THE TEST
John Travolta

Examiner: Nick Wyke

Public Image

Snake-hipped disco dancer turned bloated junkie thanks to his acclaimed performances in Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction. His new film, Battlefield Earth, could change all this. Now he's in town to promote this sci-fi epic based on the bestselling 430,000-word book by Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard. The press has already labelled it "the worst movie of the century". 7/10

Intelligence

A genius at reincarnation. As an actor he lapsed into the C/D list after Seventies disco became naff, but recovered spectacularly as a likeable killer-cum-heroin addict. Could be relagated again with the latest turkey, in which he plays a smelly alien creep. 5/10

Compassion

Believed to be such a committed Scientologist that he is taking only a fraction of his $12 million fee. 5/10

Sex Appeal

Once oozed it, even though he's got a hole in his chin. As the insidious Terl, an abhorrent super-villain, he looks a cross between Swampy and Noel Edmonds. 4/10

Humour

Said to be very funny - for an American. 8/10

Family Values

Sound. In line with the teachings of Scientology, his wife recently had a "quiet birth" with her second child. The vow is meant to avoid having the baby hear cries, which in later life may stimulate memories of the pain of birth. 7/10

Antecedents

His father owned a tyre shop and his mother set up an improvised stage for her six children in the cellar. "We were an eccentric theatrical Irish-Italian family," said Travolta. Both parents supported Travolta's decision to drop out of high school and pursue the Fame lifestyle. 7/10

Durability

"It's hard to make a cultural phenomenon every time," says the man who served up more turkeys than Bernard Matthews in the Eighties. Still, a mega-hit every other decade isn't bad going. 7/10

Ambition

Too many cooks . . . The book of the film has been described as "Rocky, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Flash Gordon and Battlestar Galactica rolled into one - and then some". 2/10

Future Prospects

Stayin' Alive. Even he may not be able to come back after this flop. 5/10

Score 57%