FactNet, a group battling Scientology, warned Thursday that "lawsuits may soon be flying" over MGM's upcoming release of Battlefield Earth, based on a sci-fi novel by Scientology's late founder L. Ron Hubbard and starring the group's most outspoken celebrity, John Travolta. In a statement, FactNet charged that Scientology "has placed subliminal messages in the BattleField Earth film master to surreptitiously recruit new members from the movie audience," that it secretly financed the film, that it will use the film to recruit ...

Does John Travolta's Battlefield Earth contain subliminal messages recruiting Scientologists? Amid a flurry of bizarre claims and counterclaims, only one thing is certain: it is one of the worst movies ever made. Duncan Campbell reports It is the year 3000 and "man-animals" are scrabbling for survival in the lonely expanse of what the mighty Psychlos describe as "this pitiful excuse for a planet". It is also the year 2000 and a mere seven man-animals are scrabbling for their popcorn in the ...

John Travolta's vanity project Battlefield Earth has taken 10 years to make and is set to be the turkey of the year. But, as Mark Morris explains, he's not the first star whose labour of love has resulted in risible self-indulgence There's nothing like a real Hollywood flop. Not an average bad movie doing averagely badly, but a complete wreck of a film that makes you wonder what the hell anyone was thinking of when they decided to make it and ...

[...] If you run into a Scientologist today, don't do the usual thing of crossing the road/city/country to avoid them. Instead, look sympathetically on them, maybe even give them a hug of consolation, for we think there may be some mourning happening among the followers of L. Ron Hubbard. The first reviews are in for the multi-multi-million-dollar film based on one of L. Ron's off-the-planet science-fiction yarns (and no, we don't mean Dianetics), Battlefield Earth, and they don't make for pretty ...

John Travolta insists that Battlefield Earth, his $90 million screen homage to L. Ron Hubbard, has nothing to do with his longtime devotion to the Church of Scientology. Hubbard is both the founder of that controversial religious movement and the author of the 1982 science-fiction novel that forms the basis of Travolta's latest movie. Battlefield Earth is just a great story, Travolta says, and he finally has enough Hollywood leverage to push his pet project onto the big screen. Mark Bunker ...

L. Ron Hubbard said he didn't want his science-fiction work to be a press release for the church he founded. Nevertheless, the connections between Battlefield Earth and Scientology are worth noting. Put him in front of a typewriter and L. Ron Hubbard's fingers flew. He did not "piddle around" with his prose like other writers, as his friend and fellow science fiction author, Robert A. Heinlein, observed in a 1982 letter. Known in the 1930s and 1940s as a writer of ...

HOLLYWOOD, May 10 — The anticult networks are kicking up a fuss. Discussion on Internet movie sites is picking over the potentially sinister implications. Anonymous e-mails are whizzing around the country charging that, among other things, subliminal messages are being used to recruit unsuspecting moviegoers. Big summer action movies, filled with stars and special effects, don't often come with such fascinating accessories. Battlefield Earth, starring John Travolta as a nine-foot alien with talons for fingers, will open in more than 2,000 ...

John Travolta is a staunch supporter. So are many other Hollywood celebrities and it is from them that The Church of Scientology gets its best publicity. Yet while the promotion comes through association with high-profile names, there is rarely a lot actually discussed about the church. That is set to change with this French documentary (narrated in English and featuring subtitles) that examines the relationship between the Church of Scientology and the law in France, Germany and the United States. Incorporating ...

RELIGION in all its forms sparks intense debate but none more so in recent times perhaps than the Church of Scientology. A relatively young religion created by science fiction author Lafayette Ron Hubbard, Scientology's profile has risen sharply with the support of such high-profile acting identities as John Travolta and Juliette Lewis. Yet while most people would have an opinion on the church's ideology, there rarely seems to be much open debate about it in the social arena. That changes next ...

[...] What's left after these travesties and Mission to Mars? Two big-budget entries are slated for mid-year. The first, Battlefield Earth, finds Scientologist John Travolta starring in this adaptation of movement founder L. Ron Hubbard's evil alien novel. The script has drawn derision on Internet sites, and photos of Travolta in alien makeup have only made things worse. [...]

In yet another fine weekend for protest groups, the anti-scientology group FactNet has warned that "lawsuits may soon be flying" over John Travolta's upcoming Battlefield Earth. FactNet accuses the movie - adapted from a sci-fi novel by cult founder L Ron Hubbard and starring celebrity scientologist Travolta - of accommodating "subliminal messages to surreptitiously recruit new members from the movie audience". FactNet goes on to allege that the would-be religion - beloved of Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and other film stars ...

Scientology's biggest star comes to Canada to make a movie that will bring church's values and villains to a theatre near you Members of the Church of Scientology were in Yorkville this past holiday weekend, questionnaires in hand, to collect opinions about the church from passersby. It's been a difficult couple of years for Scientology, which is trying to polish its fringe image as it awaits word from Revenue Canada about its application for charitable status. But positive PR may be ...

THE MOST MAIL Daily Variety has received this year about a single article has come in response to a story that the newspaper will never run. The subject was Scientology and its influence on Hollywood. The story was in the process of being researched by our film editor, Dan Cox, who recently left the paper to accept a job as a literary agent without finishing the article. In approaching his story, Cox was impressed by the fact that the Scientologists, who've ...

ANNOUNCER: On December 14, 1998, this is “Investigative Reports”. BILL KURTIS: Hello, I’m Bill Kurtis. It is America’s most controversial religion. Some, in fact, say it’s not a religion at all. For 40 years, the Church of Scientology has flourished in this country, while under constant attack by the government, the media, and the psychiatric profession. It’s been perceived as an organization interested only in money making, which brainwashes its members and then bankrupts them; all untrue, say its leaders and ...

outside Celebrity Centre; newspaper article titled “Scientology–A Long Trail of Controversy”; another shot of Celebrity Centre; part of newspaper article title “struggle for credibility” VO: Over its rocky 45- year history, Scientology has driven for mainstream acceptance. DAVID MISCAVIGE (interview): People have been searching for thousands of years for spiritual release and freedom, and what we have in Scientology is the answer. How to achieve that. JOHN TRAVOLTA (on movie set in Army camouflage outfit): Ultimately, the whole purpose is to ...

outside Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles; magazine “Bay Guardian” with cover story “Scientology secrets revealed in 2 million dollar consumer fraud case”; outside AOLA building in Los Angeles; news footage from Julie Christofferson Titchbourne trial in Portland, with Scienos picketing VO: The ’80s saw a series of lawsuits brought against the Church of Scientology. Ex-members united, claiming they had been lied to and bilked out of millions of dollars. In 1985, an ex-Scientologist was awarded $39 million after she claimed the ...

Clearwater picket 1997–Xenu picketing with sign saying “L. Ron Hubbard: Psychotic CON MAN”, other picketers with signs saying “www.scientology-kills.net” “Xenu Crossing (inside a yellow sign on picket sign)”; Deana Holmes with sign saying “Did Standard Tech kill Lisa?”; lecture at Scientology church VO: While church administration is busy dealing with a steady stream of conflict, individual Scientologists are out among the people, spreading Hubbard’s word at every opportunity. MIKE RINDER: Well, you know, the aims of Scientology are a civilization without ...

Crowd of people outside Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles; picture of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman VO: The high profile role of Scientology’s celebrities– which include America’s most popular actor, Tom Cruise– adds to Scientology’s mystique. footage of Travolta being presented with a “1998 Celebrity with glamour of the year” (?) award from somebody (glass trophy with red and blue hand prints painted on it) JOHN TRAVOLTA (on movie set in Army camouflage outfit) (voice of and on camera): I’m part ...

ASHINGTON – Cable News Network legal analyst Greta Van Susteren and her wealthy trial-lawyer husband, John Coale, are a Beltway power couple. She is the co-host of CNN's top-rated Burden of Proof. He is a mover behind the multi-billion-dollar anti-tobacco lawsuits. Both have dined at the White House. And what about the fact they belong to a religion that teaches of Xenu, evil head of the Galactic Confederation? Who flew people to Teegeeack (Earth) 75-million years ago in space ships, chained ...

WASHINGTON – After years of holding the U.S. government in contempt, the Church of Scientology is enlisting members of Congress, the U.S. State Department and even President Clinton to advance its agenda in foreign lands. Prodded by the Scientologists' paid lobbyists and its cadre of sympathetic entertainers, several lawmakers and the Clinton administration have criticized the German government for allegedly discriminating against Scientology practitioners. They even got their argument against Germany to the floor of the House of Representatives last November. ...

There are some Germans out there who don't trust John Travolta. Not only that, at least one of these Germans - actually a member of Germany's parliament - doesn't at all like the idea of Travolta talking with the president of the United States or his national security adviser, Sandy Berger, about the state of U.S.-German relations. The reason this German lawmaker worries about the popular movie actor getting to see the president and his advisers is that Travolta is a ...