J.D. Shapiro, the screenwriter who put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and churned out the script for the abysmal John Travolta sci-fi flick Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000, has apologized for the film.

Earlier this month, Battlefield, released in 2000, won the not-so-coveted Razzie Award for “Worst Movie of the Decade” and Shapiro was gracious enough to attend the ceremony and accept the trophy. Writing in the New York Post, Shapiro follows up on the “win” with a mea culpa that explains how the project came into existence.

Shapiro reveals that Travolta loved his script, calling it “The ‘Schindler’s List’ of sci-fi.” He insists the original written incarnation was very different from the final film, writing, “My screenplay was darker, grittier and had a very compelling story with rich characters. What my screenplay didn’t have was slow motion at every turn, Dutch tilts, campy dialogue, aliens in KISS boots, and everyone wearing Bob Marley wigs.”

After receiving a set of notes “from John’s camp,” the writer says he knew the production was in trouble. He refused to make the changes Travolta wanted in the script and was fired from the project.

Shapiro, who also wrote the classic Robin Hood: Men in Tights, claims in the end to be “strangely proud” of the picture. “Because out of all the sucky movies, mine is the suckiest.” Well, that’s something.