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Disc #1 -- Battle: Los Angeles
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Previews
Priest
Das Boot
Insidious
Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown
The Green Hornet
Beastly
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- Features
Behind the Battle
Aliens in L.A.
Preparing for Battle
Creating L.A. in LA
Directing the Battle
Boot Camp
The Freeway Battle
Command Control - Command your Viewing experiences by watching Picture-in-Picture, Storyboard Comparisons, Battle Points
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Directors
Jonathan Liebesman
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Producers
Neal H. Moritz
Ori Marmur
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Composers (Music Score)
Brian Tyler
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Editors
Christian Wagner
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Screen Writers
Chris Bertolini
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Set Designers
Jann K. Engel
Daniel R. Jennings
Others
Additional Editing - Michael Tronick
Additional Editing - Leigh Folsom-Boyd
Art Director - Scott Plauche
Art Director - Andrew Neskoromny
Art Director - Chris Spellman
Assistant Editor - Stephen M. Rickert Jr.
Assistant Editor - Adam M. Duthie
Assistant Editor - Melissa McCaffery
Associate Producer - Lisa Rodgers
Casting Associate - Tannis Vallely
CGI Effects - Buckley Collum
CGI Effects - Leif Einarsson
CGI Effects - Anthony Zwartouw
CGI Effects - Blaire Tennessy
Cinematographer - Lukas Ettlin
Composer (Music Score) - Brian Tyler
Costume Designer - Sanja Milkovic Hays
Costumes Supervisor - Camille Argus
Creature Design - TyRuben Ellingson
Creature Effects - Joel Harlow
Creature Effects - Steve Buscaino
Department Head Hair - Gloria P. Casny
Department Head Makeup - Joel Harlow
Executive Producer - Jeffrey Chernov
Executive Producer - David Greenblatt
First Assistant Director - J. Michael Haynie
First Assistant Director - Scott Thaler
First Assistant Editor - Aaron Brock
Key Costumer - Donna Chance
Key Costumer - Lorenzo Hearns Jr.
Key Hairstylist - Jules Holdren
Key Make-up - Kim Ayers
Leadman - Thierry Labbe
Location Manager - Ed Lipscomb
Makeup - Courtney Lether
Makeup - Steve Buscaino
Production Coordinator - Ellen J. Porter
Production Designer - Peter Wenham
Production Supervisor - Karen Jarnecke
Properties Master - Gary F. Tuers
Re-Recording Mixer - Paul Massey
Re-Recording Mixer - David Giammarco
Script Supervisor - Dawn Gilliam
Second Assistant Director - Richard Oswald
Set Decorator - Robert Kensinger
Sound Effects Director - Paul N.J. Ottosson
Sound Effects Editor - Christopher M. Jacobson
Sound Effects Editor - Jamie Hardt
Sound Mixer - Paul Ledford
Special Effects Foreman - Dale Ettema
Special Effects Foreman - David Poole
Special Effects Foreman - Don Myers
Special Effects Supervisor - Stan Parks
Special Effects Technician - Terry P. Chapman
Special Effects Technician - Albert Delgado
Storyboard Artist - Richard Bennett
Stunts Coordinator - Joey Box
Supervising Animator - Joel Sevilla
Supervising Animator - Jeremy Butler
Supervising Art Director - Thomas Valentine
Supervising Sound Editor - Jon Johnson
Technical Advisor - Jim Dever
Technical Advisor - Tom Minder
Unit Production Manager - Tommy Harper
Visual Effects - Cinesite
Visual Effects - Intelligent Creatures
Visual Effects - Modern Videofilm Incorporated
Visual Effects - Spin
Visual Effects - The Embassy Visual Effects
Visual Effects - Hydraulx
Visual Effects - Shade VFX
Visual Effects Editor - Evan Schiff
Visual Effects Editor - Craig Smith
Visual Effects Producer - Kevin Elam
Visual Effects Supervisor - Everett Burrell
Visual Effects Supervisor - Bill Kunin
Visual Effects Supervisor - Jeff Campbell
Visual Effects Supervisor - Ben Shepherd
Visual Effects Supervisor - Winston Helgason
So front-loaded with clichés that it initially feels as if it might buckle under the weight of its own derivativeness,
Battle: Los Angeles eventually finds its footing during an explosive bridge battle around the midway mark, and subsequently muscles through with the efficiency of a battle-hardened Marine.
After decades of speculation about life on other planets, the people of Earth discover that they are not alone in the universe when destruction rains down from the stars on 12 major cities all across the globe. Our new overlords have arrived, and they won't rest until the entire human race has been exterminated. When the alien warships begin laying waste to Los Angeles, however, the ferocious invaders discover that humankind won't go down without a fight as gruff Marine Staff Sergeant Nantz (
Aaron Eckhart) and his fearless troop of jarheads vow to hold their ground and make one last stand for humanity. But how do you defeat an enemy when you don't have the first clue about their biology, or their technology? As the countdown to a massive bombing campaign along the Santa Monica shoreline begins, Nantz and his battalion race to rescue a group of citizens trapped in a nearby police station. Along the way, they're joined by Tech Sergeant Elena Santos (
Michelle Rodriguez) and a ragtag group of desperate soldiers. Upon reaching the station, the group succeeds in locating the survivors, who include devoted father Joe (
Michael Peña) and his young son, Hector (
Bryce Cass). Just as the desperate group is about to make their escape, however, they realize they are surrounded on all sides. Getting out won't be easy, but to stay means certain death. Now, if they can just manage to make a clean getaway, they may still have a chance to take out the invader's command control center, and unite with all of humankind to save the only home they've ever known.
It's just another war for oil in
Battle: Los Angeles, a film so chaotic and incoherent that it nearly self-destructs before miraculously gaining enough momentum halfway through to offer a bombastic take on humankind's fight against a technologically advanced -- yet not impervious -- race of malevolent alien invaders. Presented in a handheld style that gives the impression of a wartime documentary, this unorthodox take on the traditional combat film feels as if screenwriter
Christopher Bertolini simply dusted off an old script in which Nazis invaded a major American city and replaced
Hitler's henchmen with bio-mechanical Martians. From the retiring, battle-scarred military veteran drawn reluctantly back into battle, to the virginal rookie, to the shell-shocked combat vet, to the brave grunt just fighting for citizenship,
Bertolini's screenplay is so saturated in wartime stereotypes that it feels like it might just sink until characterization mercifully takes a back seat to action. Even then, it's difficult to feel as if we're actually witnessing anything new, though by that point the combination of rapid-fire editing and an over-emotive score at least succeeds in stimulating us enough to create the illusion of excitement. Later, when the purpose of the invasion is finally revealed in a throwaway line, it quickly becomes apparent how uninterested
Bertolini is in flexing any creative muscle.
Likewise, the generic creature design feels just about as uninspired as the storytelling, though the special-effects team does manage the impressive feat of making the alien technology seem at once highly advanced and vulnerable to attack. Performances are standard-issue grunt all around, with the exception of capable lead
Eckhart, who provides the film's only discernible human emotion with a pair of heartfelt speeches that could have had genuine impact if only the earnest dialogue didn't waft with banality. Those speeches, combined with all of the other combat movie clichés found in
Battle: Los Angeles, reveal the film to be little more than a traditional war film disguised as an alien invasion flick, tailor-made for a generation of kids raised on first-person shooters and jitter-inducing energy drinks. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi