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Battle: Los Angeles
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Wikipedia article
'Battle: Los Angeles' (also known as 'Battle: LA', stylised as 'Battle Los Angeles' in the opening sequence and internationally as 'World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles') is a 2011 American military science-fiction action film directed by Jonathan Liebesman. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Chris Bertolini, based in part on a World War II incident dubbed the "Battle of Los Angeles". The film is set in modern-day Los Angeles and follows a Marine Staff Sergeant played by Aaron Eckhart who leads a platoon of U.S. Marines, joined by other stranded military personnel, during a global alien invasion.Jonathan Liebesman (Director). (2011). 'Battle: Los Angeles' [Motion picture] Production Notes. United States: Columbia Pictures. The ensemble cast includes Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo, and Michael Pea.
The film was a co-production of Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, and Original Film. It was distributed by Columbia, while Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film in the video rental market. The film won the BMI TV Music Award for composer Brian Tyler. The film score was orchestrated by Tyler in conjunction with the Hollywood Studio Symphony. The soundtrack was released by the Varse Sarabande music label on March 8, 2011.
Principal photography began in September 2009, and the film was released in the United States on March 11, 2011. It grossed $211 million worldwide against a production budget of around $70 million, and received generally negative reviews from critics. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 14, 2011.
Plot
On August 12, 2011, a number of apparent meteors landed in the world's oceans, near 20 major coastal cities. The objects prove to be spacecraft containing hostile extraterrestrials. As Los Angeles (LA) is being evacuated, Marines from Camp Pendleton arrive, including Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz, an Iraq War veteran. Nantz, who was to begin his retirement, is assigned to the 1st Platoon, Echo Company, of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.
Under the command of 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez, the platoon arrives at a forward operating base (FOB) established at Santa Monica Airport. The alien ground forces have no apparent air support, so the Air Force prepares to carpet bomb the Santa Monica area, and the platoon is given three hours to retrieve civilians from an LAPD station in West LA. As they advance through LA, they are ambushed and suffer multiple casualties. Nantz takes Marines Imlay and Harris to look for Lenihan, who is missing from the group. After fighting off an alien, they team up with some soldiers from the 40th Infantry Division and an Air Force intelligence Technical Sergeant, Elena Santos. At the police station, the makeshift platoon finds five civilians: veterinarian Michele, children Kirsten, Amy and Hector, and Hector's father Joe. A helicopter arrives to evacuate wounded Marines, but can not take on the weight of the civilians. During takeoff, it is destroyed by alien air units, killing Grayston, Guerrero, Lenihan and Simmons.
The Marines commandeer an abandoned transit bus for the evacuation. En route, they deduce that the alien air units are drones that target human radio transmissions. Santos reveals that her mission is to locate the aliens' command and control center, as its destruction should deactivate the drones. When their bus comes under attack on an elevated freeway, the Marines rappel the group to street level. In the ensuing battle, Marines Stavrou and Mottola and the remainder of the Army National Guard soldiers are killed, while both Joe and Lieutenant Martinez are wounded fighting the aliens. Martinez uses his radio to attract the aliens, then detonates explosives, sacrificing himself. Nantz is now in command of surviving personnel Santos, Imlay, Kerns, Lockett, Harris, Adukwu and the civilians, continuing their escape from the bombing zone. A news report interviews a scientist who speculates that the aliens are seeking Earth's water for fuel while eradicating the human population.
The carpet bombing never happens. Reaching the FOB, the Marines find it destroyed and that the military is retreating from LA. The Marines plan to escort the civilians to an alternate extraction point. When Joe dies from his wounds, Nantz comforts Hector. Lockett confronts Nantz regarding his brother, a Marine who, with four others, was killed during Nantz's last tour. They come to peace when Nantz explains that he continues to think of them, and recites each one's name, rank and serial number. Nantz motivates the group to move forward to honor their fallen comrades, including Joe for his bravery. They reach the extraction point and evacuate by helicopter.
In flight, the chopper experiences a brief loss of power. Nantz theorizes that they are flying near the alien command center, transmitting intense radio messages to its drones. He orders his unit to accompany the civilians while he stays to reconnoiter the area, but his fighters all join him. Searching through sewers, they confirm the presence of a large alien vessel. Kerns radios in to request missiles, which Nantz manually directs using a laser designator while the others defend his position. Kerns is killed when a drone homes in on his radio, but the Marines succeed in routing a missile to the command module, which is destroyed. The uncontrolled drones fall from the sky, and the alien ground forces retreat.
The remaining fightersNantz, Imlay, Lockett, Harris, Adukwu and Santosare evacuated to a base in the Mojave Desert, where they are greeted as heroes. They are told that their successful method has been transmitted to the armies battling alien forces in 19 other cities, that Michele and the three children were rescued, and that they can now rest. Instead, they re-arm and join the armed force leaving to retake Los Angeles.
Cast
* Aaron Eckhart as United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz
* Michelle Rodriguez as United States Air Force Technical Sergeant Elena Santos, 1st Force, 61 Air Base Wing
* Ne-Yo as United States Marine Corps Corporal Kevin J. "Specks" Harris
* Bridget Moynahan as Michele
* Michael Pea as Joe Rincon
* Cory Hardrict as United States Marine Corps Corporal Jason "Cochise" Lockett
* Jim Parrack as United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Peter J. "Irish" Kerns
* Gino Anthony Pesi as United States Marine Corps Corporal Nick C. "Stavs" Stavrou
* Lucas Till as United States Marine Corps Corporal Scott Grayston
* Ramon Rodriguez as United States Marine Corps 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez, 1st Platoon
* Noel Fisher as United States Marine Corps Private First Class Shaun "Casper" Lenihan
* Adetokumboh M'Cormack as United States Navy Hospital Corpsman Second Class Jibril A. "Doc" Adukwu
* Will Rothhaar as United States Marine Corps Corporal Lee "Cowboy" Imlay
* Neil Brown Jr. as United States Marine Corps Corporal Richard "Motown" Guerrero
* Taylor Handley as United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Corey Simmons
* James Hiroyuki Liao as United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Steven "Motorolla" Mottola
* Joey King as Kristen
* Bryce Cass as Hector Rincon
* Jadin Gould as Amy
Production
Development
Jonathan Liebesman intended the film to be a realistic depiction of an alien invasion in the style of a war film, taking inspiration from the films 'Black Hawk Down', 'Saving Private Ryan', and 'United 93' for his documentary style of filming. Liebesman also drew inspiration from YouTube videos of Marines fighting in Fallujah for the look of the film. As a result, the film was not shot in 3D as the director felt that combined with the handheld camera style of shooting would make the audience "throw up in two minutes." Instead, standard film was used, intercutting footage from three different cameras. The filmmakers tested shooting the film digitally on a Red camera, but found the camera could not capture the same quality image as standard film. The film was shot for a PG-13 rating, as the director felt making the film overly gory did not suit the more suspenseful tone they were trying to achieve. Screenwriter Chris Bertolini tried to include humour and suspense as well as action, which he felt were important elements to help draw the audience into the drama.In an interview with IGN, Liebesman described the interaction between actors, as well as the natural development of the film during pre-production exclaiming, "What comes out of that is a lot of tiny little details and tiny things that these guys bring out." He also noted, "Whether it's, just off the top of my head, Ne-Yo, who plays Harris, and Gino [Pesi], who plays Stavrou, have a great relationship, a lot of which they made up behind the scenes. Just little things, characters that you thought, 'Ah, s--t this wasn't really in the script.' These guys, like Guerrero (Neil Brown Jr.). He's one of the guys way back there but he's got a personality and he brought it and it was just stuff you don't expect."
Themes and analysis
The film's story was partly inspired by the Battle of Los Angeles, a rumored enemy attack and subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage that took place in Los Angeles during World War II, on the night of February 24, 1942. The incident occurred a day after the Bombardment of Ellwood when an Imperial Japanese submarine launched shells at US aviation fuel tanks; West-coast tensions were already running high in the months after the December 1941 Pearl Harbor Attack and entry of the US into World War II. Eyewitnesses and radar data reported an unknown aerial craft over the Los Angeles area on February 24, leading to fears of a Japanese attack on the US mainland. But a review of the incident found no proof of Japanese presence in the area and attributed the incident to an overreaction by US military forces. In later years, UFO investigators speculated the aircraft spotted on the night was an extraterrestrial craft.[http://www.noufors.com/Documents/BattleOfLosAngeles.pdf The History of the 4th AA Command, Western Defense Command, Jan 9 1942 to July 1 1945 (extract)], edited by Dale Goudie, Jim Klotz and Chris Lambright. Cufors.org, accessed 04 May 2020This real incident was used as the main focus of an early teaser trailer to promote the film, in which it is strongly implied the alien invaders spent decades planning their attack and invasion. The filmmakers drew upon this historical event in an attempt to help ground the film in reality. Aaron Eckhart said that the objective of the film was to make as realistic an alien invasion movie as possible; "The goal was: this is a war movie, a documentary-style war moviewith aliens in it." The film, however, was not the first motion picture to touch upon the events surrounding the tale of the Pacific air raids. In 1979, the comedy drama film '1941' directed by Steven Spielberg, alluded to the 1942 shelling as well as other surprise military engagements.Steven Spielberg. (1979). '1941' [Motion picture] The Making of 1941. United States: Universal Pictures. On March 12, 2011, a day after the official release for 'Battle: Los Angeles', a mockbuster produced by the independent film company The Asylum, entitled 'Battle of Los Angeles', premiered on the Syfy cable TV channel in the United States.
Filming
Filming took place from September 2009 through December 2009 in Shreveport and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (with some scenes filmed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California). Louisiana was chosen instead of Los Angeles mainly due to financial advantages. Principal photography began in the second week of September in Shreveport with scenes depicting a destroyed interstate filled with cars, an overturned tanker truck, and a crashed helicopter. Post-production lasted throughout 2010 and into 2011. Special effects used in the principal photography included pyrotechnics. The most climactic of all was a large fireball-producing explosion which was said to have alarmed some residents and passers-by. Film crews implemented use of a large "green-screen" billboard at the base (end) of the "destroyed" interstate to use later for inserting CGI images of Los Angeles. The actors went through three weeks of boot camp, in order to learn how to realistically operate as a Marine platoon. In addition, Eckhart had done training with the Marines for a few months beforehand in weapons training and drills. On set, military technical advisors worked with the actors to ensure they gave a realistic performance. Eckhart broke his upper arm when he fell off a ledge during an action sequence, but continued to work for the remainder of the film without having it put in a cast.There was military support for filming. Numerous Marine units assisted in filming, including infantry from 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, MV-22 Ospreys from VMMT-204 (based at Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina), CH-46 Sea Knights from HMM-268 and HMM-774 (based in Camp Pendleton and Naval Station Norfolk, respectively), and reservists from 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines based in Belle Chasse, Louisiana.
Visual effects
While Liebesman tried to use practical effects whenever possible (although green screen and CGI were used), such as for explosions, 90% of the aliens are computer-generated, as the director felt they would be too difficult to achieve any other way. The invaders were designed by Paul Gerrard, who made them to appear "very alien", neither arthropod nor vertebrate, while Liebesman described them as "genocidal Nazis... They look at us like we look at ants." Liebesman wanted the aliens to appear to function as a real army, complete with medics and different ranking officers, and using tactics such as taking cover to protect themselves. Liebesman also confirmed that the aliens are invading for the Earth's natural resources, specifically because the Earth is 70% covered with water.Controversy
Sony investigated the possibility of legal action against the filmmakers Greg and Colin Strause, who were hired to do visual effects work on 'Battle: Los Angeles' through their special effects company Hydraulx. Sony suspected the Strause brothers had created their own Los Angeles-based alien invasion film 'Skyline', which would compete with the 'Battle: Los Angeles' release, by using resources they had gained while working on the film without the consent of Sony Pictures. A spokesman for the Strauses responded by saying, "Any claims of impropriety are completely baseless. This is a blatant attempt by Sony to force these independent filmmakers to move a release date that has long been set by Universal and Relativity and is outside the filmmakers' control." Sony initiated arbitration against Hydraulx and the Strause brothers, but later dismissed the arbitration.Music and soundtrack
The score was composed & conducted By Brian Tyler and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. The soundtrack for the film released on March 8, 2011.[http://www.briantyler.com/ "Battle: Los Angeles Soundtrack"]. BrianTyler.com. Retrieved June 7, 2011. A song used in the trailer is "The Sun's Gone Dim and the Sky's Turned Black" by Jhann Jhannsson.[http://www.tracksounds.com/reviews/battle_los_angeles_brian_tyler.htm Soundtrack review for 'Battle: Los Angeles'] . Tracksounds. Retrieved June 7, 2011. Songs used in the film were "California Love" by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman but not included on the soundtrack album.
Release
Premiere and theatrical release
The film had its world premiere in the United States on March 11, 2011. The next day, on March 12, it premiered in the Asia Pacific region in Taiwan. Other European markets in Germany and Denmark had the film premiering on April 14. The film made its debut in Sweden on April 20 and Switzerland on April 22. It went into general theatrical release in Latin America in Argentina on March 10. Certain Middle Eastern markets; the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon saw the premiere of the film on March 10, while in South Africa it screened later in the month on March 25.Video game
A first-person shooter video game developed by Saber Interactive subsidiary Live Action Studios and published by Konami was released on Xbox Live Arcade on March 11, 2011. The OnLive game service (as part of its Playpack subscription service) was made available to subscribers on March 15, and on the PlayStation Network on March 22. Eckhart reprised his role for the game. Players assume the role of Corporal Lee Imlay throughout the game. The Xbox 360 version of the game received generally unfavorable reviews on Metacritic, scoring a 39 out of 100 based on 21 critics.[https://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/battle-los-angeles Battle: Los Angeles Xbox 360 Metacritic Review] It sold over 60,000 copies on the Xbox 360 as of year-end 2011.Home media
Following its cinematic release in theaters, the Region 1 Code widescreen edition of the film was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in the United States on June 14, 2011. Special features for the DVD include; Behind The Battle, Building the Aliens, Acting with Aliens, Shooting the Aliens, Preparing for Battle, and Creating L.A. in LA. Additionally, a combo two-disc Blu-ray Disc/DVD was also released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on June 14, 2011. Special features for the DVD/Blu-ray Disc pack include; PS3 Theme, Behind The Battle, Directing the Battle, Building the Aliens, Acting with Aliens, Shooting the Aliens, Preparing for Battle, Boot Camp, Creating L.A. in LA, The Freeway Battle, Command Control, Staff Sergeant Nantz, Marine Behind The Scenes, Aliens Ambush The Marines, Battling Unknown Forces, Technical Sergeant Santos, Alien Autopsy, Gas Station Explosion, Visual FX on the Freeway, Do You Believe in Aliens?, and Alien Command & Control.Concurrently, the widescreen hi-definition Blu-ray version of the film was released on June 14, 2011, too. Special features include; PS3 Theme, Resistance 3 Game Demo HybridPS3 Game, Behind The Battle, Directing the Battle, Building the Aliens, Acting with Aliens, Shooting the Aliens, Preparing for Battle, Boot Camp, Creating L.A. in LA, The Freeway Battle, Command Control, Staff Sergeant Nantz, Marine Behind The Scenes, Aliens Ambush The Marines, Battling Unknown Forces, Technical Sergeant Santos, Alien Autopsy, Gas Station Explosion, Visual FX on the Freeway, Do You Believe in Aliens?, and Alien Command & Control. A supplemental viewing option for the film in the media format of video on demand is available as well.
'Battle: Los Angeles' is one of the first titles to be re-mastered in the ultra-high resolution format 4K.
Reception
Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 37% based on 212 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Overlong and overly burdened with war movie clichs, 'Battle: Los Angeles' will entertain only the most ardent action junkies." Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 37 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".Noted film critic Roger Ebert panned 'Battle: Los Angeles' in a lengthy review, calling the movie "noisy, violent, ugly and stupid", giving the film a mere half star rating. Though he praised Aaron Eckhart's performance, Ebert heavily criticized the film's writing, effects designs, camerawork and editing. He closed his review by saying, "When I think of the elegant construction of something like 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral', I want to rend the hair from my head and weep bitter tears of despair. Generations of filmmakers devoted their lives to perfecting techniques that a director like Jonathan Liebesman is either ignorant of, or indifferent to. Yet he is given millions of dollars to produce this assault on the attention span of a generation."Ebert, Roger (March 9, 2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110917022318/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110309/REVIEWS/110309992 Battle: Los Angeles]. 'Chicago Sun-Times'. Retrieved June 17, 2012. Anthony Lane of 'The New Yorker' gave the film a better review only by comparing it to films that were worse, stating: "'Battle: Los Angeles' is a lot more fun than bludgeoning, soul-draining follies like 'Terminator Salvation' or the 'Transformers' films."
'Battle: Los Angeles' was largely given poor reviews by the 'Los Angeles Times',Sharkey, Betsy (March 11, 2011). [https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-battle-la-20110311,0,4204725.story Movie review: 'Battle: Los Angeles']. 'Los Angeles Times'. Retrieved June 17, 2012. 'The New York Times',Scott, A.O. (March 10, 2011). [https://movies.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/movies/battle-los-angeles-with-aaron-eckhart-review.html?ref=movies City of Angels Resists Becoming City of Aliens (the Outer-Space Type)]. 'The New York Times'. Retrieved June 17, 2012. 'USA Today',Bowles, Scott (March 11, 2011). [https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2011-03-11-battle11_ST_N.htm Been there, fought that in 'Battle: Los Angeles']. 'USA Today'. Retrieved June 17, 2012. 'Entertainment Weekly',Gleiberman, Owen (March 11, 2011). [https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20472375,00.html Movie Review Battle: Los Angeles (2011)]. 'Entertainment Weekly'. Retrieved June 17, 2012. and 'Variety'.Lowry, Brian (March 9, 2011). [https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117944792?refcatid=31 Battle: Los Angeles]. 'Variety'. Retrieved June 17, 2012. One stand out, the 'San Francisco Chronicle',LaSalle, Micke (March 11, 2011). [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/10/DDLM1I7E0U.DTL Battle: Los Angeles review]. 'San Francisco Chronicle'. Retrieved June 17, 2012. gave it a sympathetic review. Kim Newman of 'Empire' rated the film 2 stars out of 5, conceding that the combat scenes were good, but criticizing its lack of originality, writing "Things blow up good and Eckhart is a classier actor than his role warrants, but we've all been here before."Newman, Kim (March 11, 2011). [https://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?DVDID=118744 Battle: Los Angeles] . 'Empire'. Retrieved June 17, 2012. Nigel Floyd of 'Time Out' rated the film 2 stars saying that it "... lumbers the flat military characters with hackneyed dialogue and corny sentimentality".Floyd, Nigel (March 16, 2011). [https://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/89545/battle-los-angeles.html Battle: Los Angeles Review]. 'Time Out'. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
Neil Smith of 'Total Film' magazine rated the film as 3 stars out of 5 and summarized, "Imagine 'Black Hawk Down' with ET's instead of Somalis and you'll have the measure of an explosive if functional actioner that will do while we're waiting for summer's big guns to arrive".Smith, Neil (March 10, 2011). [http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/battle-los-angeles Fight them on the beaches, dude...]. 'Total Film'. Retrieved March 10, 2011. Movie critic Michael Phillips of the 'Chicago Tribune' also rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, remarking how the story was "gratifyingly narrow: It's about a handful of people trying to get a handful of blocks to a safe zone on the west side of LA, and not get killed in the process. The saving-the-world part is almost an afterthought."Phillips, Michael (March 10, 2011). [https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-0310-battle-los-angeles-20110310,0,5880859.column Cliches abound, but 'Battle: Los Angeles' prevails] . 'Chicago Tribune'. Retrieved March 23, 2011. In mild positive sentiment, Ty Burr of 'The Boston Globe' emphatically stated that the film was a "loud, frenetic, viscerally gripping two-hour tour of duty that mostly plays fair by the rules of the genre and mostly avoids macho posturing."Burr, Ty (March 11, 2011). [http://articles.boston.com/2011-03-11/ae/29339603_1_alien-invasion-movie-sergeant The sands of Santa Monica: Los Angeles is viscerally gripping, if full of war-movie cliches] . 'The Boston Globe'. Retrieved June 20, 2012. Similarly, Connie Ogle of the 'Miami Herald' deduced that 'Battle: Los Angeles' was "not so goofy as 'Independence Day', not so terrifying as 'War of the Worlds', and it utterly lacks the imagination and emotional resonance of 'District 9'" but was a "solid popcorn movie, with plenty of action, explosions and low-key mayhem unlikely to scar even the most fragile of psyches."Ogle, Connie (March 10, 2011). [http://www.miami.com/039battle-los-angeles039-pg-13-article The latest invasion of Earth by aliens isn't memorable, but you won't be bored.]. 'Miami Herald'. Retrieved June 20, 2012. In his review for The Arizona Republic, critic Bill Goodykoontz called the film "good, dumb fun." Michael Phillips wrote in The Chicago Tribune, "Original, it's not. Exciting, it is. This jacked-up B-movie hybrid of 'Black Hawk Down' and 'War of the Worlds' is a modest but crafty triumph of tension over good sense and cliche."
Accolades
'Battle: Los Angeles' received an award nomination for actor Pea in the category of 'Favorite Movie Actor', along with a nomination for Rodriguez for 'Favorite Movie Actress' from the ALMA Awards. Additionally, composer Tyler won the BMI TV Music Award for his work on the film.Box office
'Battle: Los Angeles' debuted on March 11, 2011, in the United States screening at 3,417 theaters. It grossed $13,399,310 on its opening day, which was the best opening-day gross for 2011 until the record was surpassed by 'Fast Five'. Overall, the film made $35,573,187 and ranked number one on its opening weekend ahead of 'Red Riding Hood' and 'Mars Needs Moms'. The film dropped to No. 2 after a week when 'Rango' topped the box office on St. Patrick's Day. During its final week in release, 'Battle: Los Angeles' opened in a distant 46th place with $68,843 in revenue. At the end of its run in 2011, the film has grossed $83,552,429 in the United States and Canadian markets and $128,266,925 in international markets, for a worldwide total of $211,819,354.Awards and nominations
Sequel
Eckhart has stated he would be interested in returning for a sequel. In an interview on March 25, 2012, director Jonathan Liebesman announced that work on a script for a sequel had begun. He also commented that the budget "will be as big."
References
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