Battle Los Angeles : My Review

Last night i went to see Battle Los Angeles, a new movie about a race of alies invading Earth for it's water.

After reading a lot of critics give this movie a bad review i was kind of nervous about spending £30 on tickets for me and my family. I was not dissapointed, the movie was in one word "Brilliant".

Right from the start of the movie it was action, like a chocolate bar pumped full of steroids shoved down your throat you barely had a moment to breath, right from the go you where introduced as the Aliens began to invade.

Here is the clip from the start of the film, it's not really a spoiler, don't watch it if you want to save the experience for the big screen.



Watching this on the big screen is just absolutely epic.

When you go and watch this movie don't expect to be drawn into a story, this is not a film where you get drawn into a story, it's a gritty rollercoaster ride, about survival, its chaos, in the best sense possible, this is the sort of scenes you will see in this movie (SPOILER)


Throughout the movie you will get to know the soldiers, and you will feel emotion, the acting is done very well, apart from a couple of lines of speech which make you think "Wtf?" It's top notch acting. There a few scenes which are very emotional (im not going to ruin it for you, so ill shut up now)

The reason for the aliens coming to Earth is simple, colonisation, it turns out that Earth is very rare in this part of the Galaxy, we are the only planet with liquid H20 (Water) which isnt covered in sheets of Ice, the aliens need water to power there Ships, machinery, and even there own bodies, as they are a Flesh/Machine race of aliens.

One thing i liked about this movie is the fact that the aliens can be killed, they do not have super sheild which the puny Earthlings cant to anything about, which always ruined alien movies for me, bullets kill these aliens, and rockets can destroy there ships.

I leave you with the line.

"There are questions than answers at the moment, but one thing is certain, the world is at war"

---

Final Verdict

8/10
Pros: Breathtaking action, amazing scenes of destruction, emotional scenes.
Cons: Couple of lines of script which are cheesy, lack luster story.

My opinion GO WATCH IT

Thanks: Lookingforwardto it.
Is there alot of hand held out of focus shaky camera scenes?
That seems to be the latest rage in Hollywood cinematography ...

It makes movies almost unwatchable for me ;like in the "Jason bourne" movies
You're sitting there thinking "okay.. they're chasingthem ... and..chasing ...and chasing
and crashing
and crashing
and more crashing
and explosions
and explosions.....
Okay I get the idea: get on with it!
and my eyes don't have anything to focus on for a minute or two because everything in the frame is inconstant motion...

??

why did the aliens invade los angles for water, theres loads of the stuff fallin from the sky here in ireland lol, i dont think I will go see this movie, I will wait for it to come out on dvd later on this year

Originally posted by Lucifersjester
why did the aliens invade los angles for water, theres loads of the stuff fallin from the sky here in ireland lol, i dont think I will go see this movie, I will wait for it to come out on dvd later on this year

They invaded 20 countries, Moscow, Tokyo, Ireland, UK are among a few which where mentioned.

Its telling the story of a marine unit.

I am so going to see this today or tomorrow. I have been waiting for it to come out.


Are the aliens interesting to look at? I have this thing where if I see a movie on alien invasion I better see some cool ass aliens!

Nice review

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
I am so going to see this today or tomorrow. I have been waiting for it to come out.


Are the aliens interesting to look at? I have this thing where if I see a movie on alien invasion I better see some cool ass aliens!

Nice review

The aliens are very different from what youve seen before. They are humanoid with a sort of oval head, they are flesh, but they have mechanical implants, like a bio suit. They are very cool looking aliens.

Originally posted by Haydn_17
The aliens are very different from what youve seen before. They are humanoid with a sort of oval head, they are flesh, but they have mechanical implants, like a bio suit. They are very cool looking aliens.

So you DO actually get to see the aliens? Awesome!

Hopefully it's not just in the last 10 minutes like so many movies. I'll be seeing this one within the week - it's so very 'Halo"

Thanks for the review. S&F

Originally posted by Whisper67

Originally posted by Haydn_17
The aliens are very different from what youve seen before. They are humanoid with a sort of oval head, they are flesh, but they have mechanical implants, like a bio suit. They are very cool looking aliens.

So you DO actually get to see the aliens? Awesome!

Hopefully it's not just in the last 10 minutes like so many movies. I'll be seeing this one within the week - it's so very 'Halo"

Thanks for the review. S&F

Oh yes, you see aliens all the way through the movie, there are epic street battles with lots of them, they can be clearly seen.

I thought it was great.

The film could have been called Battlefield LA or Call of Duty Alien Warfare.

Many of the military aspects felt very good, some reminded of my time in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I liked the aliens for the most part. Cybernetic or biomechanical aliens are more plausible than simple flesh and blood ones. I also liked the fact they didn't use any crazy technology like force fields or directed energy weapons.

My only complaints.

I like Michelle Rodriguez, but you can tell she didn't have the military jargon quite right like the actors who played the Marines. The military advisors for the film were US Marines though, and it may have been to make the Air Force look like amateurs and the US Marines look like professionals.

The drone's command and control ship was my other complaint. Realistically it would have been in orbit. The Marines and the airman should have came up with a way to jam the signal instead. A jamming solution would have been far more plausible.

Other than that the film in my opininon was better than Independence Day, War of the Worlds, or The Day the Earth Stood Still remake.

It was a solid, dark, gritty war movie with US Marines fighting cybernetic organisms from space.

reply to post by MikeboydUS


Agree with all you said. The alien command center really wouldnt of been on Earth in my opinion, but i guess it depends on there tech.

Such an Epic movie though

I saw this Saturday, and I liked it. I didn't think it was great, like District 9, nor was it stink like Skyline, I thought it was good. I was satisfied enough with it when it ended, and I'd recommend it. I liked how the aliens and their tech looked, it was cool. I think the water thing was just a theory, no one really knows why they were attacking, and SPOILER ALERT, I liked how it didn't have a definitive ending. Personally, I think aliens like such would not bother with ground forces, and they would have superior air command. I think if they wanted to wipe out humans, they'd use some chemical or bio stuff. But overall, I think I'd give it a 7.5 out of 10. It was worthy.

Interestingly, SyFy channel also aired their original movie Battle OF Los Angeles, and I sat through that almost an hour, and it was too dumb. It started off OK, but then the guy from the past shows up, and then the samurai sword woman is slaying ET craft with a sword, and people are shooting at the ET craft in the air with pistols, it was just stupid to me.

Seen this last night and found it to be the epitome of Hollywood style Military Propaganda. The characters have been done and re-done in so many previous movies. From the 5ft latino tough girl soldier to a washed up platoon leader who will gain respect from his underlings at the end.

Also, how many times do we have to see a small group of US marines not only beat the obvious superior fire power of an Alien invasion but find their weakness and tell the rest of the World how to kill the intruders.

And the reference to jerky filming cannot be ignored. Tired of it! It's old and tired. Give it a break Hollywood...hold the camera still!

It had less to do with an alien invasion than the Rah-Rah Marines saving the World again.

Greatly disappointed.

4.5/10

Entertaining movie, but in NO way a great movie.
I was disappointed, but it was not horrible to watch.
_________________________________________



Spoilers:

The best part of the movie was the fact that the aliens were organized as individual platoons/squads with squad leaders just like our militaries. They had the lookouts, scouts, and recon activity going on too. The aliens even pulled their wounded out of firing range. It made it more interesting than just a huge wave of aliens.

In my opinion, the flow of the story was too choppy... didn't make a smooth tale. The movie was all about the action and not the story. The story was gone! If it were a book, you would probably stop reading immediately.

And I really hate those movies where everything magically falls into place, magically works out, and everything is just lucky. In real life there's no way everything would've played out so perfectly and lucky.

Originally posted by Lucifersjester
why did the aliens invade los angles for water, theres loads of the stuff fallin from the sky here in ireland lol, i dont think I will go see this movie, I will wait for it to come out on dvd later on this year

The aliens invaded coastal cities around the world, but the story only shows Los Angeles' battle. The aliens needed so much of earth's water, that they were pumping directly from the oceans. A reporter even said that since the aliens arrived the ocean levels had dropped significantly. The aliens destroyed and attacked coastal areas to create safe zones for their water pumping.

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
My only complaints.

I like Michelle Rodriguez, but you can tell she didn't have the military jargon quite right like the actors who played the Marines. The military advisors for the film were US Marines though, and it may have been to make the Air Force look like amateurs and the US Marines look like professionals.

The drone's command and control ship was my other complaint. Realistically it would have been in orbit. The Marines and the airman should have came up with a way to jam the signal instead. A jamming solution would have been far more plausible.

Michelle Rodriguez is a solid cast as a tough girl or military type, that's almost all her roles. She didn't live up to a marine's standard, because if you recall she had never been in the field. The guys were even making fun of her by questioning if she could even handle her firearm. She was a paper-pushing intel type, so that's why she didn't portray a "real" soldier. Have you seen her in SWAT or Lost? She can play those military-type roles well.

The aliens needed to refuel their command bases, they showed the command bases refueling in the oceans. So after the refueling, and after the alien ground forces invaded and destroyed the city, it was safe to move the command center where they did. Afterall, the entire police force was destroyed, the militaries Foward Operating Base was destroyed, almost all civilians were killed, and the military retreated and evacuated the state of California. It was more than safe to locate the command center where they did. It was just too dam lucky that the soldiers found the base so easily and quickly. Besides that luck factor, the aliens made a good call.

Originally posted by tom502
I think the water thing was just a theory, no one really knows why they were attacking

I think it was obvious the aliens were invading for our water. Remember the news anchor said that since the aliens arrived the ocean levels had dropped?

reply to post by jude11


I'm with you on this. First thing I said to my spouse on the way out of the theatre was, "I'd swear that was nothing more than a US Marines recruitment tool." The 'hostiles' could have been anyone/anything. The focus was clearly on the Marines and their dedication to never giving up.

There was no lack of action, to be sure, but that came at the expense of any kind of meaningful plot or build up to the non-stop action. I was likewise disappointed. I could have stayed home and watched my sons engage in their XBox war games to have the same experience of sights and sounds.

reply to post by GoneGrey


I had a hard time watching the whole thing. I kept expecting and hoping it to get better...it didn't.

Yep, a Military Recruitment Film would be my guess also.

Well, I'm glad people like this, but seriously. This is one of the worst B movies I have ever seen. It's OK on SFX, but otherwise the plot is inane, the acting atrocious, and the entire movie can be explained in explosions, run some more, explosions, run some more. Really.

DO NOT pay MONEY to see this thing.

reply to post by schuyler


Ummm i don't agree with you. This movie is not bad at all. There is a lot of action, acting? I believe everybody played their roll well. Graphics were insane and overall the movie was great! I was even impressed with the teamwork of the marines. I deployed to iraq and this movie clearly reminded me of the respect and teamwork you have for each other when in combat.

I love the film and it's one of my favourites. I do have a soft-spot for alien invasion titles, specifically ones where our collective armed forces go up against other-wordly aggressors. At the end of it, there's a positive spin about humanity finding common ground and realising that we're not all that different. The only negative point is that we have to find an enemy to see that common bond. But space is a lonely and hostile environment, why would we think differently?

I love this segment:



It just brilliantly captures that sense of anticipation, dread, horror and adrenaline as you go to war which I'm sure every serviceman/woman has experienced at some point. When I first saw this scene at the cinema, I was utterly mesmerised, spellbound and just stunned. The music that kicks in when we see the external shot of the CH-46s, the meteors falling to Earth, the scene of total devastation on the beach and across L.A, the look on the faces of the marines that spells 'paradise lost'. I guess in that moment, after waiting effectively since 1996 (I had the Independence Day bug and yes I know it's cheesy as hell), I had found my perfect 'alien invasion moment'. Even though I was very excited beforehand, even a little nervous. This scene just gave me such a rush and you almost felt a part of the marines. I know some will think "Dude! Over this film?!", but it delivered the experience that I found lacking in other alien invasion/big monster films.

There's some very clever and original ideas here. Even the tried and tested ones don't feel too tired. The orbital insertion via meteors. Disguising themselves as a meteor shower. Their bio-mechanical make-up powered by water (much like us). Their organisation of their forces and their offensive campaign. No flying saucers or craft straight away. Full-on assault by ground forces. Their weaponry. Except for their wedge ships (the drones, fire some sort of directed energy weapon) they used projectile weapons not too dissimilar to our weapons. Tracking our radio signals through ELINT. Going after coastal regions. To me it all added to what felt like an original take on an alien invasion. And at least it boasts of presenting an alien invasion in a refreshing way. It also adds a certain level of plausibility to the proceedings. And given what we know about our own sector of space, which is fairly limited. I don't find it so outlandish that they'd come here for our water. Sure there's ice moons (Europa), comets and the Kepler belt. But they're all hostile environments to life and you're not always going to find water ice anyway. If you think that liquid water is an instant source of fuel for them, it makes much more sense to come here and take it away from us. Where it's habitable and free from the perils of living in deep space.

I liked the visual battle references. D-Day, Stalingrad, Mogadishu and Fallujah also spring to mind. One annoying criticism is the film is like watching a computer game being played and you can't play. Well film is vicarious entertainment isn't it?

There's actually some interesting background reading on the film too. For instance the producers said that the homeworld of the aliens is a very tumultuous place. Which may have undergone some cataclysm, possibly these aliens are not the dominant force on their home planet. Their technology and equipment looked old and used. Which suggests this may have been a rushed or hastily prepared operation and they do press their attack with great alacrity. I wouldn't be surprised if the aliens have assimilated technology from other civilisations. This may explain in part, why their bodies are bio-mechanical. On that point, I liked the creature designs. As it shows a unit designed and built for combat. They have armour, their head is actually their sensory package (quite a sophisticated one). Their weapon is grafted on their arm and they even require cooling fans at the back to dissipate heat. As said before, the aliens are organised and their civilisation seems caste based. As they had specific units within their infantry dedicated to certain tasks.

Unknown enemy

Wedge ship

I think what's interesting is the aliens's form of air superiority. We hear things like "they were blowing us out! (of the sky)" and "command says they're lighting up the sky". Which seems to indicate they were dominating everything. But I think they only took out the helicopters (and ground forces), which were an important logistical links for our armed forces in terms of transport and supply. I think they couldn't shoot down the jets because their drones were not designed for air-to-air combat. Rather, they seem designed to fit the aliens's approach of rapid domination on the ground. Hence why the drones were busily operating in a CAS role. Although it should be noted the drones are VTOL and can reach Mach 7!

reply to post by Retro~Burn


I think it's worth posting this link too:

F/A-18's role in Battle:LA

I think it's worth adding something about the motivations of the aliens for coming here. I don't think they just wanted a land grab or another colony. I think if the theory that they're fighting a losing war on their homeworld. It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that their attempted (I presume we defeated them eventually) conquest of the Earth was motivated by a need to establish a staging base against another enemy. Hence the hurried nature of their attack. That also makes things more accetpable in the storyline, since they would have to pick a liquid water rich environment where they found it. Unfortunately for us, Earth was such a location!

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
The drone's command and control ship was my other complaint. Realistically it would have been in orbit. The Marines and the airman should have came up with a way to jam the signal instead. A jamming solution would have been far more plausible.

I didn't have a problem with this aspect of the film. Sure, a C&C centre's signals would in theory be able to reach more of the Earth from space but there are hazards. There's tons of 'space junk' circling the Earth for starters. If a Copperhead missile can take one out, then imagine what a tiny meteorite hurtling at hundreds of miles per hour would do? You've also got potential signal loss/degradation with our atmosphere. Even a solar flare could shut down their C&C centres for all we know. They'd have to adjust their position in space in tandem with the Earth's rotation. A potential nightmare. We also don't know the effective range of their signals. Sure, the signal strength was strong enough to knock out electrical power but it still may not be enough if operated from space. Remember, this thing has to control hundreds if not more of drones. Signal is everything. I think of it as a broadband connection. The further away you are, the more the signal degrades and the greater the level of 'noise' or interference. Hence why we only saw the drones operate over the LA area.

The only thing that I thought was tactically strange was if they were prepared to let go of L.A or at least Santa Monica by carpet bombing it. Why didn't they have a back-up plan of using naval and land based artillery to flatten them? I might be in danger of answering my own question here. But here's one possibility for no use of naval warships:

Naval mines

Unidentified enemy



On the second link, navigate to Weapons ---> Mines. It speaks of the mine being able to generate enough energy through an explosion to distrupt plate tectonics on the ocean floor. Potentially causing tsunamis. There's also a 'classified' letter there which says the mines are remotely controlled through high frequency pulses which extend and communicate outside of the blast radius. The high frequency pulses are described thusly: "such high frequency pulses allow it to remain practically hidden from human interference or detection". Regarding the C&C, it makes me think that perhaps we wouldn't be able to jam their signal in the first place as we wouldn't have anything strong enough with which to jam it.

Some people didn't understand why the inserted infantry here when smashing us with an asteroid or comet would've wiped us out. The point is they're here for the water and not us. They couldn't give a # about us. As long as they could secure their pockets of water (which they did), then their operation could go ahead unhindered.

It recently aired on tv and I recorded it to watch and see if I thought differently to my movie going experience last March but honestly, I hate it just as much now as I did 12 months ago.

Aaron Eckhart's acting was the best thing about it and honestly, I hated almost every character (exceptions being Eckhart, Rodriguez and that Mexican kid).

They gave us no reason to care about the characters at all. The drinking at the start could've been a good time to explore the younger people in the unit in conversation, establish them as a group that have to live and fight alongside each other.

Instead it was just them having beers, trying to impress girls and teasing one of their comrades about being a virgin. The usual inane stuff I hate about my generation. I would've enjoyed those characters more if they'd all been blown up at the start cause otherwise, I couldn't care less about any of them. Cannon fodder as far as I'm concerned.

I guess unless you're a total meathead like those characters then you'd hate the movie and rightfully so. I'm just glad that Eckhart is semi-decent at what he does and that they had the subplot of his last unit in there cause otherwise this would be pure trash.