Battle: Los Angeles DVD

01/07/2011 20:26

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. nfl jerseys 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.

This is a movie that really isn't anything new. In fact, if you seen Black Hawk Down and District 9, it may look familiar. What this film does that makes it so great is that it can combine these elements together so well, that you really can't believe that this hasn't been done before. They made the right choice by including a Marine platoon into the script, rather than some nameless group of soldiers or whoever wears a uniform so that Johnny Civilian can get the picture that they are U.S. troops. It isn't the most perfect depiction of Marines, as I was one and remember the "F" bomb being used a whole heck of a lot more frequently, but it is passable.transcend sd cards Aaron Eckhart really does a great job in his role as a battle tested Staff Sergeant. I think anyone else playing this character would have a hard time pulling it off exactly how he did. The rest of the cast is not all that bad either, given the scope of the story. And I am not a fan of Michelle Rodriguez, but she was tolerable- for the most part.
You have to remember that this is a movie about an alien invasion, it is not mona lisa smile. You have probably seen these movies before, but not like this. This is urban warfare fighting in the streets of downtown Los Angeles. It's fun and exciting, and better than half of the other "realistic" war movies that are already out. garmin gps I highly recommend this film to anyone who likes sci-fi and military movies. You wont be disappointed. The critics have taken a proverbial dump on this movie, but what do they know anyway. This is exactly the movie I expected it to be when I walked in to the theater, and a little bit more with some character believability and Aaron Eckhart's acting. I will be eagerly awaiting the Blu-ray release so that I can watch this all over again in HD in the comfort of my living room. So suspend your rational thought process for a bit and enjoy Battle: Los Angeles for what it is; a science fiction war movie.