"...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! 
  

 

Get your copy now nationwide wherever DVDs are sold!
Battlefield Earth DVD 
($19.98--Warner Home Video)

"BATTLEFIELD EARTH" DVD REVIEW
By Dr. John L. Flynn

  One of the truly epic science fiction films of recent memory has finally been 
released as a special edition DVD from Warner Home Video, and genre fans who may 
have missed the motion picture during its theatrical run as well as those who enjoyed it 
the first (or second or third) time around are in for a real treat. "Battlefield Earth," based 
on the best-selling science fiction novel by L. Ron Hubbard, is not only a rousing, action-
packed, sci-fi adventure which evokes the best of "Star Wars," "Independence Day," and 
"Braveheart," but also one of the finest special editions ever produced for the home video 
market. Loaded with commentaries (by Director Roger Christian and Production 
Designer Patrick Tatopolous), behind-the-scenes features, storyboards, theatrical trailers, 
TV spots, cast and crew bios, and lots more, this DVD release gives new meaning to the 
term "special edition," and raises the bar up a notch for future DVD offerings. This 
exciting tale of heroes and larger than life villains, against the backdrop of extremely cool 
special effects and edge of your seat action, is a must-own for anyone building their own 
video library.

  Set in the year 3000, Earth has been conquered for its natural resources by a 
ruthless group of aliens known as the Psychlos. Most humans were killed or caged as 
animals during the short, one-sided war centuries earlier, and those who are left live as 
veritable cave dwellers. They have no remembrance of that apocalyptic war or the 
forgotten world they left behind. To them, the Psychlos are "gods" they glimpse in their 
evil-looking flying machines, and the ancient cities, overgrown with vegetation and the 
buildings falling into ruin, are forbidden places to go. So, the humans continue to hide 
out in the radiation zones, while the Psychlos, led by the sadistic security chief Terl 
(played by John Travolta), hunt them down to extinction. (The Psychlos also enjoy 
cheating and spying on each other almost as much as they enjoy killing and enslaving 
humans.) Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (played by Barry Pepper), captured as a man-animal, 
refuses to be Terl's obedient servant, and unites fellow captives in a desperate attempt to 
regain their freedom. The others in the cast include Forest Whitaker as Travolta's devious 
but dim-witted assistant Ker; Kelly Preston as Terl's sexy, Psychlo love interest, and Kim 
Coates as Carlo, Jonnie's foil, comic-relief and best friend. 

  "Battlefield Earth" looks like a big-budget summer epic with money to burn and a 
scale worthy of "Star Wars" and its other Hollywood predecessors, but in fact the film 
was made with the very modest budget of $22 million (production and effects). Director 
Roger Christian, who won an Academy Award for his Art Direction on the original "Star 
Wars," came to the project shortly after directing the second unit on "The Phantom 
Menace," and actually surprised his former boss George Lucas with his economical use 
of talent, production design, and special effects. Christian's rousing and action-packed 
saga, which is filled with humor, adventure, and fun, takes movie-goers to a world they 
have never seen before—a world in which man has become an endangered species—via 
some innovative special effects. While not as fluid as the computer-generated images of 
"Titanic," it is an impressive achievement that recalls the best work of "Planet of the 
Apes," "Blade Runner," and "2001: A Space Odyssey." Tatopolous's production design 
is incredibly detailed, and makes you believe that this is the war-torn world of 3000 A.D. 
When you're not marveling at the eye-popping special effects or set design, you'll 
probably be marveling at the performance of John Travolta. Starring as the Psychlo 
Security Chief Terl, Travolta firmly cements his star status both in terms of screen 
presence and acting chops. Forget Tony Manero from "Saturday Night Fever." Here, 
Travolta plays one of the screen's great villains, with equal parts of Shakespeare's Iago 
and George Lucas's Darth Vader. Terl's underhanded interaction with Ker (Forest 
Whitaker) serves as a microcosm for the Psychlo's own faux-Machiavellian machinations 
of death, betrayal, power plays, and secret identities (with lots of faux-Machiavellian 
dialogue ladled on to keep the proceedings appropriately "classical"), but it's all briskly 
shot, edited, and paced with a contemporary sensibility. 

  The artistry behind "Battlefield Earth" is most apparent as well, from the very 
first scenes through the last reel of the motion picture. I have already mentioned the 
film's wonderful production design, but beyond the matte paintings and large-scale sets, 
there's a true artistry to how the motion picture was composed. Roger Christian creates a 
wonderful metaphor using the simple contrast of light and darkness in the composition of 
scenes. This is especially apparent in the special edition DVD, where the light is 
perfectly balanced and the image superbly clear. For example, when we first meet Jonnie, 
the primitive protagonist, his scenes are filmed with the warmth of sunlight glinting off 
rugged mountains and green pastures. Later, when he allies himself with other primitives, 
the scenes are again in bright light, showing in a metaphorical sense how important and 
essential it is to band together against the hostile aliens. Even the gold in Fort Knox 
glows with a very warm light. Those scenes are contrasted against darker ones that show 
the Psychlo homeworld and the dome-city that they have made out of old Denver. The 
scenes are very dark, filmed with cold blue and dark green textures...you can almost feel 
the claustrophobia, death, and destruction in those sequences. The Psychlos are dark, 
dastardly aliens who have enslaved humanity and are strip-mining the planet, and what 
better way to portray this agenda than with the play of shadow and light. Similarly, the 
wipes, dissolves and transitions between scenes are handled with an artistry that I haven't 
seen in motion pictures in years; in fact, I can't recall the use of such dissolves unless I go 
all the way back to the original 1977 "Star Wars," and the editors on that film won an 
Academy Award for their work. In "Battlefield Earth," the transitions between the 
different scenes move the story forward like pages turning in a novel...and this artistic 
texture reinforces the story's literary heritage.

  In addition to the film, which looks superb and sounds sensational on DVD, the 
special edition offers a wide array of extra materials that will enhance your enjoyment 
and appreciation for "Battlefield Earth." Roger Christian, Patrick Tatopolous, the 
producers and the staff who have created a true labor of love by selecting and arranging 
all of the extras in this DVD release. From the main menu, which is very easy to use and 
takes you seamlessly from one feature to the next, you can select not one but three 
different documentaries about various aspects of the film's production. "Evolution and 
Creation" is the best of the three in that it takes the viewer behind the scenes during the 
actual shooting of the film, and details the work of Travolta, Christian, Tatopolous, and 
other members of the cast and crew. Then there's short feature about John Travolta's 
alien makeup and costume design. Most revealing is the fact that during the early stages 
of the production Travolta's makeup/costume didn't work, and the crew was forced to 
work around the clock to find solutions so the production's shooting schedule didn't fall 
behind. And finally, there's another short feature about the creative visual effects. This 
documentary, which features Tatopolous and his special effects crew, is highly technical 
and extremely informative, and alone worth the price of the DVD. Most fans never get to 
see this kind of detail.

  Besides the three documentary features, the special edition DVD has a storyboard 
montage that intercuts actual storyboards from the production with sequences from the 
movie and the music score. Most special edition DVDs merely show viewers the layout 
of the storyboard in pictures; these showcases tend to be very static, and not particularly 
interesting; it takes really ardent fans to go back to this material for a second or third 
viewing. However, the way that the storyboard montage has been assembled (with actual 
clips and music) is very dynamic, like a music video. Fans will feel compelled to watch 
this montage again and again. Similarly, the handful of theatrical trailers and TV spots 
are fun viewing over and over again.

  The special edition also offers stills and biographies of the cast and crew, web 
links and other additional enhancements for DVD-ROMs, several language choices (but 
regrettably not Psychlo) and subtitles, and a few hidden video features. But by far the 
best part of the DVD is the dual-layered commentary by Roger Christian and Patrick 
Tatopolous. Nothing compares to eavesdropping on a conversation between two of the 
key filmmakers (the director and the production designer) as they discuss various aspects 
of the production while we watch the film with them. It is clear from their commentary 
that they wanted to make "Battlefield Earth" a fun movie that was both thoughtful and 
inspirational for science fiction fans. They not only talk about the motion picture in 
technical terms but also reveal their true love for the science fiction genre. For instance, 
Christian divulges how his love of comic books led him to shoot certain scenes with 
dutched camera angles. At another point in the extended commentary, both he and 
Tatopolous disclose how the cast and crew were attacked by monstrous black flies while 
filming a key sequence in the beautiful mountains of Quebec. Rarely (if ever) has this 
type of dual-layered commentary been done better.

  Every once in a while a motion picture does something so extraordinary, it makes 
you desperate for more. You sit on the edge of your seat the entire film biting your nails 
while you are lost in the plot, the special effects, and the action-adventure. "Battlefield  
Earth" is one of those movies. When the motion picture first debuted in theatres last 
May, I laughed and cheered and cried and clapped, and enjoyed every moment and every 
aspect of the production from beginning to end. But I was among a select few science 
fiction fans who got to enjoy the film in theatres. For reasons totally unrelated to the 
production, critics trashed this saga of alien conquest and human rebellion during its 
theatrical run, and chased many fans away with their hateful and denigrating remarks. 
They completely ignored or missed the film's true artistry and fun. Now that the film is 
available as a special edition DVD fans can finally enjoy that artistry and fun! They can 
also see for themselves what a largely misunderstood work of true genius "Battlefield 
Earth" really is. I know that when I watched the special edition DVD on my home video 
system I experienced all of the emotions of laughing, cheering, crying, and clapping 
again, and enjoyed the film from beginning to end. Experience the movie for yourself, 
and you'll see what I mean.

  (Dr. John Flynn is a widely-published authority on science fiction films and the author of five books, including "Future Threads," "Phantoms of the Opera," and "Dissecting Aliens." A member of the Science Fiction Writers of American, and frequent guest speaker at the World Science Fiction Convention, he teaches science fiction writing at Towson University in Maryland.)

"BATTLEFIELD EARTH" DVD REVIEW
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.)