Battle of Los Angeles Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Battle of Los Angeles Blu-ray Movie Review

What a difference two letters and a colon can make.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 11, 2014

Perhaps a better title for Battle: Los Angeles would have been Full Metal Jacket E.T. Kill Captain Patton on Independence Day Apocalypse Now. Or something. The Asylum's "knockoff" of Sony's blockbuster alien invasion flick Battle: Los Angeles is a dreary, poorly paced nothing of a movie that references and rips off -- poorly, of course -- a number of movies that have nothing to do with Battle: Los Angeles. In fact, other than the setting, an alien presence, and some soldiers, there's nothing even remotely similar here, and The Asylum's picture is, in fact, much more of an Independence Day rip-off than it is anything else. There are major scenes and story devices stolen from Roland Emmerich's classic Sci-Fi spectacle. There's an eyepatch-wearing, Katana-wielding girl (who, upon her introduction, does a cartwheel for no reason) straight out of Kill Bill. There are little winks and nods to other film scattered throughout, including aliens that are said to enjoy Reese's Pieces (E.T.), a grizzled military officer who shoots at aerial aliens with his single shot revolver (Patton), a character from World War II named "Captain Rodgers" (Captain America), a scene that plays like the sniper sequence from the end of Full Metal Jacket (acknowledged as such in the supplements included with the Blu-ray), and even a nod to Apocalypse Now with a military call sign designated "Street Gang." There are probably others, but with the number of other bits and pieces on which this film is built, not to mention the "watching paint dry is better than this" pacing, it's hard to catch them all.

"Cut the chatter red two!"

A large alien spacecraft appears over Los Angeles. Fighter jets prove ineffective against the ship's defenses, and fired missiles are only returned to sender with deadly results. On the ground, a ragtag group of soldiers valiantly fights back, and they suddenly find themselves in the company of one Captain Rodgers (Dylan Vox), a fighter pilot who vanished during the Second World War. Now, the group, including Rodgers, Lt. Tyler Laughlin (Kel Mitchell), Capt. Karla Smaith (Nia Peeples), and Lt. Solano (Theresa June-Tao) must battle its way closer to the aliens and discover some way of stopping them before it's too late.

While The Asylum has marginally improved of late -- films like Android Cop aren't so embarrassingly bad as some (most) of the films in the studio's canon -- Battle of Los Angeles, released in 2011, embodies everything wrong with the studio's efforts. It's time-killing fun at its best -- the first act, predominantly -- but it falls apart quickly, finding no rhythm and never building on any sort of coherent, urgent storyline, instead just extending scenes and grasping at straws along its way to the conclusion. The film creates no relatable characters, no motivation for them beyond survival and battling the aliens, and, perhaps worst of all, no feeling of imminent danger from the alien threat, even as it hovers over the city, devastates it with with its weapons, and sends a variety of flying objects to terrorize the characters. The acting ranges from uninspired to completely flat, including most of the main players who do little more than maneuver around the screen with nary a range of facial expressions or understanding of what most of the scenes are about, content to merely do as told, whether that be "walk this direction," "pretend to shoot a gun here," or "recite this line." And, of course, the picture is packed with special effects so phony that they're rather entertaining, truth be told, and for the fan of bad SyFy movies it does provide quite a bit of material to devour.

Among others problems, the picture besieges its audience with long, dull stretches that barely have any bearing on the film. One example comes early on when there's a terribly lengthy scene featuring a military officer verbally chewing one his pilots who, because he's scared out of his mind, refuses to take off during the crisis. So he's not really Top Gun material, but there's no reason for the moment to stretch as long as it does. There's also the Asylum hallmark "bad location scouting" in full swing going on in this sequence, too; The Asylum clearly filmed at the site because it was affordable (and probably easily accessible) and not because it looks like an air reserve unit base, because it doesn't. There are other little "gems" scattered throughout, such as a moment near the end when one of the characters conveniently pulls a massive rocket launcher out of a bag that would never hold it. It's clear that the movie was made on the proverbial shoestring budget and with more attention paid to getting it made and getting it out than getting something worthwhile out of it. That's The Asylum mantra in a nutshell, it seems from this side of the operation, but at least this film, and others like it, offer a few laughs to make the movies, for the most part, bearable.

Battle of Los Angeles Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Battle of Los Angeles arrives on Blu-ray with a decent but problematic 1080p transfer. The image displays oftentimes copious amounts of banding. Visual effects are frequently accompanied by unsightly shimmering along edges. On the other hand, fine detail is rather good throughout. Close-ups reveal a good bit of raw texturing on heavy military gear, faces, and cheap plastic pilot oxygen masks. Colors are even and accurate, showing a nice range and reveling excellent detail and clarity. Blacks and flesh tones offer no problems of note.

Battle of Los Angeles Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Battle of Los Angeles features a bland, almost lifeless Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Even at reference level, the track never produces much effort. Sound effects are flat and lacking even cursory energy. Alien weapons, gunfire, and explosions all play with a low, dull thud. "Shallow" best describes them. On the flip side, the back speakers are frequently utilized, but again deliver sound effects that don't register very highly on the aggression scale. The absence of zest and life doesn't carry over to dialogue, which is delivered clearly and accurately from the center channel.

Battle of Los Angeles Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Battle of Los Angeles contains a decent making-of featurette and a blooper reel.

• Making of Featurette (1080p, 9:09): In this supplement, cast describes the characters and discusses the plot. The piece also looks at working within the budget, set design, having fun on the set, making some of the visual effects and action scenes, and more.
• Bloopers (1080p, 2:04).
• Trailers: Additional Asylum titles.

Battle of Los Angeles Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's rather amazing that The Asylum got to market with Battle of Los Angeles as the film's title; the studio is no stranger to court orders mandating a title change to make a movie less reflective of its big-studio counterpart (American Warships being, probably, the most high-profile example) and this one's but a colon and two letters off of Sony's bigger and better blockbuster. Be that as it may, it's a rather putrid effort, fun for a bit but afterwards dragging for what feels like an eternity. The film has very little going for it other than a game of "take a drink whenever another movie is referenced." The Asylum's Blu-ray release of Battle of Los Angeles delivers fair video, disappointing audio, and a couple of extras. Pass.