Movie Night: Battlefield Earth.

Review #704: Battlefield Earth.

Cast
John Travolta (Terl), Barry Pepper (Jonnie Goodboy Tyler), Forest Whitaker (Ker), Kim Coates (Carlo), Sabine Karsenti (Chrissy), Richard Tyson (Robert the Fox), and Kelly Preston (Chirk) Directed by Roger Christian.

Review
I tempted fate. All I had to say was 'dutch angle', and this is the result. A whole movie with dutch angles. You might be wondering why I mention this after reviewing a movie I liked with dutch angles. Because this one is just terrible. Apparently the angles were put in the movie to give it more of a comic book feel...but the angles seem more pretentiously put there to make the movie seem less terrible, but it only makes it worse. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, this movie. It's awful. Tremendously. Exceptionally. Dutifully. I can't decide what is worse: John Travolta's performance or the inane script. Actually, I think both are equally drivel. So I am to understand that this is supposed to be like Star Wars? Because it seems more like The Phantom Menace's immature cousin instead. I do wonder how the human race in this movie managed to lose the invasion in a matter of minutes to such silly aliens such as these. I realize why Terl decided to educate Pepper's character (to be the foreman for the mine), but that doesn't mean I can't make fun of the fact that he basically signed his death notice by doing that. I have no idea how Whitaker got signed onto this movie, though at least he won an Oscar years after this train wreck, so he has that going for him. At least the movie did one thing right. It won Golden Raspberry Awards. Seven of them, in fact. The movie couldn't even make its budget back, but it at least won a bunch of awards, which I'm sure Travolta is proud of. Actually, this is one of those movie everyone would like to forget. I can't decide whether to give it a 0/10 stars...or a negative rating. But then I realized that it would be an insult to the three zero star movies (Birdemic, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie & The Magic Voyage), and I need to keep my reputation.

I end this review with a line that I'm sure was meant to be taken seriously.
"While you were still learning how to spell your name, I was being trained to conquer galaxies!"

Overall, I give it 0 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: The Babe.

Review #389: The Babe.

Cast
John Goodman (Babe Ruth), Kelly McGillis (Claire Hodgson Ruth), Trini Alvarado (Helen Woodford Ruth), Bruce Boxleitner (Jumpin' Joe Dugan), Peter Donat (Harry Frazee), James Cromwell (Brother Mathias), J. C. Quinn (Jack Dunn), Joe Ragno (Miller Huggins), Richard Tyson (Guy Bush), Ralph Marrero (Ping Bodie), Bob Swan (George Herman Ruth Sr.), and Bernard Kates (Colonel Jacob Ruppert) Directed by Arthur Hiller.

Review
This film is loosely based off the life of George "Babe" Ruth, and when I say loosely, I mean really loosely. While John Goodman sounds like a good choice for Babe Ruth, he doesn't give Ruth much likability. Ruth comes off more as a unlikable belligerent player then someone to root for. The baseball scenes are alright, even if half of it is just baseballs going off the wall. The accuracy...is not even close. Ruth wasn't just a home run hitter, for the first few years of his career, he was a pitcher, which in the film is barely even mentioned. This film probably has more myths included than actual facts, and combined with the general lack of enjoyability / laughs from John Goodman (who can be funny), who seems weighed down from the script, which in effect drags the character. The rest of the actors are overshadowed, which I suppose makes sense given the title being "The Babe", but a little bit more memorability would have helped. Overall, this film is plagued by inaccuracies so easy to find that there are sites dedicated to pointing those out, the acting is mediocre save for Goodman who tries his best, and the nail in the film's coffin is the general lack of fun. The film could be fun for some, but sometimes it's a little awkward and sometimes mean spirited. It's a disappointment that this fizzles, presumably into obscurity. Rather than being a home run, it's a strikeout.

Overall, I give it 3 out of 10 stars.