Battle: Los Angeles

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Battle: Los Angeles

PG-13

2011

1h 56m

Sci-Fi

Action

Adventure

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

37%

Tomatometer

210 Reviews

48%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

For many years, humans have reported various UFO sightings around the world, fueling speculation about the existence of life on other worlds. In 2011, mankind learns the truth the hard way when alien invaders attack. One by one, the world's great cities fall, leaving Los Angeles as the battleground for humanity's last stand. It's up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his platoon to draw a line in the sand against a powerful enemy unlike any previously encountered.

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Critics Consensus

Overlong and overly burdened with war movie clichés, Battle: Los Angeles will entertain only the most ardent action junkies.

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Scott Foundas

Film Comment Magazine

Case in point: Battle: Los Angeles, an alien-invasion disaster piece so loud, ham-fisted and joyless-so aggressively lousy-that its only real usefulness is to make one better appreciate the deft touch of a Roland Emmerich.

Jun 28, 2013

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Michael Wilmington

Chicago Reader

Terminally stupid.

Dec 6, 2011

Full Review

Anthony Lane

The New Yorker

If the talk had been surgically removed, leaving only the sights and sounds of combat, this could have been a striking, semiabstract display of aggressive energy; as it is, any viewer over twelve will go for the laughs.

Mar 21, 2011

Full Review

Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Our plot and attention is not split and spread to several places or groups of people around the country and world. We stick with one group the whole way through and that's the movie's strength.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 16, 2024

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

After a shotgun wedding between Black Hawk Down and Independence Day, this movie was the unwanted offspring—an unintelligible mixture of war movies and science-fiction that insults the credibility of both genres.

Rated: 1/4

Jul 31, 2023

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

It’s aim was to be a pre-summer popcorn action movie and it hits it’s mark.

Rated: 2.5/5

Aug 19, 2022

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Audience Member

This was a fun watch as I really enjoy combat movies and video games. The story flows nicely, the action is non-stop and the combat felt pretty realistic for a sci-fi / action movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/24/25

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Zardos S

About as bad as it gets

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/21/25

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Steven P

No clue what movie the other reviewers saw. This is an very good movie. A boots on the ground war film with aliens.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/22/25

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Brian J.

Underrated film, must have been lost in the shuffle

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/21/25

Full Review

David E

The movie is not your typical alien invasion saga. It is grounded from the perspective of the military having to fight an unknown enemy unexpectantly. As a result, it excels in the drama of the moment and also the chaos. The aliens are not over the top tropes and are just as militaristic as the humans. Where the movie does fall short is maintaining the drama intensity, but this is minor in comparison to the story. These typers of movies are far more interesting than the big action, big one liner type action flicks. It also has decent run time which seems to be rare nowadays.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/13/25

Full Review

Seven X

How this movie is rated so low is beyond me. Battle Los Angeles takes you into the world of the United States Marine, from end of a career to those beginning, displaying an excellent representation of military rank structure, duty above personal issues and tenacity to never quit against all odds. Action packed, you follow the Marines of 2nd Battalion 5th Marines into what was supposed to be an evacuation mission, into the front line battle against an unknown and superior enemy. This film exhibits how Marines face challenge after challenge and continously adapt and overcome them regardless of personal cost. Misunderstandings that lead to severe resentment were resolved and a combined effort with the Air Force helped win the battle. Plus it has Michael Peña. Total win.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/04/25

Full Review

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Jonathan Liebesman

Director

Aaron Eckhart

Ssgt. Michael Nantz

Michelle Rodriguez

Tsgt. Elena Santos

Ramón Rodríguez

2nd Lt. William Martinez

Bridget Moynahan

Michele

Ne-Yo

Cpl. Kevin Harris

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - I'm Not Leaving You!

2:54

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - Saving Civilians

2:56

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - Swimming Pool Ambush

2:27

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - Stalked in the Sewers

2:32

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - Direct Hit!

3:02

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - Defeating the Aliens

2:33

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - Destroying the Alien Drone

3:02

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - The Siege Continues

2:29

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - Go Right Through 'Em

1:53

Battle: Los Angeles: Official Clip - First Contact

2:45

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Synopsis

For many years, humans have reported various UFO sightings around the world, fueling speculation about the existence of life on other worlds. In 2011, mankind learns the truth the hard way when alien invaders attack. One by one, the world's great cities fall, leaving Los Angeles as the battleground for humanity's last stand. It's up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his platoon to draw a line in the sand against a powerful enemy unlike any previously encountered.

Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Producer: Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur
Screenwriter: Christopher Bertolini
Distributor: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co: Original Film, Relativity Media, Columbia Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Sustained/Intense Seq. of War|Language|Violence and Destruction)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 11, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 5, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $83.6M
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS

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