Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

Introduction

Battle: Los Angeles (also known as Battle: LA and internationally as World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles) is a 2011 American military science fiction apocalyptic 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 US Marine Staff Sergeant played by Aaron Eckhart who leads a platoon of US Marines, joined by other stranded military personnel, during a global alien invasion.

The ensemble cast includes Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo, and Michael Peña.

Outline

A number of apparent meteors land 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 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 Army National Guard soldiers 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 centre, 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 alternative 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 person’s name, rank and serial number. Nantz motivates the group to move forward to honour 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 theorises that they are flying near the alien command centre, 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 fighters – Nantz, Imlay, Lockett, Harris, Adukwu and Santos – are 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 USMC SSgt Michael Nantz.
Michelle Rodriguez as USAF TSgt Elena Santos, 1N, 61 ABW.
Ramon Rodriguez as USMC 2ndLt William Martinez, 1st Platoon.
Bridget Moynahan as Michele.
Ne-Yo as USMC Cpl Kevin J. “Specks” Harris.
Michael Peña as Joe Rincon.
Lucas Till as USMC Cpl Scott Grayston.
Cory Hardrict as USMC Cpl Jason “Cochise” Lockett.
Adetokumboh M’Cormack as USN HM3 Jibril A. “Doc” Adukwu.
Jim Parrack as USMC LCpl Peter J. “Irish” Kerns.
Will Rothhaar as USMC Cpl Lee “Cowboy” Imlay.
Neil Brown Jr. as USMC LCpl Richard “Motown” Guerrero.
Noel Fisher as USMC PFC Shaun “Casper” Lenihan.
Taylor Handley as USMC LCpl Corey Simmons.
James Hiroyuki Liao as USMC LCpl Steven “Motorolla” Mottola.
Gino Anthony Pesi as USMC Cpl Nick C. “Stavs” Stavrou.
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 (2001), Saving Private Ryan (1998), 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 rumoured enemy attack and subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage that took place in Los Angeles during World War II, on the night of 24 February 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 Harbour 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 24 February, 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.

This 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 movie – with 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. On 12 March 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, CA). 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

The score was composed & conducted By Brian Tyler and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. The soundtrack for the film released on 08 March 2011. A song used in the trailer is “The Sun’s Gone Dim and the Sky’s Turned Black” by Jóhann Jóhannsson. 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 11 March 2011. The next day, on 12 March, it premiered in the Asia Pacific region in Taiwan. Other European markets in Germany and Denmark had the film premiering on 14 April. The film made its debut in Sweden on 20 April and Switzerland on 22 April. It went into general theatrical release in Latin America in Argentina on 10 March 10. Certain Middle Eastern markets; the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon saw the premiere of the film on 10 March, while in South Africa it screened later in the month on 25 March.

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 11 March 2011. The OnLive game service (as part of its Playpack subscription service) was made available to subscribers on 15 March, and on the PlayStation Network on 22 March. 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 unfavourable reviews on Metacritic, scoring a 39 out of 100 based on 21 critics. 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 14 June 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 14 June 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 14 June 2011, too. Special features include; PS3 Theme, Resistance 3 Game Demo Hybrid – PS3 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.

Accolades

Battle: Los Angeles received an award nomination for actor Peña in the category of Favourite 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 11 March 2011 in the US screening at 3,417 theatres. 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 US and Canadian markets and $128,266,925 in international markets, for a worldwide total of $211,819,354.

Sequel

Eckhart has stated he would be interested in returning for a sequel. In an interview on 25 March 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.”

Trivia

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 Varèse Sarabande music label on 08 March 2011.
Principal photography began in September 2009, and the film was released in the United States on 11 March 2011.
It grossed $211.8 million worldwide, but received generally negative reviews.
It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 June 2011.

Production & Filming Details