12 Movies That Were Dead On Arrival

On the one hand, it’s commendable how much John Travolta threw himself into this passion project. A dedicated Scientologist, he had dreamed of adapting founder L Ron Hubbard’s novel, and bided his time on the project until his career had revitalised itself sufficiently that his name could actually get something made.

On the other hand, there’s the film itself and everything about it. From the mangled plot (Hubbard was a more talented religion founder than he was a sci-fi writer) to the spirited but plain weird performances to the camp special effects, Battlefield Earth was only ever going to be a disaster. Critics and audiences knew this from the outset, and the film was an immediate joke, a watchword for ill advised, point pushing trash. That the film’s proposed profits may have been funnelled into the church was another issue (the church denied this, though the absence of profits rendered the point moot).

Leaving aside the very legitimate criticisms of Scientology in general, this is a classic example of a creative being far too close to a project to look at it through any remotely critical frame. Battlefield Earth cost Travolta a big chunk of cash, and gave a knock to his respectability from which he has never really recovered.