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Amazon.co.uk Review
Battle: Los Angeles is a war movie first, science fiction second. It's got it all: a burned-out retiring sergeant who gets drawn back in because, dammit, the Marines need him; the guy who's about to get married; the guy who's still a virgin; the guy suffering from shell shock and who just might crack; the newbie officer with a lot of book learning who you just know is going to freeze under pressure and have to be shepherded by that burned-out sergeant, who learned his lessons on the battlefield… and so much more. There's not a moment in this movie you haven't seen before--the only twist is that the enemy is alien, so whatever shred of concern you might have for raining heavy artillery on a fellow human being can be cheerfully cast aside. But clichés are clichés because they are efficient and effective, and despite the profound familiarity of Battle: Los Angeles, there's no denying the movie rips along (though two-thirds of the way through you may have forgotten who was the virgin and who was the shell-shocked guy--but really, does it matter?). The look owes a debt to District 9, a hand-held, vérité grittiness, with most of the CGI carefully given a dingy, dirty look so that it meshes with the urban landscape. Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) does an impressive job of spitting out ham-fisted dialogue like he really, really means it, while the rest of the cast is suitably generic. This is an unrepentant love letter to the military; many viewers, faced with the unsettling chaos and moral ambiguities of real wars, will find this mythologizing not only soothing, but even moving. --Bret Fetzer
Special Features
Special Features
- Behind the Battle
- Aliens in L.A.
- Preparing for Battle
- Creating L.A.
Product Description
Witness the end of civilization unfold as hostile alien invaders attack the planet. As people everywhere watch the world’s great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. Now it's up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered in this epic sci-fi action film.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
110 of 133 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I never do this - write a review for a film that I've seen at the cinema long before it comes out on DVD - but I felt everyone, some of whom might be put off by the sniffy negative reviews in the press, should know - when deciding on purchasing - this simple fact: Battle: Los Angeles is great!
It's Independence Day meets Saving Private Ryan - aliens v grunts in a joggly-camera, whirling ordnance, big explosion, LA-set Nirvana of shooting mayhem. The aliens are curiously limited - all that space travel and no decent AWACs or infra-red detection systems or ray guns - but that makes it a (reasonably) fair fight and allows Staff Sergeant Aaron Eckhart, Hoyt out of 'True Blood' and some other less familiar faces to actually trade fire to some effect with these extra-terrestrial scavengers.
Once the 'introduce the characters' bit is over, the film becomes a series of military cliff-hangers leavened by the odd 'come on guys' speech. A bus chase (like in Speed) gets chucked in too. There are also 'borrowings' from 'Aliens,' but it feels more like homage than plagiarism.
Crucially, it's played straight. There is no 'I know this is ridiculous' winking at the camera asides - just action. I think it's far more honest as a result. Some critics called it boorish and lacking in irony, but I think it does exactly what it says on the tin: massive shoot 'em up; Marines v Aliens; ludicrously exciting.
What's not to like?
If you know what films you like, you'll probably already know whether you want to see/own this film. It's not going to disappoint unlike some other 'actioners' I could name.
Recommended.
It's Independence Day meets Saving Private Ryan - aliens v grunts in a joggly-camera, whirling ordnance, big explosion, LA-set Nirvana of shooting mayhem. The aliens are curiously limited - all that space travel and no decent AWACs or infra-red detection systems or ray guns - but that makes it a (reasonably) fair fight and allows Staff Sergeant Aaron Eckhart, Hoyt out of 'True Blood' and some other less familiar faces to actually trade fire to some effect with these extra-terrestrial scavengers.
Once the 'introduce the characters' bit is over, the film becomes a series of military cliff-hangers leavened by the odd 'come on guys' speech. A bus chase (like in Speed) gets chucked in too. There are also 'borrowings' from 'Aliens,' but it feels more like homage than plagiarism.
Crucially, it's played straight. There is no 'I know this is ridiculous' winking at the camera asides - just action. I think it's far more honest as a result. Some critics called it boorish and lacking in irony, but I think it does exactly what it says on the tin: massive shoot 'em up; Marines v Aliens; ludicrously exciting.
What's not to like?
If you know what films you like, you'll probably already know whether you want to see/own this film. It's not going to disappoint unlike some other 'actioners' I could name.
Recommended.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A very realistic portrayal of going into combat , and the bravery and fear of the men who do it on our behalf.
While we never really find out why earth is being attacked, we are spared the usual scenes of the politicians dithering around . The film begins and ends with the Marines who are immediately thrust into combat.A great shoot-em-up movie ensues and the unit finds themselves cut-off, alone,with little or no support that soon fades as they realise that the aliens are tracking them through their radio signals.Basically they have to make it up as they go along,and those aliens are particularly difficult to kill.This leads to an interesting scene when the sergeant and a vet basically dismember a live alien to find that part of its body that is key to the alien's ability to live.Well, what else are you going to do to find it? No doubt some newspaper will then demand they be punished for maltreating their alien prisoner.......
Anyway, the movie is tense and lots of fun.
While we never really find out why earth is being attacked, we are spared the usual scenes of the politicians dithering around . The film begins and ends with the Marines who are immediately thrust into combat.A great shoot-em-up movie ensues and the unit finds themselves cut-off, alone,with little or no support that soon fades as they realise that the aliens are tracking them through their radio signals.Basically they have to make it up as they go along,and those aliens are particularly difficult to kill.This leads to an interesting scene when the sergeant and a vet basically dismember a live alien to find that part of its body that is key to the alien's ability to live.Well, what else are you going to do to find it? No doubt some newspaper will then demand they be punished for maltreating their alien prisoner.......
Anyway, the movie is tense and lots of fun.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
OK, so let's get the bad out of the way first. Like most alien invasion movies (or TV series like Falling Skies, which this movie most resembles), Battle: Los Angeles makes the most fundamental of errors; namely ignoring the fact that any alien race advanced enough to send an armada over interplanetary (or interstellar) distances, would be technologically as far advanced over us as the US military would be over Amazonian tribes in dug-out canoes armed with bows and arrows. But no! The film makers equipped these aliens with small-arms, armoured support and aircraft broadly comparable to the human equivalent. That's just plain stupid. The pitched battles and house-to-house fighting is pretty evenly matched and if the enemy didn't have long spindly limbs, bulbous heads and weapons that make a VUUUUUUUP! sound instead of BRRRRRRRR cak-cak-cak! you might as well be watching any urban warfare scenario. The aliens are also annoyingly inconsistently difficult to kill - in one scene it takes several seconds of automatic fire at point-blank range to kill one, whereas in the next, they are being picked off at range with single shots.
But I suppose any sci-fi demands that the viewer suspend their disbelief, so I'll nit-pick no more and get on to the good stuff. In terms of eye-candy, Battle: Los Angeles is superb. The CGI is well above-average and the alien hardware pretty damn awesome (most notably the final assault on the alien command centre). The shaky-cam effect is used to good effect (and thankfully not over-used) and the action rarely lets up. 5.1 sound is exceptional - if you have a decent home cinema system, you're in for a treat. There's tension aplenty and some decent enough acting - the kid 'Hector' was remarkably credible. Although a few American war move clichés will be spotted by the astute, it's also a tad less gung-ho and irritating than Independence Day.
All in all, if you get a few beers in and leave your brain at home, Battle: Los Angeles provides reasonable entertainment and will give your HD home cinema system a decent work-out. Worth a look if you don't expect too much and don't analyse your sci-fi too deeply!
But I suppose any sci-fi demands that the viewer suspend their disbelief, so I'll nit-pick no more and get on to the good stuff. In terms of eye-candy, Battle: Los Angeles is superb. The CGI is well above-average and the alien hardware pretty damn awesome (most notably the final assault on the alien command centre). The shaky-cam effect is used to good effect (and thankfully not over-used) and the action rarely lets up. 5.1 sound is exceptional - if you have a decent home cinema system, you're in for a treat. There's tension aplenty and some decent enough acting - the kid 'Hector' was remarkably credible. Although a few American war move clichés will be spotted by the astute, it's also a tad less gung-ho and irritating than Independence Day.
All in all, if you get a few beers in and leave your brain at home, Battle: Los Angeles provides reasonable entertainment and will give your HD home cinema system a decent work-out. Worth a look if you don't expect too much and don't analyse your sci-fi too deeply!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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This was an ok movie, but nothing special. It could easily have been an episode from the new Battlestar Galactica series. Read more
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Bad science, bad fiction, bad movie
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Published 1 month ago by fat man on a bicycle
"..FANTASTIC FUN SCI-FI.."
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Published 1 month ago by S. Drury
What am I rating?
OK first off, this has to be a review of the seller, product and the sales experience.
The product was well priced and was delivered promptly and on time. Read more
The product was well priced and was delivered promptly and on time. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Gordon
Entertaining Full Action
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Published 1 month ago by T. J. Brown
the poor writing really let this film down
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