Battle For Terra (DVD)

In the distant future, the desperate remnants of humanity drift through interstellar space aboard an ageing spaceship in search of a new home. With Earth, Venus and Mars all decimated after centuries of civil war; the weary survivors at last taste hope when they happen upon the beautiful ringed planet of Terra. There’s just one problem; Terra is already home to an intelligent and peaceful race of aliens, and rendering the new world fit for human occupation will spell death for its indigenous inhabitants.

However, the human’s unsympathetic leader, General Hemmer (Cox), shows no qualms about instituing a genocide, and deploys a military campaign against the peaceful alien race in preparation for the terraforming of the new world. But when a young human pilot, Lt. Stanton (Wilson), crash lands on Terra and is rescued by a kindly native, Mala (Wood); the two strangers learn that neither race is that different from the other, and fight to find a peaceful solution for all.

As far as originality goes; Battle for Terra can’t claim the freshest of premises. The basic story is a familiar one, the characters and conflicts all too recognisable. Even the spin on the classic alien invader theme, with mankind taking the place of little green men, seems old hat in the wake of any number of sci-fi yarns that have graced our screens in recent years – most notably Avatar, of course.

But despite all of this, Battle for Terra is a surprisingly effective and involving film. Unlike other recent sci-fi endeavours, where story is often second to spectacle; here the central conflict takes prominence, and unusually for a film geared toward the family audience, the situation and its characters bare more shades of grey than you’d expect.

No single character is without fault and no single cause is completely worthy. While his unforgiving orders and gruff tones would seem to place Brian Cox’s General Hemmer in villainous territory; in truth he’s an antagonist shaped from desperation rather than cruelty. Likewise, other characters walk a longer path before earning their pips, rather than emerge as heroes from the off.

Visually, the film mightn’t hold up to some of the more impressive CGI spectacles of recent years. This is largely down to a modest budget, with many scenes feeling sparse and lacking in the finer details. But where it counts, the film delivers. The action sequences are well designed and exciting, whilst the character designs are particularly impressive.

On a sour note, an impressive roster of voice talent is largely wasted. While Brian Cox, Luke Wilson and Evan Rachel Wood are granted plenty of time to flex their vocal chords and shape endearing characters, big name talent like Dennis Quaid, Danny Glover and Chris Evans are left idle and waiting for a rare line of dialogue, leaving the supporting characters and greater picture feeling half baked and incidental.

Overall Verdict: A familiar-feeling slice of family entertainment, Battle for Terra still feels fresh thanks to some weighty undertones making for an effective, well tailored tale.

Special Features:
Making of
Director Featurette
Deleted Scenes
Commentary

Reviewer: David Steele