Battlefield Earth - battle for the earth

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Movie
German title Battlefield Earth - battle for the earth
Original title Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2000
length 118 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Roger Christian
script Corey Mandell ,
JD Shapiro
production Jonathan D. Krane ,
Elie Samaha ,
John Travolta
music Elia Cmíral
camera Giles Nuttgens
cut Robin Russell
occupation
John Travolta at a promotional event for the film Battlefield Earth

Battlefield Earth (Original title: Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 ) is an American film from 2000 based on the novel Battle for Earth by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard . Directed by Roger Christian , the film was produced a. a. by John Travolta , who also played one of the leading roles.

The film has been rated by critics as one of the worst films of all time and is considered one of the biggest flops in film history. The excessive specification of the budget led to extensive judicial repercussions.

action

The earth is ruled in the year 3000 by aliens from the planet Psychlo, who conquered the entire planet in just nine minutes almost 1000 years ago and enslaved a large part of humanity. The rest, only with poor education, live widely scattered in primitive settlements and communities far removed from any civilization. The young Jonnie Goodboy Tyler sets off from such a settlement in the Rocky Mountains to find out the truth about the aliens, which have now been mystified as demons. He and his companion Carlo are captured by the aliens in a crumbling city. They are brought to a base of the aliens, in which many other people are already imprisoned, who eke out their existence there as work slaves.

Terl, the security chief of the Psychlos, a race of professional conquerors, exploiters and looters, has been transferred to earth as a punishment and wants to buy himself back from there by secretly exploiting gold supplies in an area of ​​the earth contaminated by the aliens. Due to Tyler's frequent escape attempts, he recognizes his intelligence and wants to make him a foreman. With a fast-learning machine, he provides him with a broad education and provides him with a team and an aircraft to mine gold effectively and quickly.

But Tyler plans an uprising against the Psychlos with his new knowledge and simply collects the gold secretly in Fort Knox , instead of laboriously mining it in the radioactive mountains. Tyler and his henchmen also find an underground military base with weapons, still working fighter jets and atomic bombs. They use the time saved to practice aerial combat with the help of flight simulators.

Finally, the rebels attack the base of the aliens, liberate and arm the people there and after a long fight they also destroy the glass, robust dome above them in Denver , killing most of the psychlos who cannot breathe in the earth's atmosphere. Tyler's group can use an alien teleportation device that wants to send summoned troops to suppress the uprising from their home planet, and shortly beforehand they transport an atom bomb to Psychlo instead, which sets the entire atmosphere on fire and thus wipes out the planet.

Terl survives and is being held alive by the humans to hold a precious hostage in case the aliens strike back from one of their many unknown bases. Terl is valuable as he bears a great debt of destruction Psychlos. His deputy Ker runs over to the people and teaches them psychlotechnology.

production

Battlefield Earth is the first film adaptation of a Hubbard novel. Soon after its publication in 1982, L. Ron Hubbard made plans public to want to film the book. In October 1983, the Scientology-related literary agency Author Services Inc. sold the film rights to Salem Productions, which wanted to film the material in two parts, each with a budget of 15 million dollars. Despite advanced preparatory measures, the project was never implemented.

At the same time, in response to Hubbard's efforts, the Scientologist John Travolta planned a film version of the book, but found no support from the major studios. Only through his success with Pulp Fiction was he able to increase his influence and gain comrades-in-arms.

After the film rights were initially sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Travolta's longtime manager Jonathan Krane signed a contract with 20th Century Fox in 1997 . But this deal, too, ultimately failed, as both studios had concerns about the risky project, which threatened to become expensive due to its massive reliance on special effects , while Hubbard's narrative was considered naive and outdated and his membership in Scientology was seen as a negative factor.

In 1998 the project was taken over by Franchise Pictures , whose CEO Elie Samaha had specialized in producing dream projects by renowned actors that had been rejected by larger studios at reduced costs. Travolta was hired as a co-producer at a reduced fee and contributed $ 5 million of his own fortune to the budget. The film was designed as an independent production for Morgan Creek Productions , which sold it on the basis of an existing distribution agreement through Warner Bros. in the USA.

Warner Bros. provided an estimated $ 20 million marketing budget.

Franchise Pictures retained the international distribution rights and gave the European rights in exchange for 47% of the production costs, which were shown at 75 million dollars, to Intertainment AG from Ismaning . That deal later became the subject of legal proceedings that resulted in Franchise Pictures going bankrupt.

Travolta and Krane took over the search for cast and staff and initially tried to win Quentin Tarantino as a director. When he refused, Roger Christian was hired in 1977 an Oscar as an art director for Star Wars had received and later second-unit director for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace was.

Travolta originally saw himself in the role of Tyler, but eventually felt too old for the hero role and took on the villain Terl.

Filming locations were Montreal and locations in Québec .

Reviews

Scientology controversy

In the run-up to the release of the film, there was speculation about possible subliminal messages that could spread Scientology ideas.

Warner Bros. dismissed these assumptions as "silly nonsense", Scientology called them "nonsense". A spokesperson for the movement described the parallels between the film's background and Scientology's beliefs as extremely vague: "To draw this comparison, one would have to make some significant logical leaps." John Travolta also stated that the film was not inspired by the teachings of Scientology.

reception

The film was almost unanimously rejected by the critics. For example, Paul Clinton ( CNN ) stated that the film was Travolta's baby from the start, but “not a pretty baby,” and that his attempt to create an epic masterpiece failed in almost every aspect. Instead, the film makes up for its "shortcomings in simple logic with its visibly unintentional, cheesy humor". Leonard Maltin criticized that "clumsy plot, misplaced satire, unbelievable coincidences and a leaden gait trample Travolta's bizarre but amusing performance."

Jonathan Ross simply said “everything about Battlefield Earth sucks” in the Daily Mirror , especially the music, dialogue and special effects; He also criticized "the beginning, the middle and especially the end".

The lexicon of international films judged: “A one-dimensional science fiction film that suffers from the dramaturgical defects of the script and the inability of its director” and considered it to be “a film that could be quickly forgotten, if not the silly one The appearance of the aliens would be remembered, who look like bad-tempered reggae fans. "

According to James Berardinelli, Battlefield Earth makes films like Supernova and Sphere - the power out of space - examples of coherence and is "completely boring".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times compared the film to a "bus ride with someone who has needed a bath for a long time". It's not just bad, it's viciously uncomfortable.

Thomas Brendel of the German online critic magazine moviemaze wrote that the film stumbles from one ridiculous embarrassment to the next and ultimately leaves the viewer angry. He also wondered "what must have been going on in the director's mind to make such a crude film".

Awards

Gross profit

The film is estimated to have grossed around $ 21 million at the US box office with a little under four million viewers and $ 8 million in the rest of the world. According to John Travolta, the film grossed a total of $ 100 million with cinema tickets, DVD sales and pay-per-view rights. Contrary to original plans, the film did not come to the cinemas in the German-speaking area and was only released on the video market on July 20, 2001 , synchronized by Thomas Danneberg , Tobias Meister , Gerrit Schmidt-Foss , Ulrike Stürzbecher , Boris Tessmann , Bernd Vollbrecht and others . In the rest of Europe, almost 900,000 cinema-goers saw the film, around 8,000 of them in Switzerland.

The film is much shorter than the novel and only covers about the first half of the book. The participation of Pepper and Krane in a planned sequel was already set out in their contracts for the first part and Mandell was commissioned with a new script. However, Travolta stated in an interview in 2001 that there would be no sequel.

Budget fraud

In December 2000, Intertainment AG sued the production company Franchise Pictures, its CEO Elie Samaha and the franchise COO Andrew Stevens, who also worked as executive producer of the film, as well as several subsidiaries because they ran into the budget of several films, including Battlefield Earth , No half measures and Get Carter - The Truth Hurts , allegedly fraudulently stating too high a stake to steal a higher stake from Intertainment. The case was heard in a federal court in Santa Ana in June 2004 , which, after viewing the accounts of Franchise Pictures, came to the conclusion that the actual production costs for Battlefield Earth were only 44 instead of the stated 75 million dollars, so Intertainment was about 80% instead of financing 47% of the film as agreed. Intertainment CEO Rüdiger "Barry" Baeres told the court that he Battlefield Earth had only financed because it a package deal was part of which, inter alia, Wesley Snipes ' The Art of War and Bruce Willis ' The Whole Nine Yards included .

Intertainment won the lawsuit and was awarded $ 77.1 million in damages, while HypoVereinsbank was awarded another 40 million dollars. Samaha was personally held responsible for the damage and fined an additional four million dollars. The 17 other defendants had to pay $ 25 million in punitive damages . Intertainments request for treatment under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act , which would have tripled the amount of damages, was rejected.

With interest of 15.6 million dollars, for which all defendants are jointly and severally liable as well as for damages, Intertainment's claims add up to 121.7 million dollars. Immediately after the judgment was delivered, Franchise Pictures and nearly all of the subsidiaries convicted in the proceedings filed for bankruptcy.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Golden Raspberry Award Foundation and John Wilson: It's Official: 'BATTLEFIELD EARTH' Is Tied With 'SHOWGIRLS' as RAZZIES 'All-Time WORST! ( Memento from January 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b c James Parish: Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops . Wiley, 2007, pp. 275-291, ISBN 0-470-09829-5
  3. ↑ a b Intertainment wins damages litigation in the USA . Press release Intertainment, June 17, 2004
  4. ↑ a b c Martin Paetsch: Sect propaganda from the upper alien? Spiegel Online , May 15, 2000
  5. ^ Press release Author Services Inc., Business Wire , October 14, 1983
  6. ^ Glenn Whipp: The Battle For "Earth": Travolta's Scientology Ties Raise Controversy Over New Film , Los Angeles Daily News, May 12, 2000
  7. ^ A b c Frank Nordhausen, Thomas Schuler: John Travolta brings a novel by the Scientology founder into the cinemas . In: Berliner Zeitung , April 6, 2000
  8. ↑ a b Lynn Hirschberg: The Samaha Formula for Hollywood Success . In: The New York Times , May 14, 2000
  9. ↑ Benedict Carver: Christian to direct Travolta in “Earth” ( Memento from February 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Variety , January 14, 1999
  10. ^ Science Friction . In: The Herald Sun , April 12, 2006
  11. ↑ a b Janet Shprintz: Legal eagle says Eli fudged budgets , Variety, May 10, 2004
  12. ↑ Intertainment also puts Imperial Bank on the list of suspects in the $ 75 million fraud case against Franchise Pictures . Press release Intertainment, February 21, 2001
  13. ^ Battlefield Earth - The Movie ( Memento from May 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Author Services Inc.
  14. ↑ Duncan Campbell: Cult classic , The Guardian , May 31, 2000
  15. ^ Battlefield May Be Over Profit . In: South Florida Sun-Sentinel , Tribune Media Services, p. 32, February 25, 2000
  16. ^ Grace Bradberry: Travolta's faith in the movies ( February 18, 2005 memento in the Internet Archive ) , The Times , February 19, 2000
  17. ↑ Battlefield Earth - Battle for Earth at Metacritic (English)
  18. ↑ Battlefield Earth - Battle for Earth at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
  19. ^ Paul Clinton : Review: Logic loses in 'Battlefield Earth . CNN
  20. ^ Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide . 2004 edition. Penguin Group, 2003, ISBN 0-451-20940-0 , p. 91
  21. ↑ Jonathan Ross : What does Travolta think he's doing? He looks like an over-stuffed, dreadlocked, Cabbage Patch Doll . In: The Daily Mirror , June 2, 2000
  22. Jump up ↑ Battlefield Earth. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  23. ^ Battlefield Earth - A Film Review by James Berardinelli
  24. ^ Roger Ebert : Battlefield Earth . In: Chicago Sun-Times
  25. ↑ Golden Raspberry Award Foundation and John Wilson: All-Time Cham-peens (As of 25th Annual RAZZIE Awards)
  26. ↑ John Wilson and The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation: Eddie & Lindsay Both Achieve Trifectas of Trash, Lohan's KILLED ME Cops New RAZZIE® Record ( Memento from February 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  27. ↑ Razzie Awards: 2010 IMDb
  28. ↑ Negative Oscar . Spiegel Online ; Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  29. ^ Box Office Mojo
  30. ↑ a b Cindy Pearlman: We're safe: Travolta promises no "Battlefield" sequel , Post-Tribune, p. A2, June 15, 2001
  31. ↑ Premiere dates . Internet Movie Database , accessed May 22, 2015 .
  32. Jump up ↑ Battlefield Earth. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 2, 2017 .
  33. ↑ Lumiere
  34. ↑ Zorianna Kit: "Earth" Is Bound For 2nd Chapter. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; accessed on November 24, 2019 .  ( No longer available , web archive search )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / business.highbeam.com , The Hollywood Reporter, January 6, 2000
  35. ↑ Laura Randall: Franchise, Intertainment duel ( Memento from January 25, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), The Hollywood Reporter , December 22, 2000
  36. ↑ Intertainment: Fights with lawsuits and flops . In: Manager Magazin , January 19, 2001
  37. ↑ Janet Shprintz: Samaha Slammed , Variety, June 16, 2004
  38. ↑ Janet Shprintz, 'Judge affirms ruling; Samaha will appeal ( Memento from February 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) , Variety, August 17, 2004
  39. ↑ Jury also grants "Punitive Damages" in the amount of 29 million dollars . Press release Intertainment, June 19, 2004
  40. ↑ There is a final judgment in the franchise process . Press release Intertainment, August 19, 2004
  41. ↑ Franchise Pictures and subsidiaries file for bankruptcy . Press release Intertainment, August 20, 2004