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Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Will Rothhaar, Bridget Moynahan ... see more see more... , Cory C. Hardrict , Ne-Yo , Jim Parrack , Michael Peña , Gino Anthony Pesi , Adetokumboh M'Cormack , James Liao , Noel Fisher , Bryce Cass , Neil Brown Jr. , Taylor Handley , Joey King , Lucas Till , Kenneth Brown Jr. , Jadin Gould , Joe Chrest , E. Roger Mitchell , Rus Blackwell , Susie Abromeit , Brandi Coleman , Elizabeth Keener , Jessica Heap , Dave Jensen , Stacey Turner , Tom Hillmann , Chris Lena Clark , Jamie Norwood , Todd Cochran , Nzinga Blake , Taryn Southern , Jim Dever

For years, there have been documented cases of UFO sightings around the world - Buenos Aires, Seoul, France, Germany, China. But in 2011, what were once just sightings will become a terrifying reality... read more read more... when Earth is attacked by unknown forces. As people everywhere watch the world's great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It's up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they've ever encountered before. -- (C) Sony

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49% liked it

83,477 ratings

Critics

35% liked it

193 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 56 min.

Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman

Release Date: March 11, 2011

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DVD Release Date: June 14, 2011

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Stats: 12,683 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (12,683)

  • jmanard52
    March 13, 2011
    jmanard52
    Well I went in not expecting a great super movie. What I got was 2 hours of Halo :) A combination of Black Hawk Down style war movie with Halo aliens. It was a solid fun two hours. I enjoyed it. Many others will not but for me I looked past the cliched characters to just enjoy th... read moree action and the explosions. It was a fun sci-fi action ride. Go in with high expectations and you may be disappointed. Go in with your eyes on some popcorn fun and you will be delightfully surprised.
  • hellogoodby
    May 18, 2012
    hellogoodby
    Alien invasion movies have a tendency to be... well... bad. None of them seem to get it just right. They focus too much on the wrong things and they usually are way too long for their own good. Over the years they have gone from low budget B-Movies to over budget summer blockbust... read moreers, but they still can't seem to get into their groove. The way I see it is that they probably never will, but what they can do is give a breath of fresh air into the genre. A good example of this is 2009's District 9, which changed the whole concept of alien invasion into a more realistic style. Aliens living in slums, considered as lesser being to humans. This made me realize that the real way to go about making a good alien invasion film is by making it realistic. This is pretty ironic because the whole concept of alien invasion films are pretty unrealistic. Still, it works, and apparently Battle Los Angeles took the same lesson and applied it to its Black Hawk Down-meets-Indepence Day style invasion film. But does it help or hinder it?

    The film is about a group of soldiers that are called to L.A. to help an evacuation when fast moving U.F.O.'s are spotted heading towards the cost. Things quickly go down hill when aliens appear from the objects and attack the city. What was originally an evacuation becomes a rescue operation when the troops are ordered to head to a police station where civilians are holding up and take them back to the forward operations base. They are under a time limit though because in three hours the air force is going to level L.A. because the aliens apparently have no aircraft of their own. The make it to the police station and find that their are only two adults and two children still alive. But when the three ours are over, the bombs don't come falling down, and the soldiers start to realize that things maybe a lot worse than they had expected.

    The first thing I noticed about the film is that it isn't designed as specifically an alien invasion film, but also a war film. It may not make much sense in writing, but it is really noticeable in the film. Rather than it being about the whole idea of an invasion, it is more about a war where one side is a group of alien invaders. It also avoids many of the huge wide angle shots that make up most of the time in alien films. Instead it uses shaky camera battle scenes in the deteriorating streets of L.A. This is very different from most invasion films, and I kind of enjoyed it. But as you can see from my rating of it, it wasn't perfect. And one of the things I stated earlier caused me a lot of problems when I was watching. This was the shaky camera. For those who don't know; the shaky camera is a technique used in films when the director wants to either make the film seem more realistic or make the entire audience puke out the popcorn they were just eating.

    And the movie is so repetative! I mean, really repetative! It's actually really annoying because it isn't even repeating creative things as if the writers were like, "Hey, thats a good idea! Lets reuse it, like, five times throughout the movie." The things they were repeating were stupid clitches that didn't even want to see once, let alone 5 more times throughout the movie! Another thing that got on my nurves was Aaron Eckhart. I didn't find that he really fit in with the movie. I don't really know why, but it really feel like he shouldn't have been in the movie.

    In the end, I'd have to say... meh. I mean, it wasn't anything special and anything original in it became old really fast. If it had relied less on war and alien invasion movie clichés it might have been more entertaining than it ended up being. But it's too late for that, so I've gotta say, It's a 50/50 chance that you'll find enjoyment out of this film. So, if you like those odds than go see it, but I wouldn't personally recommend it.
  • garyX
    May 8, 2012
    garyX
    A squad of US Marines are sent into war-torn Los Angeles to rescue a group of stranded civilians during an alien invasion. The comparisons to Independence Day are obvious, but Battle: Los Angeles takes itself far more seriously than Roland Emmerich's fun-filled cheese fest. In fa... read morect Johnathan Liebesman has clearly seen Black Hawk Down one too many times and I suspect that writer Christopher Bertolini gets slightly tumescent every time he sees an army recruitment poster. It's basically just a generic war film with added aliens but the script makes the usual mistake of concentrating on action rather than story, resulting in a bunch of characters that are introduced only through ten minutes of soap opera at the beginning and never interact again apart from bellowing military jargon at each other punctuated by teary-eyed flag saluting and laughably sentimental cliches. This means that although the action sequences are very impressive, it's pretty hard to care what happens to anybody so any emotional drama or suspense instantly evaporates. It's nowhere near as wretched as Skyline, but little more than a corny old John Wayne war movie with a face lift, this film is a joyless, mechanical affair that is sorely missing what makes a B-Movie work; namely a sense of spectacle and most importantly of all, fun.
  • fb1463751009
    March 10, 2012
    fb1463751009
    SHABLOOIEEE! BLAMMMMM MICHAEL BAYBOOM EXPLOSIONSSSSS! It's well shot but definitely felt restricted. Action was kinda entertaining and the CGI was lacking. The dialogue equivalent with that of many Call of Duty games. Way too long.
  • Beefy
    January 12, 2012
    Beefy
    Good: It's better than Skyline.

    Bad: That's not saying much.

    All the elements are there but it never gels into the film it is trying to be. Having so many thin, stupid characters just makes it worse.
  • itsjustme2004
    January 3, 2012
    itsjustme2004
    3 3/4 stars. I rather enjoyed this. Good afternoon entertainment. Well done. Good acting. Good action. Definitley one of the better alien invasion movies that came out at this time.
  • SirPant
    November 22, 2011
    SirPant
    Battle: Los Angeles is 1 part alien invasion film and 2 parts army film. A fellow reviewer has said it's 'Independence Day meets Black Hawk Down' and I think that's pretty spot on. However, I enjoyed this much more than both of those films. I felt there was an element of realism ... read morethat balances out the fantasy aspect of the story and isn't that what we all want from these kinds of films? Independence Day was a cartoon in comparison and Black Hawk Down was mainly a confusing headache. I was going to say Battle: Los Angeles is a guilty pleasure but actually, I don't mind admitting that I liked it. What do I know though, I thought Skyline was good but what I will still say in my defence is that they are both original films within the genres, something some of the other more popular films can't boast.
  • MovieGeek13
    November 14, 2011
    MovieGeek13
    Here it is kids! The first video game movie. No, not video game based movie; the first video game movie. Two hours of you running around in a deserted battlefield that was once Los Angeles fighting aliens Call of Duty style. The aliens have no personality. They're just moving tar... read moregets who shoot at you so you can shoot them. Only problem is you don't get to play a movie.
    Someone in Hollywood saw War of the Worlds and then Black Hawk Down. Soon enough, a light went off in that person's head, who would then scream, "wouldn't it be awesome if a movie was made just like Black Hawk Down, but instead of Somalis as bad guys, we put in aliens?!" Well, here is that movie.
    Battle LA is every single war movie cliche thrown into one. It's central character is the disgraced war sergeant who will get a chance to redeem himself. Everyone else is cannon fodder, pawns to get blown up so the movie can show you the brutality of war. Two hours of soldiers shooting at aliens you barely see, edited together in a chaotic fashion to give you that "you are there" feel, but also so you can't tell what the hell is going on. Yaawwn.
    The script must have been the easiest thing to write, since every scene contains many shouts of "Move!" "Watch out!" "Keep shooting!" and the like. Also, the film's lame attempt to sympathize with the enemy comes out in one soldier's laughable statement, "they're just like us. Forced to follow orders."
    This two hour gunfight is supposed to be a metaphor for modern war, except how do you take that seriously when the war is against fantastical creatures like aliens. Symbolism doesn't work here, because the movie tries too hard to be super-realistic. If you want to see a film about war, watch the infinitely better Hurt Locker. Hell, go straight to the source, watch Black Hawk Down. But not Battle Los Angeles. This movie is shit.
  • fb1028803305
    October 18, 2011
    fb1028803305
    This film rides on comparisons to Independence Day, but in the end these comparisons merely point out the film's weaknesses. Independence Day promoted an everyman patriotism where trailer trash, scientist, president, and soldier were all heroes in equal measure. Battle: Los Angel... read morees makes sure that there's a hierarchy in which soldiers are at the top.

    Updated for the times, however, Battle: Los Angeles makes statements about violence in the media which were also looked at in Hurt Locker. Soldiers form around a TV to watch a news broadcast on the violence that they will soon face. By the time they're fighting, we get Call of Duty like point of view shots, which is a stab at the audience for being so fascinated by violence in video games and needing it as a mediator. The difference is that Hurt Locker abandoned its focus on reality for the sake of artfulness half way through, whereas Battle: Los Angeles knowingly embraces the unreality of its time and form.
  • thmtsang
    September 24, 2011
    thmtsang
    It's like war of the worlds. The Earth is under attack by alien forces. An army platoon fight back in the last city standing - Los Angeles. Good special affects. Defo a guy's movie. Lots of action and explosions.

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Critic Reviews

Michael Wilmington
December 6, 2011
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Reader

Terminally stupid. Full Review

Anthony Lane
March 21, 2011
Anthony Lane, New Yorker

If the talk had been surgically removed, leaving only the sights and sounds of combat, this could have been a striking, semiabstract display of aggressive energy; as it is, any viewer over twelve will... Full Review

Stephen Whitty
March 12, 2011
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Excitement? Not so much. Full Review

Peter Rainer
March 11, 2011
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

With his hawklike profile and square jaw, the hyperstalwart Eckhart looks like a comic-book hero and acts like one, too. He's so stalwart he creaks. Full Review

Tom Long
March 11, 2011
Tom Long, Detroit News

This film feels so much like a videogame your hands keep reaching for controllers -- shoot the aliens, shoot the aliens, shoot the aliens. Full Review

Rick Groen
March 11, 2011
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

Don't mean to boast, but I can suspend my disbelief as willingly as any credulous moviegoer. Yet not even an industrial crane would have helped here. Nope, Battle: Los Angeles completely defeated me. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
March 11, 2011
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

This silly extraterrestrial-invasion epic somehow manages the feat of making the destruction of La La Land seem tedious. Full Review

Mark Jenkins
March 11, 2011
Mark Jenkins, Washington Post

H.G. Wells did it better. This movie spends so much yawn-inducing time on variations of the same combat scenario that its final showdown feels rushed. Full Review

A.O. Scott
March 11, 2011
A.O. Scott, New York Times

As it lurches from Act II to Act III, "Battle: Loss Angeles" reveals itself to be a lousy movie. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
March 10, 2011
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Eckhart's commitment to the movie's reality, which is as fierce as the sergeant's commitment to his men, takes what otherwise might merely have been outlandish and makes it believable, and frightening. Full Review

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    • 2nd Lt. William Martinez: That was some real Joghn Wayne shit Staff Sergeant
    • Ssgt. Michael Nantz: Lets take back Los Angeles!
    • Ssgt. Michael Nantz: Retreat, hell.
    • 2nd Lt. William Martinez: This is Lieutenant William Martinez, Echo Company, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines! Hoorah!
    • Ssgt. Michael Nantz: Move to live, Marines.
    • Ssgt. Michael Nantz: You're the bravest Marine I've ever senn Hector!
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Battle: Los Angeles Trivia

  • Name this actor He plays the drums His first name rhymes with HIYA He's an ONLY child Was named after his Grandfather He grew up In Los Angeles And he's been in, Bobby and The Battle of Shaker Heights  Answer »
  • In Battle : Los Angeles. What did the Aliens invade the Earth for?  Answer »
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