

Despite poor reviews I loved this. I suppose purists in the sci fi genre don't like it but I suspect a lot of reviews are from people who expected it to be bad so looked for every fault. I enjoyed this as a non expert - someone who just wants to watch a movie and be entertained. Storyline was good and although some dodgy acting, it really isn't that bad a movie. Compared to more illustrious movies like Arrival - which I hated and thought pretentious claptrap which dragged on and went nowhere - this is an enjoyable romp. Just don't take it too seriously. Oh and Travolta isn't too bad in this and plays the baddie to perfection. If you like things like Alien Nation etc you should like this.

I cannot recommend this film at all. Just about everything looks laughable. The plot is about some aliens called Psyclos who have almost destroyed Earth by removing all precious metals yet in all their time here have failed to find Fort Knox. The humans are reduced to being cavemen yet manage to outwit these superior beings and being able to find and deploy weapons that have lain hidden for hundreds of years. Yes folks, Harrier jump-jets are so easy to fly that even cavemen can do it; and don't get me started on John Travolta who seems to have been the main instigator of this travesty. Battlefield Earth seems to consist of a couple of dozen humans and aliens and very dodgy special effects - for instance nose pegs tied up with shoelaces that enable people to breath without oxygen. You need to have a weird sense of humour to enjoy this. Not for nothing was it nominated for nine Golden Raspberry awards and winning seven. Give it a miss. The DVD has several extras such as 'making of' and commentaries but so far I have not seen these.

I bought this for a bad film day with my friends, I wish I didn’t. This film was so bad that less than 15 minutes in we (9 of us) we’re begging for someone to end it all.30 minutes in and the poor life choices of one of the group became more interesting to us than the film.45 minutes in and we were finding any excuse to not watch the film. I’ve never heard so much dribble and hot air come out of peoples mouths but I’ve also never been happier to hear those sweet nothings.If you and your mates are interested in having a poo film day DO NOT do what we did. DO NOT buy this film!! -7564 out of 10

When people ask me what is the worst movie I've ever seen, this abomination is the only thing that springs to mind! The only reason i bought it was because my friends wanted to do a 'crap film night'. Not only did this film 'win' that night for worst film, but we celebrated by burning it for what it put us through. Even if you are curious take it from me, everything they have said about this film is true. Dont waste your time or money. Worst. Movie. Ever!

I like this film...it was slaughtered by critics and viewers alike at the time but has become something of a cult watch. Poor John Travolta is pretty tongue in cheek in his role. Like Waterworld you either love it or hate it. Funnily enough one actor was in both....watch them and see.