"...great scene transitions and some of the better special effects of the year...the film was fast, furious and just a good ol' time at theaters." 
--Joblo's Movie Emporium

   Loaded with edge-of-your-seat action and extremely cool special effects, Battlefield Earth creates a totally new style of science fiction filmmaking.

   Earth: It is the year 3000. Man is an endangered species. This original and innovative saga of alien conquest and human rebellion is filled with humor, adventure and jeopardy, mixed with special effects that are completely real,combined together for an explosive and highly entertaining movie that will leave you exhausted!

   In a role as you've never seen him, John Travolta stars as the cruelly destructive Terl (alien security chief of Earth); Barry Pepper is Earth's fiery rebel leader, Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, and Forest Whitaker as Terl's hilarious and deceptive assistant, Ker.

Special Features:

• Commentaries by Director Roger Christian and Production Designer Patrick Tatopolous
  
• Behind the Scenes documentary "Evolution & Creation"
  
• John Travolta's alien makeup test feature
  
• Creative Visual Effects feature
  
• Storyboard montage
  
• Theatrical trailers and TV spots
  
• Cast and crew bios
  
• Web links
  
• Languages & subtitles: English and French (dubbed in Quebec)
  
• Look for hidden video features! 
  

 

January 2001 Release of
Battlefield Earth DVD 
($19.98--Warner Home Video)

Reviewed by Brad Linaweaver

   With the DVD release of Battlefield Earth an epic science fiction film reaches a larger audience. Excoriated by critics during its theatrical run, this exciting story of heroes and monsters was not seen by everyone who would naturally connect with the film. Now Warner Home Video offers a DVD that is truly a labor of love and a collector's item. For those who missed it in theaters, this is the perfect way to encounter the world of 3000 A..D! 

   Roger Christian (the director) and Patrick Tatopoulos (production, costume and creature design) discuss various aspects of the production in their commentary. They also communicate what a thrill it was to make the film. 

   For example, even discomfort and inconvenience became part of the adventure.
On location in the beautiful mountains of Quebec, the cast and crew were attacked by black flies that take a lump of flesh off their victims and eat it later. Here were monsters worthy of a scene from  L. Ron Hubbard's critically acclaimed novel, Battlefield Earth, on which the film was based. So when the weather turned bitterly cold no one complained. It was too frigid for the flesh-eating flies! 

   Picture quality on the DVD is superb. The viewer can really appreciate the choice of colors to accentuate the moods for different scenes: blue-gray for the Nazi-like Psychlos and purple for their home planet; sickly yellow light for scenes on Earth near the alien domes and green for the drab prison complex at feeding time. 

   This Special Edition offers a feast on its menu. The Storyboard Montage is a work of art. Instead of the usual layout of pictures, the storyboards are inter-cut with clips while a pumped up music score makes you feel like you're back in the action. Whether it's behind the scenes with John Travolta's make-up tests or taking the viewer right on the set with Barry Pepper and Forest Whitaker doing their stuff before the weird lighting and sound effects are added, this DVD delivers the goods. 

   The menu also offers theatrical trailers and TV spots, stills and bios on the cast and crew, and a mini-documentary on the making of the film. But nothing else compares to listening in on the conversation between Christian and Tatopoulos as they watch the movie with us. This is one of the best features of DVD's, this option of playing the show over and listening to the filmmakers. It has never been done better. 

   About the only thing missing is that among the foreign language options there is no Psychlo track. 

   It's actually hard to believe that a film on this scale was made for only $22 million (production and effects). No wonder that George Lucas wondered how Roger Christian pulled off the miracle of so many well-integrated effects. As art director on the original Star Wars and second unit director on Phantom Menace, Roger Christian was prepared for a project he calls an "epic, mythic journey." 

   As a Buddhist, Roger Christian was attracted to the story for how it contrasts archetypes of good and evil in an "industrial hell" and a "metaphor for the world." For all the entertainment out there that portray violence between warring gangsters, it's always a relief to find a story where the battle is over values and you can actually tell the good guys from the bad guys.

   (Brad Linaweaver is the award-winning author of Moon of Ice, Sliders: The Novel and over seventy short stories. A science fiction writer and critic for twenty years, he co-wrote the best-selling Doom novels and has been a reviewer in publications as diverse as National Review, The Atlanta Journal & Constitution and a half dozen movie magazines.)