Drudge.

The cast in BATTLEFIELD EARTH has a tremendous depth of talent and skill. However, the plot of the movie is so convoluted, that all their talent is wasted. Nevertheless, sometimes even with a terrible script filled with plot holes and nonsense, a decent film can be made if all the actors are on the same track. Unfortunately, none of the actors seemed to know what to make of this movie. For most of the film, John Travolta appears to act like he knows this film is going to be pure camp. Yet, there are times when his performance takes a "serious" turn. That combined with the fact that this was his little pet project (one that he helped produce) makes one wonder if he actually realized how campy this film was going to be.

There are no doubts what Barry Pepper and Forest Whitaker were up to. Pepper pulls off quite a believable performance as Jonnie, the human who saves the Earth. Pepper seemed to think his role (and the movie) should be taken seriously. After all, even the films with the worst dialogue and plot can be improved with good acting. On the other hand, Whitaker acts as though he knew the film was pure camp and seemed to have a lot of fun making the movie.

Therein lies the problem with the film, the movie can't decide if it wanted to be taken at least somewhat seriously or if it wanted to become a campy classic.Such a shame.