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

[CanuckMA]

Or it could just be that aside from tons of **** blowing up, the film just sucked.

 

[granfire]

Or it could just be that aside from tons of **** blowing up, the film just sucked.

Well, if the s*** blowing up is not your primary interest in a movie, chances are great...

 

[Twin Fist]

i liked it.

 

[Sukerkin]

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.

I genuinely don't think it is too much to ask to show the members of the armed forces in a positive light, if that's the story that the tellers want to tell. After all, it was only an over-reverence for the wishes of my father that stopped me becoming an officer in the Royal Navy; so you can tell which side of the fence I sit on .

But, for the record, just putting on the uniform of your country does not make you a hero. It's important to distinguish between choices made in the heat of battle and those made when standing in the dole queue. Actual heroes are few and far between.

At the end of the day, tho', fiction is not fact and altho' there are some who use their position in the entertainment industry to make political points that suit their own views, what gets made is what makes money. It's neither Left or Right wing, it's box office.

For me, I like to believe the illusion that our militaries are comprised of Paladins, even tho' they are not. It's one of those sneaky Liberal ideas of people becoming what you expect of them. If we expect scum with guns then that's what we get (tho' to be fair we built an empire with an army made up of such, kicking much French butt along the way).

If we expect our militaries to live up to the attributes applied to them by most of us here at MT, then, just maybe, we might get fewer breaches of the articles of war and more people we can genuinely look up to. Of course, what also needs to be said is that, given the tens of thousands in service, the real bad apples are very few in number.

As to the movie in question here, sounds like one I'd like to see :tup:. I've just finished re-watching Space Above and Beyond and am still re-reading the Honor Harrington series - even after that my thirst for the heroic is still unquenched in these troubled times ... especially with the international inaction on what is going on in Libya .

 

[Archangel M]

I don't know. There are many films out there that definitely don't appear to have been made to "make money" as much as they were made to push a point. Not all movies are made to be "blockbusters".

I think that there are many in the entertainment industry that presume to push "newspeak" on the masses. Present the same image often enough through the media and people believe it. Hell even in the LE/Mil fields there is a school of tactical thought that many LEO's/Soldiers succumbed to survivable wounds because the media had ingrained the mental attitude that all bullet wounds are fatal so they gave in and died of shock.

Im not above believing that there is more than money involved in the media message.

 

[Archangel M]

... especially with the international inaction on what is going on in Libya .

Side question. Do you think the USA should get involved? And be accused of interfering in yet another mid-east conflict?

 

[Sukerkin]

:grins: Aye that is a tricky one.

I reckon the US's past foreign policy record in recent decades would more or less ensure you'd get stick for whatever you did, especially as Libya has oil.

The situation is rather different in some aspects tho', as Libya actually has a popular uprising that is being crushed miltarily in a fashion that is no longer acceptable in the present political climate. The line between civil war and oppression has gotten awfully blurred, sad to say .

 

[Archangel M]

:grins: Aye that is a tricky one.

I reckon the US's past foreign policy record in recent decades would more or less ensure you'd get stick for whatever you did, especially as Libya has oil.

The situation is rather different in some aspects tho', as Libya actually has a popular uprising that is being crushed miltarily in a fashion that is no longer acceptable in the present political climate. The line between civil war and oppression has gotten awfully blurred, sad to say .

Im all for letting the UK enforce a no-fly zone. You folks are closer.

 

[CanuckMA]

A movie that a lot of people enjoy does not always make for a good movie. I'd probably enjoy that movie, because I like stuff blowing up. But it won't surprise me if the script is weak, the dialogue sucks and the actors couldn't act their way out of a wet paper bag.

 

[billc]

The majority of Libya's oil goes to Europe, so perhaps they could form a coalition and enforce a no fly zone.

 

[Blade96]

I enjoy a film if its good. Now and then I'll see a film and Think Those fudder muckers. Look what they did. like if they portray thew military as bad when they should be shown as good and vise versa. Ditto with pro america is great and the russians are bad cold war flicks. However, I still enjoy them cause the movies are good. I try ignore biases - at least, too much.

 

[granfire]

Sometimes you are better off if you don't know too much about the subject matter...
or you end up nit picking at all the mistakes.
(Kind of like 'Days of Thunder', they left no cliche out according to the 50th anniversary documentary about NASCAR, when we watch it we always wonder how the guys in the sport look at it....'Man, that's a cheesy scene!')

 

[CanuckMA]

I know, I loved unstoppable. I have a friend who is a train enginner. He thought it sucked balls because of how fake it was.

 

[SensibleManiac]

Im not above believing that there is more than money involved in the media message.

I would agree, that it's not always directly involved in the message, but ultimately the media message is indirectly pointing to money.

Some films are made to push propaganda and not directly be huge at the box office yet the propaganda they are trying to push ultimately leads to bigger dollars for the filmakers or someone or something close to them.

 

[billc]

This is John Nolte's review of Battle:L.A. He is my favorite critic and my go to person for reviews. Keep in mind, I'll see a movie if it gets my interest, but his take is always enlightnening. After you see this review, check out his review of the movie "Kick ***." That review may surprise you.

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/j...ldly-entertaining-subversive-the-anti-avatar/

The opening paragraph of the review:

You want to know how clueless too many of today’s lock-step thinking, left-wing critics are? They’re so blinded by ideology and partisanship that their number-one complaint about the thoroughly entertaining, engrossing, exciting, edge-of-your-seat “Battle: Los Angeles,” is that it’s somehow lacking in important themes, subtext, a social conscience and meaning. Okay, it’s Lent and there’s a Swear Jar right here on my desk, which means that the following is going to cost me a dollar — but it’s worth it: Every word of that criticism is complete and utter ********. These critics and their many counterparts are either lying or they’re so blinded by partisanship that they can’t see the forest for the trees they’re hugging.

Also:

3. Lacks interesting political implications to chew over:
See 1 & 2 and then see the movie again without partisan blinders. This Marine platoon epitomizes the American ideal of e pluribus unum — “Out of many, one.” Most every race, creed and color is represented in this group of men and it’s never any kind of issue or even mentioned. These men are Americans and they don’t see each other as anything more or less. They are brothers brought together by the values they share in common. The evil of multiculturalism, the shallow differences the Left uses to divide us have no place among these brave Marines — including one who enlisted to earn his American citizenship.
Chew on that.

4. Empty sci-fi:
Of course the film is empty to the same Leftists who have turned nihilism into a theme and narcissism into a virtue. How could the mentally ill possibly recognize the rich thematic fullness and meaning found in a story that explores themes such as bravery, honor, valor, country, self-sacrifice, brotherhood, forgiveness, and what it means to be a man? Themes such as these are kryptonite to the Left and so their only defense is to make us feel uncool for being affected by them. That’s why instead of using the word “country” they use the word “jingosim.” “Valor” becomes “corny.” “Self-sacrifice” becomes “hokey. ” “Honor” is twisted into “old-fashioned.”

Let me put it this way: “Battle: Los Angeles” is the most subversive film to come out of Hollywood since “300.” It’s also not partisan or political in any way. We are watching a brutal alien invasion of Los Angeles from the point of view of a platoon of United States Marines — men who love their country, each other, and stand for the finest traditions and values America and our military has to offer. Director Jonathan Liebesman honors these men and writer Christopher Bertolini is true to them.

And a cautionary note from the review:

P.S. There is one moment that took me completely out of the movie. While running through Santa Monica, our heroes pass a store with a “Support the Troops” sign in the window next to an American flag. There’s no way you’d ever see such a thing in Santa Monica without the word “fascist” spray-painted across it. Aliens I buy, but that went too far.

 

[Empty Hands]

While running through Santa Monica, our heroes pass a store with a “Support the Troops” sign in the window next to an American flag. There’s no way you’d ever see such a thing in Santa Monica without the word “fascist” spray-painted across it. Aliens I buy, but that went too far.

Lying again, I see.

 

[Twin Fist]

i suppose you can PROVE thats a lie?

particuarly when it is a continued quote OF THE REVIEW???


you owe bill an apology

 

[Empty Hands]

i suppose you can PROVE thats a lie?

particuarly when it is a continued quote OF THE REVIEW???


you owe bill an apology

The hell I do. I worked next door to Santa Monica for 6 years in Westwood, and spent a lot of time in SM eating, going to the beach, visiting friends, or just driving through. There was never anything like that in all the time I spent there, and any number of American flags and military recruiting stations. None were defaced, protested, or anything of the sort. Bill is making **** up out of the fetid recesses of his imagination, based on his stupid politics, and obviously knows nothing about a city he feels free to slander. In other words, lying.

ETA: It is never clear from Bill's posts what are his words and what comes from someone else, since he feels no need to use quotation marks consistently or indicate what is what. If he doesn't feel that way about Santa Monica, then he should make that clear.

 

[Omar B]

The hell I do. I worked next door to Santa Monica for 6 years in Westwood, and spent a lot of time in SM eating, going to the beach, visiting friends, or just driving through. There was never anything like that in all the time I spent there, and any number of American flags and military recruiting stations. None were defaced, protested, or anything of the sort. Bill is making **** up out of the fetid recesses of his imagination, based on his stupid politics, and obviously knows nothing about a city he feels free to slander. In other words, lying.

ETA: It is never clear from Bill's posts what are his words and what comes from someone else, since he feels no need to use quotation marks consistently or indicate what is what. If he doesn't feel that way about Santa Monica, then he should make that clear.

Yup.

 

[Twin Fist]

HE IS QUOTING HE REVIEW, if you tyhink it is wrong, TAKE IT UP WITH THE PERSON THAT WROTE THE REVIEW

YOU called Bill a LIAR for posting a QUOTE

if you cant see how you owe him an apology, you need to seek help

The hell I do. I worked next door to Santa Monica for 6 years in Westwood, and spent a lot of time in SM eating, going to the beach, visiting friends, or just driving through. There was never anything like that in all the time I spent there, and any number of American flags and military recruiting stations. None were defaced, protested, or anything of the sort. Bill is making **** up out of the fetid recesses of his imagination, based on his stupid politics, and obviously knows nothing about a city he feels free to slander. In other words, lying.

ETA: It is never clear from Bill's posts what are his words and what comes from someone else, since he feels no need to use quotation marks consistently or indicate what is what. If he doesn't feel that way about Santa Monica, then he should make that clear.