After Jonnie stages an unsuccessful escape attempt, Terl takes him to the Denver Library hoping to impress him that human knowledge is no match for the Psychlos.

[11] Veteran screenwriter Abraham Polonsky and British director Ken Annakin were hired to produce a film breakdown, with production scheduled to begin in 1985.

[11] A 30-foot (10 m) high inflatable figure of the film's villain,[13] Terl, was erected by Scientology officials on Hollywood Boulevard in 1984 in an effort to promote the production, and auditions were held in Denver.

[24] Shapiro was eventually fired because he refused to accept some suggestions from the studio producers that changed the tone of his script, including removing key scenes and characters.

[8][26] James Robert Parish, author of Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops, comments that both MGM and Fox regarded the project as too risky on several grounds:[8] its heavy reliance on special effects would be very expensive, pushing the budget up to as much as $100 million; Hubbard's narrative was seen as naive and outdated; and the "Scientology factor" could work against the film, negating Travolta's star power.

[28] His unorthodox deals raised eyebrows and the entertainment industry magazine Variety commented that they were "often so complex and variable as to leave outsiders scratching their heads".

[34] It was reported that the merchandising revenues would be passed on to the Scientology-linked groups Narconon, a drug rehabilitation program, and Applied Scholastics, which promotes Hubbard's study tech.

Mean's staffers changed the script's title to "Dark Forces", re-attributed it to "Desmond Finch", and gave it to readers at major Hollywood film production companies.

The comments that came back were unfavorable: "a thoroughly silly plotline is made all the more ludicrous by its hamfisted dialog and ridiculously shallow characterizations"; "a completely predictable story that just isn't written well enough to make up for its lack of originality"; "as entertaining as watching a fly breathe".

[55] Battlefield Earth was released on May 12, 2000, three days after the 50th anniversary of the publication of Hubbard's book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, a date celebrated by Scientologists worldwide as a major Scientology holiday.

[57] A limited range of merchandising was produced for the film, including posters, a soundtrack CD by Elia Cmíral, recorded by the Seattle Symphony, and a re-released version of the novel.

[61][62] Jeff Berkwits of Sci Fi Weekly wrote that "the Battlefield Earth Special Edition DVD is packed with information, offering an enlightening glimpse into the creative process behind this imperfect but entertaining picture".

"[62] A review of the DVD release in the Los Angeles Times was more critical: "A dated visual style, patched-together special effects and ludicrous dialogue combine in a film that is a wholly miserable experience.

[68][69][70] In a 2006 list of "the top 10 biggest box office failures", Kat Giantis of MSN Movies placed Battlefield Earth as tied with Inchon (both of which are sponsored by their respective religious movements: Scientology and the Unification Church) for number seven.

The critical consensus reads: "Ugly, campy, and poorly acted, Battlefield Earth is a stunningly misguided, aggressively bad sci-fi folly.

An audience of Los Angeles entertainment journalists, critics, and others greeted the film with guffaws and hoots at a screening in Century City while other viewers in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore responded with derisive laughter or simply walked out.

"[81] Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times wrote: "It may be a bit early to make such judgments, but Battlefield Earth may well turn out to be the worst movie of this century" and called it "Plan 9 from Outer Space for a new generation.

"[83] The Hollywood Reporter summarized the film as being "a flat-out mess, by golly, with massive narrative sinkholes, leading to moments of outstanding disbelief in the muddled writing and shockingly chaotic mise en scène that's accompanied by ear-pummeling sound and bombastic music.

[91] Axmaker also wrote positively of the production design used in the film, commenting that the director had created "a world of crumbling dead cities and empty malls turned into human hunting grounds".

[91] Hap Erstein of The Palm Beach Post commented: "production designer Patrick Tatopoulos contributes some good work, imagining the ruins of Denver and Washington, D.C., with echoes of Planet of the Apes.

"[92] In her book I Love Geeks: The Official Handbook, Carrie Tucker lists Battlefield Earth as a cult classic in the "so bad, it's good" genre.

"[73] In this inept futuristic epic adapted from the novel by sci-fi author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, a greedy security chief (the ridiculous-looking John Travolta) enslaves prisoners to mine gold for him.

"[36] Mark Bunker characterized the film as a recruitment tactic for the Church of Scientology, stating, "It's designed to introduce L. Ron Hubbard to a whole new generation of kids.

"[120] Bunker criticized the promotional methods of the film—instead of granting interviews about the film to the press, John Travolta went on a book tour and signed copies of L. Ron Hubbard's novel.

[54][125] Warner Bros. dismissed the claims as "silly nonsense", the Church of Scientology denounced them as "hogwash" and the media reacted with skepticism; as the Scottish journalist Duncan Campbell put it, "the only subliminal voice I could detect came about 10 minutes into this 121-minute film and it seemed to be saying Leeeaaave thisssss cinemmmaaa nooow".

Not only was the film released only three days after the 50th anniversary of the publication of Hubbard's book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, but the villainous Psychlos have been interpreted as an obvious allusion to Scientology's nemesis, psychiatry.

Intertainment's head Barry Baeres told the court that he had only funded Battlefield Earth because it was packaged as a slate that included two more commercially attractive films, the Wesley Snipes vehicle The Art of War and the Bruce Willis comedy The Whole Nine Yards.

[8][132] The jury rejected Intertainment's claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statute, which would have tripled the damages if Franchise had been convicted on that charge.

[136] Christian and Whitaker were approached to reprise their respective roles, and the producers planned for a 2003 release date so as not to compete with George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

[8] In a 2001 interview, Travolta said that a sequel was not planned: "Ultimately the movie did $100 million when you count box office, DVD sales, video, and pay per view ...