Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
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A Marine staff sergeant leads a platoon to defend Los Angeles against an alien invasion.
The story
On August 12, 2011, hostile alien spacecraft land off the coasts of large cities, leading to the evacuation of Los Angeles. Marines from Camp Pendleton, including Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz, an Iraq War veteran who was about to retire, arrive to secure the area. Nantz is assigned to the 1st Platoon, Echo Company, of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. Under the command of 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez, the platoon establishes a forward operating base at Santa Monica Airport. They are tasked with retrieving civilians from a police station before the Air Force begins a planned carpet bombing of the area.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
On August 12, 2011, hostile alien spacecraft land off the coasts of large cities. Los Angeles is evacuated while Marines from Camp Pendleton, including Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz, arrive. Nantz is assigned to the 1st Platoon, Echo Company, of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. Under 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez, the platoon establishes a forward operating base at Santa Monica Airport. They are tasked with retrieving civilians from a police station before a planned carpet bombing. During the mission, they are ambushed and suffer casualties. Nantz teams up with Army soldiers and an Air Force intelligence technical sergeant, Elena Santos, to find missing personnel. They rescue five civilians but lose several teammates when a helicopter is destroyed. The Marines commandeer a transit bus to evacuate the civilians, discovering that alien drones target human radio transmissions. During a freeway battle, Martinez sacrifices himself to attract aliens with explosives. Nantz takes command, and the group continues to an alternate extraction point. After Joe, a civilian, dies, Nantz motivates the group to move forward. They reach the extraction point but discover the aliens seek Earth's water resources. Nantz leads his unit to the alien command center, where they use a laser designator to guide a missile, destroying the command module. The remaining Marines are evacuated to a base in the Mojave Desert, where they are greeted as heroes but immediately re-arm to retake Los Angeles.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 116
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Jonathan Liebesman
- Writers
- Chris Bertolini · writer
- Cast and characters
- Aaron Eckhart · United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz; Michelle Rodriguez · United States Air Force Technical Sergeant Elena Santos, 1st Force, 61 Air Base Wing; Ramon Rodriguez · United States Marine Corps 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez, 1st Platoon; Ne-Yo · United States Marine Corps Corporal Kevin J. "Specks" Harris; Bridget Moynahan · Michele; Michael Peña · Joe Rincon; Cory Hardrict · United States Marine Corps Corporal Jason "Cochise" Lockett; Jim Parrack · United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Peter J. "Irish" Kerns
- Genres
- military science fiction; action
- Themes
- War; Survival; Sacrifice; Alien Invasion
- Tone and mood
- Suspenseful; Realistic; Action-oriented
- Premise and plot tags
- Military; Science Fiction; Action; Alien Invasion; War Movie
- Source material / true-story basis
- Inspired by the Battle of Los Angeles (1942)
- Reception
- The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, though it was described as a 'solid popcorn movie' by some and a 'modest but crafty triumph of tension over good sense and cliche' by others.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 37% · review count: 214; Metacritic · score: 37 · scale: 100 · review count: 35; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- BMI TV Music Award · composer · win
- Production trivia
- The film was not shot in 3D to avoid making the audience 'throw up in two minutes'.; Actors went through three weeks of boot camp to learn how to realistically operate as a Marine platoon.; The film was one of the first titles to be re-mastered in the ultra-high resolution format 4K.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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