Battlefield Earth Writer Apologizes for “Suckiest Movie Ever”

After receiving (in person!) a Razzie for “Worst Movie of the Decade” for the notoriously awful science fiction film Battlefield Earth, writer J.D. Shapiro wrote this amusing editorial for the New York Post in which he apologized profusely for inflicting such suckiness on the world. They didn’t set out to make a train wreck, he says, though “comparing it to a train wreck isn’t really fair to train wrecks, because people actually want to watch those.” Of course, the ultimate culprit was whoever told him that Scientology center was a great place to pick up women.

Though Shapiro does paint himself to be a sympathetic character, since he blames the downturn of the movie on notes from John Travolta & co., which he refused to incorporate himself – after which he was fired. So why didn’t he take his name off of the film, you might ask? Money, obviously, which is a fair enough reason.

In case you were wondering, this brings the total number of Razzies awarded to Battlefield Earth over the years to nine. The other big winner this year was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, picking up Worst Picture of the Year, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay.

As for Mr. Shapiro, I contend that any sins should be absolved due to the fact that he also wrote Robin Hood: Men in Tights.