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Battle: Los Angeles
When once distant UFOs become a terrifying threat and an alien invasion force begins attacking Earths major costal and riverside cities, a U.S Marine staff sergeant and his team are sent into battle only to find they must take it upon themselves to defeat an unknown enemy and protect what remains of Los Angeles.
2011 · Directed by Jonathan Liebesman · 116 min · Science Fiction · Action · Screenplay in the scene database · 10 frames
Tagline
It's not war. It's survival.
Plot
On August 12, 2011, hostile alien spacecraft make landings off the coasts of large cities. Los Angeles is evacuated while Marines from Camp Pendleton arrive, including Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz, an Iraq War veteran. Nantz, who was to begin his retirement, is assigned to the 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 while using rapid dominance. Hence, the Air Force prepares a carpet bombing of the Santa Monica area, and the platoon is given three hours to retrieve civilians from a police station. As they advance through Los Angeles, 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 soldiers from the Army's 40th Infantry Division and an Air Force intelligence technical sergeant, Elena Santos. At the police station, the makeshift platoon finds five civilians: veterinarian Michele, children Kirsten, Amy, Hector, and Hector's father Joe. A helicopter arrives to evacuate wounded Marines but cannot 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 and destroy the aliens' command center controlling the drones. When their bus comes under attack by aliens 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 California Army National Guard soldiers are killed, while both Joe and Lieutenant Martinez are wounded. Martinez uses his radio to attract the aliens, then detonates explosives, sacrificing himself for his team. 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 scientist speculates on news media that the aliens seek Earth's water resources for fuel while exterminating the human population.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Christopher Bertolini
- Cinematography: Lukas Ettlin
- Edited by: Christian Wagner
- Music: Brian Tyler
- Production design: Peter Wenham
- Produced by: Jeffrey Chernov, Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur
Cast
- Aaron Eckhart as Michael Nantz
- Ramón Rodríguez as William Martinez
- Will Rothhaar as Cpl. Lee Imlay
- Michael Peña as Joe Rincon
- Bridget Moynahan as Michelle
- Noel Fisher as Pfc. Shaun Lenihan
- Joey King as Kirsten
- Beth Keener as Kathy Martinez
- Jessica Heap as Jessy
- Cory Hardrict as Cpl. Jason Lockett
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English, Ukrainian
- Studios: Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Original Film
- Budget: $70,000,000
- Box office: $211,800,000
- Themes: hero, saving the world, chaos, marine corps, retirement, meteor, space invasion, alien, survival, battlefield
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