"After Earth" with Will Smith as bad as "Battlefield Earth"?

[techs]

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/after_earth/

So, the critics give it a 14 percent fresh rating (it hasn't opened yet so the Audience score is meaningless).

Some great comments by the critics:

Not since John Travolta kicked the tires on Battlefield Earth and pronounced it good to go has there been a big-name flameout as disastrous as this.

Every bit as bad as you'd fear of a movie from the writer of 'The Book of Eli' and the director of 'The Last Airbender.' Where are the guys from Mystery Science Theater when you need them?

The only value in watching it is to see an expensive disaster slowly unfold.

M. Night Shyamalan is branching out, coming up with new ways to make bad movies. His plan must be to exhaust all possibilities, so as to eventually come full circle and make a good one by accident.

The level to which 'After Earth' is a catastrophe is amazing.

After Earth merits comparison with 2000's Battlefield Earth, John Travolta's godawful film tribute to the sci-fi novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Yes, it's that bad.



Syfy must be so happy they green lighted Shamalongadingdongs pilot.

[Wyrminarrd]

Yeah, I pretty much knew this movie would massively suck when I saw that M. Night was the director. I figured that if they had to go that far down the list of directors to find one willing to do the movie then the script must really, really suck.

[aretood2]

Sometimes critics and the audience don't agree. And...what pilot?

[djackson1234]

I heard the only value in it is to watch the expensive disaster unfold!
A bit like Oblivion, where the graphics are superb but the story isn't up to par.

[techs]

Sometimes critics and the audience don't agree. And...what pilot?

Shamadingdong is making a pilot for Syfy about someone who has a person close to them die and who offers a lot of money to anyone who can prove life after death.

Oh, and the "audience" doesn't disagree with the critics. The "audience" never saw the movie. They were posting their ratings before it came out. The movie just opened last night, to disappointing results. Only the tiny handful of people who saw it and voted on it are now being added to the score. And they have already started to bring down the rating. So far, its dropped from an 83 percent positive to a 61 percent positive. And its dropping quickly.

[aretood2]

Shamadingdong is making a pilot for Syfy about someone who has a person close to them die and who offers a lot of money to anyone who can prove life after death.

Oh, and the "audience" doesn't disagree with the critics. The "audience" never saw the movie. They were posting their ratings before it came out. The movie just opened last night, to disappointing results. Only the tiny handful of people who saw it and voted on it are now being added to the score. And they have already started to bring down the rating. So far, its dropped from an 83 percent positive to a 61 percent positive. And its dropping quickly.

Syfy is doing the most, now, and not in a good way.

[the fifth man]

Eventually, I will still check this movie out. Sometimes you have to decide for yourself.

[Sp!der]

Yeah, I will watch it on dvd or Bluray...

[LtColCarter]

Shamadingdong hasn't had a good movie since Signs.

[garhkal]

Unbreakable to me was his best..

[Kayzersoze]

Unbreakable to me was his best..

Ditto. I am equal parts in thinking it was an awesome standalone movie, and also thinking it would've been one of the best

Spoiler:

superhero origin

stories around.

"Signs" would've been OK, but the religious subtext ruined it for me.

"After Earth" looked bad from the moment I saw it starred Will Smith and son in a SciFi movie about hope. Scientologists? Check. Science Fiction? Check. Movie about hope and rising up against adversity? Check? What could possibly go wrong.

[Quizziard]

So Willi smith wrote a "blockbuster" sci-fi movie to feature himself and his son, as father and son. And produced it. And starred in it. Surprised he didn't ask to sing the theme tune...

It's not "bad", but it's not good. The plot is simplistic to the point of trivial: no sub-plots, detours, twists or suspense. It's predictable, cheesey and shallow. It has holes big enough to drive a space-ship into.

But, as said, it's beautifully shot, adequately acted, and just about entertains for a couple of hours. Though it's really only a one-hour TV movie.

[MylittleEli]

Wow good to know. I was actually considering seeing this in theatre. Thinking imma gonna wait for Netflix!

[LtColCarter]

Wow good to know. I was actually considering seeing this in theatre. Thinking imma gonna wait for Netflix!

I still want to see it in a theatre, but I'm not rushing out the door to see it any time soon.

[Kayzersoze]

I still want to see it in a theatre, but I'm not rushing out the door to see it any time soon.

More of a gentle stroll out the door?