Dissecting the good parts of this film.
Seeing as the first time I saw this film was when I was a kid, I didn't take much notice of the HORRIBLE camera work or Barry Pepper's awful 'acting', but the film certainly stuck in my head for several reasons.
1. John Travolta makes a really fantastic villain, reminiscent of Gary Oldman's Zorg from The Fifth Element. A lot of his Terl character got reused as Charlie Wax in From Paris With Love. The "Our friendly bartender!" scene is perfect.
2. Some surprisingly good set design and makeup.
3. The "running while walls get blown up in slow-mo" scene. Not particularly mentally stimulating but EXPLOSION PRON!!!!
4. Fight choreography in the prison brawl is actually half-decent.
5. The scene where Tyler gets his breather confiscated is pretty tense.
On an unrelated note...
"Franchise Pictures was sued in 2004 by its German investors when it was
discovered that it had been inflating film budgets, including that of Battlefield Earth."
Anyone else see the irony that this is basically a plot point from within the film?