BATTLE : LOS ANGELES

Director : Jonathan Liebesman
Stars : Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan
Release : March 2011

On August 11, 2011, mysterious objects thought to be meteorites crash into Earth's oceans near several major cities. These objects are revealed to be spacecraft containing hostile alien forces. The U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton arrive in Los Angeles to defend against alien ground forces and assist in the evacuation of civilians in preparation for a bombing campaign. Among the military's forces are Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), a U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant. Nantz had planned to retire, but the situation requires him to replace the platoon sergeant of a platoon from "E" Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. (Note: a Marine platoon consist of aproximately 40 people; in the movie, artistic liberty has reduced this to about a dozen.)

The Platoon Commander, 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez (Ramón Rodríguez), attends a briefing at an FOB (Forward Operating Base). The platoon's mission is to rescue civilians from an LAPD police station with a three-hour time limit before the Air Force bombs the area. They are ambushed by aliens multiple times and suffer casualties. They also encounter a group of U.S. Army soldiers from the 40th Infantry Division, including an Air Force intelligence Technical Sergeant Elena Santos (Michelle Rodriguez). Eventually, the combined team reaches the police station, finding five civilians inside. A helicopter arrives and attempts to evacuate some of the wounded Marines, but it is destroyed by an alien air unit upon takeoff.

The Marines commandeer a bus for evacuation. Prior to evacuation, they found a wounded alien and with the help of one of the civilians, they learn of the aliens' weaknesses and military tactics; finding that the alien infantry have a weak point in the torso ("to the right of the heart"), that the alien attack aircraft are remote-controlled drones and the aliens monitor and locate Earth miltary forces through monitoring their radio communications. The Marines speculate that there must be a central command center, and that the destruction of this command center would eliminate control of the alien drones, crippling the enemy forces. On a freeway, the bus is attacked and the Marines begin rappelling the civilians off the side of the freeway. One of the civilians, Joe Rincon (Michael Peña), is wounded after firing on the aliens. Martinez is also wounded and sacrifices himself to destroy an enemy unit by detonating explosives inside the bus, shortly after placing Nantz in command of the platoon.

Nantz leads what remains of the platoon outside the bombing zone, and they rest at a convenience store. A news report speculates that the aliens have attacked Earth for its water supply. The team waits for the bombing to begin, but nothing happens. They arrive at the FOB, only to discover that it has already been destroyed by the aliens, nullifying the airstrike. They decide to head for another extraction point, where a helicopter should be available to evacuate them but Rincon dies before they reach the new extraction point. As they are being evacuated, Nantz spots a large black area on the ground where electric power seems to be disabled. Nantz believes the black area to be the location of the alien command center and that it is hidden underground. Nantz disembarks from the helicopter and his platoon follows, planning to find the exact location of the command center so they can call in a missile strike.

Going underground, the Marines confirm the presence of a large alien vessel. They return to the surface and succeed in calling in a missile strike using laser designators. However, the command center remains intact and rises from the ground. The Marines repel alien forces as more missiles are launched at the hovering command center and, eventually, they are able to destroy it. This disables the alien aircraft in the area, forcing the alien ground forces to retreat.

Soon after, the team is extracted to a temporary base in the Mojave Desert, where they are greeted as heroes for their outstanding bravery. All other cities under attack now plan to emulate their strategy, destroying the alien command center in each city. More forces are being sent to Los Angeles to finish off the aliens there. Despite orders to rest, Nantz and the platoon instead rejoin the fight. (Wikipedia)