LOS ANGELES, May 17 (AFP) - As if being universally panned by the critics wasn't enough. John Travolta's "Battlefield Earth" is under fire for its purported links to the Church of Scientology.
   The Warner Bros science fiction epic take us to the year 3000 when the
sinister Psychlos, giant beings from outer space, rule the world. Terl (John Travolta) is the baddest of a bad bunch and keeps the earthlings in slavery as the head of security for the heartless Psychlos. Up comes Johnny Goodboy Tyler to lead a revolt and save the earthlings from extermination.
   The big-budget flop could have passed unnoticed had the plot not been lifted directly from a 1982 novel by Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard, and had the leading man and co-producer been anyone other than Travolta, a devout church member.
   And that makes the movie the summer's most controversial release, says
Hollywood's Entertainment Weekly.
   One group that opposes religious cults says the movie is a sinister ploy
by Scientologists to attract members. The FACTNet website, which described itself as a non-profit organisation for the freedom of mind and against "coercion and cults" says the film is "bait" and contains "subliminal messages."
   Mike Rinder, spokesman for the Church of Scientology, based in Los Angeles, dismissed the charges as "ridiculous" and denied any link between the church and the film.
   Movie director Roger Christian told Entertainment Weekly the claims were
"silly propaganda."
   "If a Jewish producer hires a Jewish writer and a Jewish director, does that mean we're going to get secret messages that are converting us to Judaism," he said.
   Travolta, on a promotional tour for the film in 15 big US cities,
maintains that his Scientology beliefs and his work on the movie are
separate.
   "I'm very interested in Scientology but that's personal. This is different. This has nothing to do with Scientology," he said.
   But Stephen Kent, a professor of sociology at the University of Alberta
in Edmonton, Canada, believes otherwise.
   "John Travolta is an honorary public relations officer for the Scientology," said Kent, an expert on new religions.
   "'Battlefield Earth' is an attempt to get Ron Hubbard's name widespread in popular culture with the hope that people would like to see other works from him.
   "Actually, I don't think it's a coincidence that the movie is being released on the 50th anniversary of the publication in May 9, 1950, of Ron Hubbard's seminal book: 'Dianetics: The modern science of mental health'."