Somewhere behind those bedraggled nose tubes, that ugly snarl, and that greasy hair exists John Travolta - the same suave, sophisticated actor who'd once charmed the pants off anyone in a 50 mile radius. But here as Terl - the antagonist of the unholy shambles that is Battlefield Earth - his winning smile is buried underneath a dirty goatee, and his charm is exiled to the far, grubby corners of the galaxy. It's true that the star could have picked worse films to give his absolute worst performance as an actor, as at least here he's partly masked by a tonne of fungus-laden makeup that looks decades past its expiry date. Even in a movie that resembles an intergalactic garbage site, the character of Terl remains horrific to look at or listen to, an enemy who is stupid, pathetic, and quite simply ridiculous. Nobody from Battlefield Earth emerges unscathed, including the talented Forest Whittaker, but Travolta remains utterly committed to his role as Terl, a character that no actor in the world could make the slightest bit appealing. The undisputed 'winner' of all-time bad performances, Travolta's role unsurprisingly earned him a Razzie Award for Worst Actor, and Battlefield Earth remains the most cringeworthy credit on the star's wildly scattered filmography. Do you agree? Are these the best and worst performances of John Travolta's career? Let us know in the comments below.
