Quentin Tarantino Called John Travolta’s Sci-Fi Flop “Amazing Stuff” & No One Still Gets It
Travolta’s passion project turned out to be the worst his career has ever seen, though it still inspired Tarantino to consider something similar (thank God he didn’t).
It’s no secret that Quentin Tarantino has a quirky taste when it comes to movies and TV shows, but his love confessions for outright horrible movies have never stopped shocking millions across the world.
It seems like, having grown up with collections of movies recorded on tapes, Tarantino has seen pretty much everything, including those films that some couldn’t even finish after giving them a chance.
It’s also the case for John Travolta’s 2000 disastrous sci-fi thriller that not only impressed Tarantino (unlike everyone else), but also prompted him to think about doing something similar in his own career.
‘Battlefield Earth’ Director Says Tarantino Called His Movie “Amazing Stuff”
Led by John Travolta who was also the one to pitch the idea for the film back in the day, Battlefield Earth had quite few admirers to say it mildly, but somehow Tarantino ended up among them — what’s even more striking, on par with Star Wars’ George Lucas.
“Travolta and I took it to the ranch, and we showed George [Lucas] and 300 of the ILM people and everybody. They loved it”, the movie’s director Roger Christian once revealed in an interview with Den of Geek several years after Battlefield Earth’s release.
He then added that Quentin Tarantino had shown up at the movie’s premiere and sat alongside Christian in the audience, later offering all praise possible for what many thought was the worst movie of the year.
“He hugged me afterwards and said, ‘This is what I want to write. This is amazing stuff. You’re gonna be killed, all of you. But I just loved this film. Wait ten, 12 years, it’ll all come around’”, Christian stated.
Only One ‘Battlefield Earth’ Cast Member Defended the Movie (It’s Not John Travolta)
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On Rotten Tomatoes, Battlefield Earth has scores of 3% and 13% from critics and viewers
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On IMDb, the movie is rated 2.5/10
Despite Travolta literally being behind the whole idea and coming on board as one of producers as well, he seemingly went into hiding when Battlefield Earth’s premiere turned into a pure catastrophe.
However, Travolta’s co-star Kim Coates, who in the film portrayed a hunter named Carlo, was the only one to have doubts about critics’ opinion.
He said that in the end, the movie couldn’t be just as bad as it was described in the media.
“The press was all over it early. They wanted to crush it. John Travolta was on a high; they didn’t want to get too high. That’s what the press does. They find something, and they freaking stick a knife in it right away”, Coates suggested in an interview with Far Out just several months ago.
