Career
He is also known as the director of the 2000 film Battlefield Earth which is regarded to be one of the worst films ever made. He began his career as an assistant art director on several United Kingdom productions including the Hammer Studios film And Soon the Darkness (1970). (Christian claims to be the third crew member hired for the project) Two years later, Christian received his second Oscar nomination for his work as the production designer on Ridley Scott"s Alien (1979).
Christian"s use of aircraft scrap and other machinery to dress the set interiors of these films and creation of weapons using old working guns adapted by adding junk revolutionised the look of science fiction films.
Christian began his directing career with the shorts Black Angel (1980) and The Dollar Bottom (1981). Black Angel, filmed at locations in Scotland, was mentored by George Lucas who tied the film as a programme with The Empire Strikes Back in United Kingdom, Australia, and Scandinavia.
The 25-minute film is a retelling of the hero"s journey in classical mythology, and it influenced several major directors. He made his feature film debut with the horror film The Sender (1982).
Chosen as the opening film at the Avoriaz Film Festival, the film has become a cult classic.
Quentin Tarantino has described The Sender as his favourite horror film of 1982. Christian directed the music video "Election Day" by the band Arcadia in Paris, France in 1985. His 1994 feature film Nostradamus, about the life of the famous French prophet, has received worldwide recognition.
His biggest project to date was the big budget L. Ron Hubbard science fiction adaptation Battlefield Earth (2000) starring John Travolta and Barry Pepper, which The Guardian considered a commercial and critical disaster, and as one of the "worst films ever made".
In 2009, National Public Radio declared the film "the worst science fiction film of the decade". In 2006, he directed an action/adventure/mystery movie, Prisoners of the Sun, starring John Rhys-Davies, David Charvet, Carmen Chaplin, and Gulshan Grover.
lieutenant was unreleased until 2014 when it had geographically limited release in Nordic countries. He is an admirer of filmmaker Peter Jackson.