Battlefield Earth

Hold onto your cyclo-breathing apparatuses—this week on Bury Our Bones With Cinema, Ryan Etherington and Simon Keet take on the infamously disastrous sci-fi epic Battlefield Earth. Directed by Roger Christian and based on the novel by L. Ron Hubbard, this 2000 “masterpiece” is packed with tilted angles, questionable acting, and some of the most baffling choices in cinematic history.

 

Ryan and Simon wade through the cinematic wreckage, exploring how a movie starring John Travolta as a dreadlocked alien warlord could go so spectacularly wrong. Is it so bad it’s good, or is it just… bad? With sharp humor and unflinching honesty, the hosts dissect everything from the bizarre dialogue to the surprisingly earnest performances hiding under all the chaos.

 

As always, Jimmy Murphy brings his signature flair with original music and sketches that might just make this episode more entertaining than the movie itself.

 

Whether you’re revisiting this infamous cult oddity or experiencing it for the first time through Ryan and Simon’s sharp critiques, this episode is a hilarious, can’t-miss deep dive into one of cinema’s strangest offerings. “Man-animal,” you’ll want to tune in.