| It is the year
3000. Earth is under the control of a mean, nasty and greedy
race of aliens know as the Psychlos. They live inside of a dome
which covers the bombed out remains of Denver, Colorado. Mankind has been all but wiped out.
Some remaining humans are
enslaved by the Psychlos to perform manual labor. Terl (John
Travolta) is the Psychlos Security Chief. With the help of his
assistant Ker (Forest Whitaker) they keep the remaining human population in check.
At the same time, Terl and Ker are constantly undermining their
employer and each other. They are both plotting to gain the most profit
and power from
their mining operation on earth.
Some humans live far away from
the Psychlos. They live very primitively in caves out in the wilderness.
It is from here where the movie's hero comes from. Jonnie
Goodboy Tyler (Barry Pepper) belongs to a tribe of humans who know
little about the alien invaders and even less about the history
of earth. In Jonnie's search for answers to the mysteries of the
world he is captured by the Psychlos. The Psychlo Terl schemes
to make more profits on Earth by making human slaves do
complex work. To accomplish this he teaches the rebellious slave Jonnie how to
speak the aliens language and use their advanced technology.
A
battle of wits begins between the two adversaries. Terl
tries to keep Jonnie in check and use him to supervise the
humans. Jonnie uses his new found knowledge to plot
against the Psychlos with the help of his fellow human
slaves. The plot builds up to a battle (hence the title)
between humans and the Psychlo invaders.
Battlefield Earth moves along
at a very quick pace. A little too quickly. There is no
time given to get to know the characters. I never really
got to feel much emotion for the humans involved. Several human
characters including Jonnie's love interest Chrissie (Sabine
Karsenti) are only there to move the plot along. At the
same time I didn't feel any real contempt for the Psychlos who
reminded me of a cross between Star Trek's Klingon and
Ferengie races. Director Roger Christian does a good job of
creating the look and feel of Earth in the year 3000. Between
the costumes, sets and some really nice special effects the film
is full of eye candy.
A lot will be said about
Travolta's portrayal of Terl the sinister Psychlo.
Travolta plays the role over the top. Too far over the top for
me. Overacting at every turn. I did like his maniacal
laugh though. Barry Pepper gives a solid performance as
the stoic rebel leader. I would like to see him in other
lead roles. As usual, Forest Whitaker gives us a another
good performance as Terl's disgruntled underling.
Having never read the L. Ron
Hubbard book Battlefield Earth. I had no preconceptions of
what kind of story to expect from the founder of
Scientology. The film is yet another take on a familiar
story. We have seen human underdogs battle the aliens in War
of The Worlds, Independence Day and the TV mini-series
"V" to name a few. With all of the action
and special effects thrown into Battlefield Earth, young
audiences will find it appealing. Hardcore SciFi fans may like
it as well. Older audiences will only find it mildly
interesting.
RATING  1/2
Reviewed by Eugene Accardo
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