Posted on 03/28/2010 11:11:17 AM PDT by re_tail20
This month, "Battlefield Earth," the blockbuster bomb based on the novel by Sciento logy founder L. Ron Hubbard, won the Razzie for "Worst Movie of the Decade." J.D. Shapiro, the film's first screenwriter, accepted the award in person. Shapiro, who also wrote the screenplay for "Robin Hood: Men in Tights," "We Married Margo," and is developing a King Arthur spoof called "524 AD" (524AD.com), explains what it's like to be attached to one of Hollywood's most notorious flops.
Let me start by apologizing to anyone who went to see "Battlefield Earth."
It wasn't as I intended -- promise. No one sets out to make a train wreck. Actually, comparing it to a train wreck isn't really fair to train wrecks, because people actually want to watch those.
It started, as so many of my choices do, with my Willy Wonker. It was 1994, and I had read an article in Premiere magazine saying that the Celebrity Center, the Scientology epicenter in Los Angeles, was a great place to meet women.
Willy convinced me to go check it out. Touring the building, I didn't find any eligible women at first, but I did meet Karen Hollander, president of the center, who said she was a fan of "Robin Hood: Men in Tights." We ended up talking for over two hours. She told me why Scientology is so great. I told her that, when it comes to organized religion, anything a person does to reward, threaten and try to control people by using an unknown like the afterlife is dangerous.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Scientology building is for sale in my town. It has been deserted for years. Its a start.
You're supposed to reach an "End Point." I never did, but I was bored so I told them I had a vision of L. Ron. They said, "What did he say?" "Pull my finger," was my response. They said I was done.
Well, I enjoyed “Wild Hogs” lately...but I thing it was more *despite* the fact that Travolta was in it.
Battlefield Earth: 90 minutes of my life I still want back.
The problem w Battlefield Earth is not the story, it’s a bad film. Bad acting, directing. Stupid sets. OK, the story is dumb, also.
yo! don't be dissing a tromaville production.
check out this uber-classic movie the toxic avenger
The book was good. There was a lot of underlying humor, such as loan sharks. I also liked the way Keynes was treated. Everyone should still be mad at Keynes, excepting those who are truly mad (i.e., the entire democrat party).
For years, everybody practically begged me to watch that movie.
I finally tried, and I found it silly, childish, and an unwatchable bore.
I turned it off after about 30 minutes of painful viewing.
At least Travolta gets machine-gunned in Pulp Fiction.
I agree with you on that, but it's not fair to compare the two.
P9FOS had virtually no budget for scenery, writers, or actors. It looks like it was shot in a single day with a single camera (and it reads like the writers had the same time limit). Sure it sucked, but it's understandable with those kind of limitations.
OTOH, BE had the backing of the Church of Scientology, a $100 Million budget, and the services of some of Hollywood's biggest stars. It was based on a best-selling book. You should expect more, but the movie doesn't deliver.
Neither of these movies was made as a comedy but both are hilarious, BTW. I love Shapiro's vision of the aliens all wearing KISS boots and Bob Marley wigs!
If you have to pick the worst between the two, I pick BE hands down - because it had so much more potential (and missed it so badly).
“Plan 9 From Outer Space” LoL! A Classic!
‘e’s not dead, ‘e’s just resting!
It might just be that I hate Hubbard's writing style. Why say in ten words when you can stretch it out to a hundred? It felt like it had a novella's worth of a decent story stretched out to a very long novel.
“Get Shorty” was real good. The one where he played a renegade Air Force officer with Christian Slater as the protagonist was good too.
Some years ago I told a friend that it might be worth watching. He saw it and still castigates me for it. My biggest crime: I never actually saw the movie, the title intrigued me.
The reason I ever saw “Surf Nazis” was around 20 years ago I was in grad school. For the Summer I was rec director at a resort. Because I basically had nothing else to do, I got there around 10 days early. Fortunately there was one other guy who also got there early and he had a big box full of movies.
I had a VCR so he loaned me all I wanted to watch. That title sort of got my attention too. After watching it, I told him I now knew the answer if anyone ever asked me “what was the worst movie ever made”?
I trump you both with “Manos: The Hands of Fate.” Must be watched with our friends at Mystery Science Theater 3000 for the full effect.
No. The all time worst movie is Ramie, released July 1960. It is about a boy dreaming of catching a big fish-Old Moe-if I remember correctly. The ultimate in bad film.
Ramie=Raymie. Sorry.
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