I finally saw Battle: Los Angeles on DVD

my rating: 3 out of 5

I have read a lot of negative reviews about Battle: Los Angeles. It is a big, loud, alien invasion movie with marines fighting to save Earth. So, there are better war movies with soldiers of a similar style (Saving Private Ryan). And, there are better alien movies with alien invasions. (War of the Worlds, District 9, Independence Day). However, Battle: Los Angeles is a great piece of throw-away entertainment. I thought the action scenes were very suspenseful and compelling. Yes, the characters are two dimensional. Yes, many of the "plot points" are somewhat silly. But, name one alien invasion movie that isn't completely silly. There's a reason why it's called "science FICTION." And yes, there is bad science fiction (Battlefield Earth...yuck, or Cloverfield) But, Battle: Los Angeles kept my interest the whole time, and by the end, I wanted the characters to win. That's all you can ask for. And that's more than I can say for Transformers 3, which came out this summer, just a few months after Battle: Los Angeles.

In Battle: Los Angeles, our main character is a dude named Sargent Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) who is just on the brink of retirement from the Marines. The only thing between him and sweet vacation time? Alien invasion. So, him and his buddies pack up their gear and head into Los Angeles, where giant "meteors" that crash into the ocean turn out to be alien crafts full of alien soldiers. So, as they head into battle, we get to hear a lot of Marine shouting. Like, "Get down!!!!" "Over there!!!" "We got a hostile, 12 O'clock!" 'What are those things??" You know, the usual schlock.

Just go into it knowing that it is a mindless series of action scenes with alien and American military battles. It falls right into the same category as Transformers 3, or The Green Lantern. It's just mindless entertainment. But, at least it's entertainment.