10 Actors Who Didn't Realise They Were In Crap Films

4. John Travolta - Battlefield: Earth

John Travolta described Battlefield: Earth as "the Schindler's List of science fiction". And the two films do share some key elements. Both films boast a distinct shooting style that's never broken (Spielberg had monochrome with the odd dash of red, Battlefield: Earth had relentless Dutch angles interspersed with the odd level image) and boy was Battlefield: Earth depressing; the career comeback Travolta had pulled off less than a decade earlier had been undone in one fell swoop. We imagine Travolta wasn't meaning those trivial comparisons and rather stating grand claims about his long gestating passion project, an adaptation of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's science fiction novel. Being a Scientologist himself, he was clearly blinded to the terrible movie he was producing and staring in. On a basic level Battlefield: Earth is a poorly made film, boasting nauseating cinematography, unconvincing makeup and visual effects and, contrary to Travolta's claims, a terrible script. It looks like a seventies sci-fi throwback, which only makes it more embarrassing; it was clearly trying to hold its own against modern hits. We don't know if the other actors knew how bad the movie they were in was going to turn out, but we bet they were a damn sight more aware than ol' Danny Zuko.
Contributor
Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.