John Travolta’s latest film, Battlefield Earth, brings new meaning to the term 'cult classic.' Sci(entology)-Fi Thriller Movie Musings, by Will Leitch If you’re a regular moviegoer, you’re sure to have noticed that the worst of the current crop of trailers is for Battlefield Earth, starring John Travolta, Forest Whitaker and Saving Private Ryan’s Barry Pepper. At first glance, the film appears to be about some vague post-apocalyptic universe where "man is an endangered species," a universe where nothing seems to happen except explosions and incessant, annoying laughs from an evil John Travolta with hair extensions.

As it turns out, Battlefield Earth might not be innocent enough to simply be called awful. The script, by newcomer Cory Mandell, is based on a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, who in addition to being, as a Battlefield Earth Web site calls him, "explorer, ethnologist, mariner, pilot, filmmaker, photographer, philosopher, educator, composer and musician," also happens to be the founder of Scientology.

Scientology is a religion--called a cult by some--that provides its members with peace and guidance in a world full of evil psychiatrists out for their own well-being, or it’s a con job that hoovers money out of spiritually needy people and blackmails them into staying with the group, depending on whether or not the person you’re talking to is a member.

The public face of Scientology, its most prominent defenders, are many Hollywood stars, including Tom Cruise, Isaac Hayes, Kirstie Alley, CNN’s Greta Van Sustren and Lisa Marie Presley. Many in the industry claim Scientology gives them some sense of order in the wild showbiz world, and, to be fair, most would argue "the Church" is preferable to, say, cocaine. These celebrities are in tune with what Hubbard advised his disciples in 1955, when he wrote that they should get as many celebrities on board as possible, because as celebs go, so does the public.

And there’s no bigger Scientology disciple than Travolta, who has paid his way into the highest levels of the Church. So it goes to stand, one would think, that Travolta starring in a movie based on a book by the founder of his religion would be something of a recruitment video, right? Travolta denies it, as does the Church, but a recent report by not-for-profit organization F.A.C.T.Net accuses the film and the Church of something even more sinister: subliminal messages.

That’s right, conspiracy theorists, F.A.C.T.Net claims to quote a former Scientology underling, who describes how Battlefield Earth was financed by the Church to sway our impressionable youth into joining.

One piece of evidence might support that theory: the peculiar structuring of Web sites for the film. The official Warner Bros. site, with that awful trailer and interviews with the cast and director, is www.battlefieldearth.net. The dot-com address, www.battlefieldearth.com, however, is not affiliated with Warner Bros.

at all. It’s hosted instead by Author Services Inc., a Scientology organization.

Pretty easily confused, to say the least, especially since the latter site actually contains more information about the film than the WB site does.

Since posting its report a few weeks ago, F.A.C.T.Net claims it has received "repeated virus attacks," and is keeping a relatively low profile, citing confidentiality of its sources. Nevertheless, it’s becoming increasingly clear, whether the forces behind the project like the publicity or not, that Battlefield Earth is probably associated with the Church.

Keep that connection in mind when you try to figure out which professional wrestler Travolta’s character looks the most like.

(For additional coverage of the Church of Scientology’s alleged connection to Battlefield Earth, check out the Washington Post.)

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