Battle Los Angeles (2011)

A squadron of U.S. Marines becomes the last line of defense against a global invasion.

Director:

Jonathan Liebesman

Writer:

Christopher Bertolini

Stars:

Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aaron Eckhart	...	Ssgt. Michael Nantz
Ramon Rodriguez	...	2nd Lt. William Martinez
Will Rothhaar	...	Cpl. Lee Imlay
Cory Hardrict	...	Cpl. Jason Lockett
Jim Parrack	...	LCpl. Peter Kerns
Gino Anthony Pesi	...	Cpl. Nick Stavrou
Ne-Yo	...	Cpl. Kevin Harris
James Hiroyuki Liao	...	LCpl. Steven Mottola
Bridget Moynahan	...	Michele
Noel Fisher	...	Pfc. Shaun Lenihan
Adetokumboh M'Cormack	...	Corpsman Jibril Adukwu
Bryce Cass	...	Hector Rincon
Michael Peña	...	Joe Rincon
Michelle Rodriguez	...	TSgt. Elena Santos
Neil Brown Jr.	...	LCpl. Richard Guerrero

Storyline

Los Angeles and other cities around the world are being bombarded by meteors that seem to be slowing down once they hit the earth's atmosphere. The earth is suddenly being invaded by space aliens that have landed off the shore of LA, and who begin killing everybody along the beach. The military is ordered into action. Marine Staff Sergeant Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), who was about to retire, is reassigned to a new platoon. The platoon, flown by chopper to the forward operating base at Santa Monica Airport, is being led by a new 2nd Lt. Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez). They are sent on a mission to rescue some civilians who are trapped at the police station within alien territory. They only have 3 hours to complete their mission and get out before the Air Force bombs that zone.

---

Plot Keywords:

invasion | extraterrestrial | marine | mission | alien | 

---

Taglines:

It's not war. It's survival.

---

Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 March 2011 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Mission: Los Angeles

Filming Locations:

Manhattan Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,792,913 (UK) (11 March 2011)

Gross:

$83,552,429 (USA) (27 May 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Original Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Due to script changes, the Michelle Rodriguez character wasn't added until a month before filming began.

---

Goofs

The scientist interviewed on TV said that the aliens were interested in the "composition" of Earth's oceans, specifically saying Earth is the only known place in the universe with liquid water. However, he should have said "state," which means solid, liquid or gas. Water's "composition" would refer to its salinity and other mineral content.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Reporter on TV: ...an unprecedented meteor shower falling off the coast of Tokyo. The entire city is mesmerized by this incredible sight. Two hours after the first contact, an unidentified enemy has reached our coastlines in a swift and militaristic attack. Right now one thing is clear: The world is at war.

---

Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, except for the film's title.

---

Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.144 (2013)

---

Soundtracks

Deal wit It
Written by Aaron Phillip, Jason Harrow, W. Henry and Felix Rovera
Performed by Afu-Ra featuring Jahdon & Jason Harrow (as Kardinal Offishall)
Courtesy of Decon

User Reviews

Over-edited and under-directed, complete with cheesy dialogue, clichéd characters and weak story and acting- sorry I did not like it

I watch films of all genres, old and new, good and bad, and while I wasn't completely taken with the idea of Battle:Los Angeles I was interested in seeing it. Unfortunately I didn't like it. I will get the good things out of the way first, the CGI is of decent standard, the bridge siege set-piece is fairly impressive and Aaron Eckhart does try hard, in the beginning he is the best asset of the film portraying the only likable character, even if he is rather clichéd.

However at the halfway mark, Eckhart's character becomes less likable and his performance, which involves a lot of shouting and uttering poorly written and delivered "rousing" speeches, gets weaker. The rest of the acting ranges from just adequate to very poor, particularly Michelle Rodriguez and the less said about her one-liners the better, and they are not helped by the fact that the characters are little more than bland stereotypes that we learn very little about other than the odd snippet of information. The dialogue is very, very weak too, very characterless and cheesy as well, the film is dull in the pace and is too long too and the explosions are shoddy and get too much.

I was especially disappointed in Battle:Los Angeles' direction, which is one of the blandest and soulless directorial jobs I have seen in a long time. The film is very over-edited as well, while I have nothing against shaky cam I do when it adds next to nothing to the proceedings and it was used so much I felt nauseus at the end, and the rest of the set pieces are murky and incoherent. The story is weak and wanders off the point so many times complete with a very narrow world-view, a very unsatisfying ending in the sense it felt tacked on and laughably rubbish alien forces.

In conclusion, Battle: Los Angeles was a movie I tried to like but I couldn't even enjoy it, due to its poor direction and dialogue and its over-editing. 3/10 Bethany Cox