The movie Battle:L.A. lies and more lies

[billc]

The movie was great, however, the marines did not torture and kill civillians for fun, they were not shown to be thugs in uniform, so the film really failed in that aspect. You need to keep in mind as well that the aliens portrayed in the movie are no more than perhaps 10 percent of the whole alien population. Any attempt to stereotype the entire alien race as militarily aggressive is just showing the ignorance of your typical earthling. The rest of the aliens I am sure want nothing more than to raise their alien children and live their lives in peace.
After all, it is probably Earth's cultural imperialism, by sending our radio waves out into space that is the real cause for the justified self-defense of the aliens. Also, the aliens who are the soldiers are probably from the poorest parts of the alien culture, and therefore have no hope. Perhaps if their alien civilization could provide them with jobs and a way out of poverty they would have no need to make justifiable war on the earth.

Perhaps if Earth, in the movie, offered a package of alien aid, to make up for our Earth centric imperialism, we could understand their culture better.

 

[MA-Caver]

Say... what?

 

[elder999]

Say... what?

Clearly, bill wants another bunny....and I'm happy to oblige, :lfao: :

 

[billc]

The movie must be good, all the liberal critics are attacking it. See this article on the over reaction of the various liberal critics of the film. Apparently there weren't enough atrocities committed by americans for their taste.

http://whatwouldtotowatch.com/2011/03/12/is-ideology-invading-battle-la-reviews/

From the article:

“Battle” is dopey to the core, with giggle-inducing dialogue, shaky cams gone wild and a host of other structural issues. But perusing a few of the critical responses to “Battle” yields something else “wrong” with the film. It doesn’t march lockstep with some critics’ ideological fault lines.

The movie brands U.S. Marines as heroes, showing how noble and brave they are in the face of an alien onslaught. It’s not the typical theme you see in movies today, especially ones with a military component.

 

[Omar B]

LOL. Ridiculous thread is ridiculous.

 

[VegasM4]

Semper Fi! It makes me proud to have served 10 years as a United States Marine!OhhRahh!

 

[girlbug2]

My dh took the boys to see this film last night despite a sad 33% tomatometer rating. He came back saying "The critics are FOS! That was a great action flick."


Looking at the link to the article, it would indeed appear that the critical disappointment with Battle Los Angeles is that it didn't have anything that lined up with ideologies of any kind other than "let's kick some alien butt". WHY does a film HAVE to have some kind of social commentary to be a good film? People that go to the movies for pure escapism don't look for that...I think the critics have lost their ability to enjoy a film purely for fun.

I'd suggest, rather than looking for political commentary (I'm looking at you, critics), that people enjoy Battle Los Angeles as a pure action film. Isn't that how it's intended?

 

[granfire]

LOL. Ridiculous thread is ridiculous.

get out of my head and give me back the words to took...

 

[Archangel M]

+1 Girlbug and thats where I agree with the OP. Film criticism seems to have a heavy "If there is not some form of political/cultural (mostly liberal in flavor) commentary the film is flawed." influence on them. Of course how many "right sided" film critics are successful in our media structures these days?

 

[Twin Fist]

saw it yesterday and loved it.

But it didnt show the marines as raping baby killers, so i can see why some liberal arts hack who cant get any other job than movie reviews would hate it........

 

[shesulsa]

The movie was great, however, the marines did not torture and kill civillians for fun, they were not shown to be thugs in uniform, so the film really failed in that aspect. You need to keep in mind as well that the aliens portrayed in the movie are no more than perhaps 10 percent of the whole alien population. Any attempt to stereotype the entire alien race as militarily aggressive is just showing the ignorance of your typical earthling. The rest of the aliens I am sure want nothing more than to raise their alien children and live their lives in peace.
After all, it is probably Earth's cultural imperialism, by sending our radio waves out into space that is the real cause for the justified self-defense of the aliens. Also, the aliens who are the soldiers are probably from the poorest parts of the alien culture, and therefore have no hope. Perhaps if their alien civilization could provide them with jobs and a way out of poverty they would have no need to make justifiable war on the earth.

Perhaps if Earth, in the movie, offered a package of alien aid, to make up for our Earth centric imperialism, we could understand their culture better.

So ... wtf are you trying to say here? Did you LIKE the film?

 

[Archangel M]

Since he posted this in the study I believe it's proper to discuss what he sees as the political aspects of culture vs a film critique.

 

[shesulsa]

Everytime I put my swami hat on, I get in trouble, so I'm trying to ask him to be more clear about the points he is making. I don't appear to be alone in my confusion.

Thanks.

 

[billc]

The film was great, the shaky cam sucked. May all shaky cams get dropped.

 

[billc]

The film portrayed the marines, members of the army and air force in a very, very positive light. It didn't try to apologize for the enemy or make excuses for the evil they were perpetrating. Good vs. evil, always a big seller at the box office. The critics expose a real dislike, if not bordering hate for the military, especially it seems, the marines.

I don't believe that all films have to be positive portrayels of anything, even the military, but right now, especially during a period where real marines, army, navy and air force men and women are dying and being wounded, would it kill hollywood to show them in a way other than as thugs in uniform, or mental cases, (Friday's episode of blue blood, another homeless multi-medal winning homeless vet story), victims. At least once in a great, great while.

We probably all know people who have served or are serving in combat zones. They are us. They are not monsters, they are doing a dangerous job, for us, and deserve a lot more respect from us. Not simply, yeah, we support you, and then every movie that is made portrays them as monsters, crazies and victims. Yeah, real support there. That's all. How about one in every 20 or 30 movies, about the ratio we have now with Battle:L.A. and Battle isn't even set in a real setting. And yet, the critics can't even say, yeah, the marines and other american warriors are the heroes we know them to be and they are in this film. Is that too much to ask.

 

[Archangel M]

I get what you are saying. I say the same thing about cop shows. Even though TV is getting better with us.

 

[Twin Fist]

true that.
Better, but still not great, it is clear that the people that make movies and tv shows, on a very real level, loath the military and the police

 

[Archangel M]

I joined both (mil/le) because I loved my country and my community, I appreciated everything that I was given in my life because of the opportunities they provided for me and I wanted to contribute to them rather than always take or expect from them. Granted not everybody enlists for the same reasons...but MANY do. The slander that I saw directed towards what I believed to be honorable professions and people are what tilted my world to the right when I was a younger man.

 

[billc]

The same for me Archangel, I know what you mean.

 

[shesulsa]

NOW I understand what you're saying.

Thanks for the clarification and I do agree that it's nice to see military and LE portrayed positively ... though my recent experiences with our local law enforcement have been less than positive.