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Movies => Bad Movies => Topic started by: Dr. Whom on November 12, 2006, 04:11:15 AM



Title: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Dr. Whom on November 12, 2006, 04:11:15 AM
Finally gotten round to it! Cavemen in 1000 yr old Harriers shooting down aliens! It makes Snakes on a Plane almost seem plausible.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Scott on November 12, 2006, 06:02:07 AM
BATTLEFIELD EARTH was a film that I almost walked out of the theater on. Travolta was lucky to find work after this one. When I went opening day I was looking for a great Sci-Fi film starring John Travolta.

 :thumbdown: :thumbdown: (Not bad as in good, but bad as in boring)

 

SPOILER ALERT................SPOILER ALERT.................SPOILER ALERT............




The most interesting part for me was when they teleport the nuclear bomb to the aliens planet and detonate it.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Andrew on November 12, 2006, 09:04:33 AM
"Stupid man-animal!  Hahahahahah!"  Goodness, how many times was that line used in the movie?  Make sure you say that loudly, then roll your head back as you laugh.  Terrible, terrible, but one of the few reasons to watch the movie.  After a while, you get to enjoy the overacting involved in that part.

The cavemen flying the ancient harriers was great.  I guess they dug out the TMs and spare parts too, because those things flew great.

******SERIOUS SPOILER*******

Why, in the name of all religions created as a tax shelter, would you not put a safety in place for your teleport system if you home planet will detonate upon contact with anything radioactive?  I mean, a few simple lines like:

if $radioactive=='yes'
(do not teleport);
else
(teleport on);

Boggles the mind.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Dr. Whom on November 12, 2006, 09:20:45 AM
******SERIOUS SPOILER*******

Why, in the name of all religions created as a tax shelter, would you not put a safety in place for your teleport system if you home planet will detonate upon contact with anything radioactive?  I mean, a few simple lines like:

if $radioactive=='yes'
(do not teleport);
else
(teleport on);

Boggles the mind.

*********************

On the other hand, the Psychlo's had been 1,000 years mining earth for gold, and they still hadn't found Fort Knox.

I must say, when I saw the cavemen in the flight simulator, I had to stop the tape and have a drink to recover before I could watch any further.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Shadow on November 12, 2006, 11:32:04 AM
I remember how Travolta still wanted to do a sequel, despite the beating this film took. That is either dedication or dementia.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: trekgeezer on November 12, 2006, 06:36:09 PM
I could never make it through because of the tilted camera angle used throughout the film.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Yaddo 42 on November 13, 2006, 01:03:02 AM
Tried to watch it several times on SciFi when it aired almost every weekend for a while. The camera angles and  the grubby cheapness of the whole look of the movie made it hard for me to stick with it. I kept thinking, "Something that's supposed to have cost that much should not look this cheap and unpolished if it's supposed to be a BIG scifi epic like they were claiming..

I had similar feelings, Shadowfyre, when I heard about the sequel plans.

Later on I figured it was just a PR move or some odd principle Scientology of not admiting defeat or admiting that anything written with ole L. Ron's name on it was crap and would be still be crap when adapted to another medium.

We (or someone I suppose) are still waiting for a sequel. Maybe they should try an animated series, so they can suck in a new generation of suc-.....er....cash cow-......um, dupes......uh, I mean church members.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Ash on November 13, 2006, 01:48:40 AM
I think I might be the only person here who really liked Battlefield Earth.

I thought Travolta was perfect as Terl.
Sure the story and plot were cheesy as hell but I still loved it for some strange reason.

I do agree that the tilted camera got very annoying after awhile.

This was great B-movie fun for me!

(http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2595/39144819e8b1c10909e34us5.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Acidburn on November 13, 2006, 09:24:25 AM
I think I might be the only person here who really liked Battlefield Earth.

I thought Travolta was perfect as Terl.
Sure the story and plot were cheesy as hell but I still loved it for some strange reason.

I do agree that the tilted camera got very annoying after awhile.

This was great B-movie fun for me!

([url]http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2595/39144819e8b1c10909e34us5.jpg[/url]) ([url]http://imageshack.us[/url])


Nope your not the only one ASH. I always hear people talking about how much they hate this film and I have to wonder what I am missing that makes it so aweful. I admit its not the best film in the world and the plot leaves something to be desired.  But that doesnt make it this amazingly bad movie that everyone always talks about.  I thought it was kind of fun


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Dr. Whom on November 14, 2006, 07:27:34 AM
Well, I didn't  mind the colour coding of the scenes so much, or the awkward cameara angels (it reminded me a bit of the 1960s Batman). It is just the overall stupidity of the plot, the savages that come straight out of some lost episode of the original startrek, the Stars Wars rip off with cavemen in Harriers, for crying out loud. Last but not least, the incredibly annoying Psychlo habit of remaining silent for a moment, and then bursting out in maniacal laughter.

Still, John Travolta seems to have enjoyed himself.

BTW how does it compare to the book?


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Zapranoth on November 15, 2006, 03:17:47 AM
I haven't watched the movie, but the book was a flaming turd-pile, just like everything else Hubbard has written.   :thumbdown:


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: dean on November 15, 2006, 04:14:30 AM
I for one didn't think it was as terrible as people made it out to be.

Sure it's a stinker, don't get me wrong, but I am a sucker for Sci-fi, even if it's rubbish like this!

I'd probably even watch that so-called sequel, silly is me...  :bouncegiggle:


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Yaddo 42 on November 15, 2006, 05:50:57 AM
Used to know a guy who read the entire Battlefield: Earth series of book. This was a guy who read so fast that when he ran out of things to read he would just reread the Tolkien books over and over until he found something else. I wish I could read that fast, much less reread things I like without feeling like I'm just rehashing them a ruining my enjoyment of them.

When asked what he thought of the series he replied, "Eh, they were okay." I and some of the others around asked him how you could read 10,000+ pages of something you thought was just okay.

This guy also like to go up to the Scientology booths at scifi cons and ask for reading material, but they always got disappointed when he told them he only wanted old L Ron Hubbard pulp stories and scifi novels.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: sideorderofninjas on November 24, 2006, 12:31:28 AM
Actually, the movie version of Battlefield Earth is about half of the book.  The second half involves the cavemen buying the mortgage for Earth from a group of little grey alien bankers. 

There was only one Battlefield Earth.  The Mission Earth series was the 10 novel incredibly long drawn out brain cell killing work...


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Rombles on November 24, 2006, 04:27:06 AM
Me? I loved this movie.  But then I love crap.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Yaddo 42 on November 24, 2006, 06:19:08 AM
Point taken, sideorderofninjas, I had the title of the series wrong. That guy read them, not me.

I remember read that the film was only part of the book, but I didn't know if they meant it was a staright portion (like you pointed out) or a condensed version of the whole book's storyline like most adaptations.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Dr. Whom on November 24, 2006, 07:21:40 AM
  The second half involves the cavemen buying the mortgage for Earth from a group of little grey alien bankers. 



It is a good thing the film stopped when it did, then.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Jack on November 24, 2006, 09:11:52 AM
I guess I never understood why everyone singles out this movie for disdain.  Sure, it's bad, but not much worse than a lot of other stuff.  Is the caveman flying Harriers thing any more stupid than a little kid with zero experience getting in a fighter, flying to a space station, finding an open garage door (that all the professional fighter pilots seem to have missed), and behind that open garage door just happens to be the main reactor for the whole station?   Or how about letting a CGI donkey that talks baby talk participate in a Senate meeting?   The stupidity of Battlefield Earth almost plaes in comparison.



Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Flangepart on November 24, 2006, 12:21:14 PM
 :tongueout: Its MYSTERY SCIENCE!
Thats what i says, and wish Mike and the Bots had beaten this one black and blue...oh, and Gang-green, too.
I think the Evil Overlord Secret Sociaty had to use up a loooot of Evil Laughter credits to finish this load of dingos kidneys!


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Shadow on November 24, 2006, 12:34:17 PM
The Mission Earth series was the 10 novel incredibly long drawn out brain cell killing work...

Which I actually managed to plow through...somehow.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Yaddo 42 on November 24, 2006, 08:42:39 PM
I'm guessing the Scientology connection, and Hubbard's rep as a bad scifi writer made it easier to pick on this film. Travolta's boosterism of the film, ponying up money to finish it, and his uneven career just added to the venom. As they kept pointing out at the time, it was a years long labor of love for him to get this made, then the end result was seen.

This was not comedian Bill Murray wanting to remake The Razor's Edge in the 80s, making a lackluster film that flopped, and hurting his chances to branch out as a serious actor for years - this was a major star who had comeback several times slipping into another career slump that he really hasn't completely recovered from.

Lucas got a semi-pass since it had been so long since he had directed a film that people, especially fans who were too young during the first trilogy) forgot that he really is a weak storyteller beyond generating visuals and bombast. Also Phantom Menace made lots and lots of money, BE didn't. Success and profit cover and excuse a multitude of sins, even stupid plot holes and dumb storylines.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Dennis on November 24, 2006, 10:16:30 PM
I have read the book and watched the movie, the movie was ok, but just barely, I find that I can't watch it again, I know, I've tried. The book was one of those that starts out to be interesting and then just gets really strange. The basic idea, that radiation makes people stupid and that when you take away the radiation the stupids become smart enough not only to operate machinery but complicated alien technology, starships, defeat the biggest empire in the galaxy and then destroy their home world is really hard to take, but that's just the first half. In the second, an old guy who was near death all of a sudden is not only healthy, he is an expert on intergalatic law and can prove in intergalactic court that the surviving  earthlings now rule the empire and own everything in it.
 To me the last half of the book appeared to be a not so subtle pitch for the Church of Sciencetology and much to my embarassment I must admit that I read it all.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: sideorderofninjas on November 25, 2006, 12:20:24 AM

Don't known much about the Scientology connection.  Part in BE novel explains that the Psychlos were good but were taken oveby evil doctors called Caitrists.  Yes, Psychlo-Caitrists.  Another part tries to convince us that radiation in the medical field is bad and we can cure massive head wounds by thinking ourselves better. 

Quite a few jumped on the bandwagon to bash BE movie.  Sure, there has been quite a lot of venom directed at it.  I didn't get around to watching it until a couple of years after it had came out.  However, it still  is awfully bad.  Most of the 1950s sci-fi movies explained things far better. 

The movie version wouldn't have been so dumb had the script not been so close to the actual novel. 


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Dr. Whom on November 25, 2006, 04:39:21 AM
Psychlo-Caitrists  :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle:

The problem I have with the movie is not so much that it is silly as such. Some of my favorite movies are as silly as they come (I like Starcrash, remember). However Battlefield Earth is silly in a way that fails to entertain, mainly because it  takes itself so seriously. If it had been a fast paced swashbuckling adventure, I would have had no problem with cavemen in Harriers. It is the portentious messianistic tone of BE that clashes with the inherent silliness of the story.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Jim H on January 23, 2007, 01:47:34 PM
"The basic idea, that radiation makes people stupid and that when you take away the radiation the stupids"

What?  I don't know what you're talking about.  The radiation just kept the psychlos away, which is why humans lived in the wild only in areas with radiation at the beginning of the book.  It had nothing to do with their intelligence, though it did explain why so many people were born deformed in Johnny's village.

That said, the movie was pretty awful, but I found it marginally entertainingly awful, especially the over acting.  Nothing special though, really.

However, I quite enjoyed the book.  The book is serial like in its slam bang adventure-nature, and quite ludicrous at times, but I found it quite readable and very enjoyable.  Definetly needed a better editor though, as I feel the 1050 page paperback edition could have been trimmed down by over 100 pages.  Still, I liked the action scenes, I liked almost all the characters, and the story was quite entertaining in its pulpiness. 

It's not believable, but really...  The main character is named Johnnie Goodboy Tyler, who is a genius caveman warrior-diplomat.  Did you think it was going for realism?


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Bill C. on January 23, 2007, 05:03:18 PM
Battlefield Earth, the book...I didn't hate it, but when LRH busted out the Space Bankers...just...wow.

Battlefield Earth, the movie, now...it's bad.  Not catastrophically bad.  Not eye-gougingly WTF bad.  Just stupidly bad.  (This however does not include the curtain wipes.  George Lucas can do curtain wipes.  Roger Christian, you bastard, you can not do curtain wipes.)


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Torgo on January 23, 2007, 05:39:34 PM
this flick has more pointless slo-mo in it than a normal John Woo movie.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Bill C. on January 23, 2007, 06:28:01 PM
Yeah, but thanks to Michael Bay, the Wachowski Brothers, and John Woo pointless (and not so pointless) slo-mo was still in fashion when this film was made....


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Automan2000 on January 23, 2007, 10:18:48 PM
I just couldn't get past how thousand-year-old jet fuel worked perfectly fine and how the jets didn't fall apart after so many years without maintenance.

I mean when I leave gas in my mower over the winter it generally doesn't like to start in the spring.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Flangepart on January 24, 2007, 07:09:51 PM
You realise, of corse, this must go the TO DO list at Rifftrax?
If its not there already, that is...


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: Masked_Maverick on January 25, 2007, 02:22:12 PM
I've crapped better things than this film. I had to force myself to finish watching this movie. Back when I saw it I didn;t know it was a scientology fluff piece but now that I now it makes me want to stay as far away from this crappy movie as possible.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: That_Az_Guy on January 25, 2007, 07:11:08 PM
I thought that this movie was great because it was so poor. Even with the sometimes bad acting, plot holes (how are the barbarians speaking to eachother on the VTOL without any intercoms?) and the name of the hero (Johnny Goodboy, right?) the movie had plenty of moments that were memorable, such as the chase through the factory with no breathable Earth air and the whole knowledge machine bit or... OUR FRIEND THE BARTENDER! All leading to a head over the colony and a bomb in deep space. Man has overcome the alien invasion and thrown aside all difference! And the moral?

Leverage!

This film sets the record for the most time anyone has ever said "leverage" in a movie. The best thing is that it's a hand-for-a-hand in this film world and our now-friendly Psychlo gets to have the last words: "But at least you've finally got your gold."

Farewell to arms, John Travolta, from Stubby K.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: WingedSerpent on January 25, 2007, 11:07:26 PM
Probably won't get seen ecause I'm on the third page, but this is a true story . 

Couple of friends and me were in a book store just before this movie came out.  I noticed Hubbard's book and not knowing that the book came first mentioned that the movie could be spoiled because the novelization was already out.  A man overheard me and asked what book I was talking about.  I told him Battlefeild Earth and he said

"Do not read the book, it sucks. I know, I bought it twice"

I still laugh when I think about it.



Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: raj on January 31, 2007, 02:06:57 PM
I haven't seen the movie, though I did read the book.  I only got half way through it, that thing needed to be edited down by 50%, though otherwise it was enjoyable in a bad sci-fi way.  LRH either needed to make a 3 book series out of it (still with lots of editing) or just cut out the second half of the book and still edit lots. :buggedout:

I think there have only been 3-4 book that I have never gotten all the way through, and this is one of them.


Title: Re: Battlefield Earth
Post by: soundtransit on February 02, 2007, 02:25:15 AM
I will not attempt to watch this movie.  I might be exposed to the e-meter and have someone take my emgrams.  A hero by the name of Johnny B. Goode means a goofily bad movie. ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!